Today Daniel, Cassie, Brent and I spent the afternoon at Bauman's Farm. Brent, even though it was around nap time, had a lot of fun walking around, sliding down big slides, feeding animals and playing in the hay maze. I think his favorite part was the hay ride. He loves tractors and trucks. We went on the hay ride last and though he was pretty much falling asleep in Daddy's lap he didn't want to get off.

Our trip to San Francisco!!! The weather was perfect for a quick trip to San Fran and so we enjoyed many of the popular high-lights in a fast paced trip through the city. As I'm sure you can see we didn't really ride on the trolley, just took advantage of it while it was sitting all alone on the street! We also walked down Pier 39 and saw and smelled the Sea Lions.

The famous Lombard Street~ My Mom drove down while Kristine and I walked down the stairs on the side. One of the funniest parts of driving through San Francisco was my Mom's reaction to the big hills! I believe I captured her on my video phone screaming as she drove straight up one of the enormous streets. However, the picture to the left will have to do! :)The worst part was when we had to stop at a stop sign. It felt like if stopped we would go screaming backwards hitting everyone and everything in our way. Good times and lots of laughs! :)

My favorite picture of the Golden Gate Bridge is the one to the above with Kristine. We had quite the adventure trying to find out how to get to the spot where Kristine and I are pictured on above on the right and below. I had been there before but, I couldn't remember what road lead to the top. After driving ALL the way around a mountain we finally found our destination and it was well worth it. We were very grateful for the beautiful weather that made it easy to see and enjoy the sights. As you can see from the picture on the right, with my Mom and I, it was rather windy. The picture on the left is a picture of me in the army bunkers that were used to protect the bay in the mid 1900's.

HUNTINGTON LIBRARY

My Mom, Kristine and I wanted to, at some point, check out some of the museums down in the L.A. area. We knew there were plenty to choose from we just didn't know which one would be the best for our buck. As we headed North, in search of a museum we had noticed earlier, we got all turned around. After taking the wrong exit we noticed the Highway Patrol building. We decided to stop in there and ask for directions. My Mom was picked for the job! :D As Kristine and I sat in the car for a good 10 minutes she soon came out smiling. Turns out the guy she talked to had a better place for us to visit. She said he kept getting all excited as he talked about this other museum. So, she was sold. He gave us directions to The Huntington Library, which was only a few exits away. Well, as you will see in the following pictures, it was well worth it! It would have been very easy to spend a full day walking around the grounds. Each garden brought out so much of the beauty in God's creation. What a blessing it was to get lost and be led to an even better museum than we hoped for.

The Gutenberg Bible -------------------->

Sittin' and relaxing, taking a look at the map and deciding where to go next.


Kristine and I thought these stone dogs were neat looking. There were two of them. One on each side of the entrance. You can't have too many pictures with stone statues.

Located on the grounds of the Huntington Library they had numerous buildings housing a huge art collection. Mr. Huntington, himself, collected most of the art throughout his lifetime. You can see how enormous the paintings are in the picture to the left. Makes me look so little! I don't know very much about art and painting however, some of these paintings even took my breath away in the detail.
My Mom is standing next to the famous painting "Pinkie" for more information on "Pinkie" click here
and scroll down a little.

The picture below, of Kristine and I, was just another photo opportunity next to a pretty fountain.



My favorite garden to walk through was the Japanese Garden. When you first enter the gardens it is breath taking. The picture is a view of what you see as you walk in...If you closely you can see Kristine and me sitting down below by the koi pond.

Home sweet home! Huntington Beach is the beach my Mom grew up at so, there was a lot of reminiscing while there. Our friend Sheri (In the picture she is on the right), known as the 10th child in my Mom's family, spent the day with us at the beach. At the end of the day she was so kind as to treat all of us to dinner at Ruby's, the restaurant at the end of the Pier. You can kind of see it in the picture above. We were able to see the sun set out over the ocean as we ate our dinner. Our afternoon was spent relaxing on the beach soaking up the warm sun, the weather was perfect, not too hot and not to windy. We also walked along the waters edge, Kristine would have gone all the way in if she had a friend that liked the ocean. ;) Unfortunately, her friend isn't a big fan of salt water and the uncomfortable, itchy feeling you have when you get out...I never really have been a beach person, I'm more of the camping/woodsie kind of girl. Kristine and I did enjoy rollerblading along the path. We felt like true Californians! We even stopped for an ice cream cone on our way back, defeating the whole purpose of rollerblading but enjoying it nonetheless! Overall our beach day was a success. I think I'm safe in saying it was one of our favorite days during our time in California. If we didn't have a schedule to keep to I believe my Mom would still be there soaking up the sun! The California beach is one thing she misses a lot!

Palm TREES!!!! It's definitely Southern California! On our way down to the Bazinet's (family friends) on a last minute whim we decided to drive through and check out some of the fancy homes in Hollywood. Our goal was to take a picture of the sign however, we found it was a hard task to take on. Everyone is so rushed in California, another reason I love Oregon. I am shocked the picture shown below turned out. We ended up driving to the top of a hill and stopping so I could poke my head out of our sun roof and capture this shot. It, also, was fast paced, in fact, I think I snapped it on my way down so the car behind us could pass. All that just to have proof we saw the Hollywood sign. ;) It was amazing to see how people live down there. Makes me love Oregon all the more! Eventually, we made it down to West Covina and stayed the night at the Bazinet's. Then, in the morning we drove N. To Sun Valley for church. It was neat hearing Pastor John MacArthur in his home church. I'm usually not a big fan of big choirs in churches (mostly when it has a showy feel) however, singing with the Grace Choir was amazing. At one point I closed my eyes and imagined what it would be like to be in Heaven and sing and rejoice in the presence of our Almighty God and how amazing it is that we will sound even better than what I was hearing at that moment. It was an incredible feeling.

This post is dedicated to my niece, Marybeth, and the fun times we enjoyed with her. One of her favorite times was spent at the park with all 5 of us grown ups and her and Aedan. She loved the swing as you can see on the right. I really enjoyed our times of reading. Grandma Morris
gave her 5 huge Disney books and I believe we read through most of them during our first visit. I think she would have had me read them all in one sitting if I would have given her that option! Jenn has taken on home-schooling her children (which I think is wonderful) and Marybeth is doing very well and loves to learn. Below: Aunt Melinda and Marybeth, cuddle time. She loves to cuddle, and I love that she loves to.

Above: Kristine, Marybeth and myself (behind the camera) playing the good ol' fashion game of Chutes and Ladders. Fun times!

Aunt Melinda and Aedan at 3 months old.


Aunt Melinda and Aedan at 9 months old.
Gotta love the fact that I am wearing the same outfit! :)

Kristine and Aedan hit it off really well. It took him a little while to warm up to us but once he did he was as happy as can be.

Home Again

Our trip to California was wonderful! Thank you to all that prayed for us while we were gone! The Lord blessed us and kept us safe in many ways and we are so grateful to Him for it! I will post more pictures through the weeks ahead of our highlights. We took plenty of pictures! :) To start with here is an updated picture of my brother, Kevin, and his lovely family. We stayed with them our first two nights and then again our last two nights in California. Now that I think about it I wish I would have taken pictures of our set up, because Jenn did an amazing job in preparing our beds and making us feel comfortable. Marybeth was a joy to see. She lit up the room and made us laugh with all her silly faces and remarks. She is a very loving, caring and an energetic little girl. Aedan is absolutely the best baby I have ever seen. He is very smiley and very content where ever you put him. He is definitely a Daddies boy because when ever Kevin was around his face would light up and he would laugh and smile the whole time. So sweet! I can't wait to meet Madeleine. Jenn is expecting to go in on November 9th I believe for the scheduled C-section.

Happy Early Birthday Tribute

Happy Birthday to my nephew!!! He will be 2 years old on September 17th!! I am posting this now because I am leaving tomorrow for California, for a week! The pictures are from when he spent the night with me a week ago. Cassie brought his new favorite car and we spent a good deal of the time together zooming through the house! (Please excuse the clutter all around...Slowly but surely our kitchen is in the process of remodeling.) Anyway, the grainy picture was taken from my camera phone when I was in bed. The little man LOVES to move around in his sleep. For most of the night he slept as seen in the picture, with his back-end right by my face! I do have to say he was a sweet boy when he woke up. After he figured out where he was that is! :D

Well, I am off. My Mom, Kristine and I will be visiting my other brother, Kevin, and his beautiful family down in California tomorrow! I'm looking forward to seeing them. Which by the way, for those that don't know. Jenn is expecting again!!! They are going to have another little girl! :D Due in November! Can't wait!

9-11 At River Front Park

In remembrance of the 9-11 attacks, River Front Park has created one of many Healing Fields around the US. Each flag represents someone that died in the attacks and those that have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The scene was pretty amazing with the fields covered in flags. On every flag they had the names of the people that died from the Twin Towers, The Pentagon and from Flight 93. The names are printed on the stripes. It amazes me that it has been 5 years since the attacks. I just recently went and saw the movie, World Trade Center, and to see the live footage, and hear about the story of the two officers that survived was absolutely incredible! Though the times were and still are hard it is a great comfort to know the Lord is in control and He has purpose in everything.

The Promised Family Camp Pics

It was a busy week at family camp! This was my second year attending and my first year that I was able to stay the whole week. Trinity and Hillcrest Chapel have put it on for 25 years now. Family Camp is a wonderful time meeting new people and having fellowship, catching up with those from the other church, hearing/reading the Word, helping with meals (another opportunity to serve one another) and fun and games. Above: Kristine and I trying a different pose.

There is nothing like a fun game of volleyball

My dad had hamburger and hotdog duty the day we did our BBQ. They certainly flipped a lot of burgers that day! :D

A few hours out of the day we had camp games. We were all split up into teams and competed against one another. On the left is my team (the Huns) and though we didn't win many competitions we were definitely the loudest in cheering! We had a great time! We came very close in
tug-of-war and in fact the Huns were on its way to winning when the other team pulled together and used all their saved up strength for the final defeat!

Last Day

Today was my last day with the Van Voorhis Family. I have been with them for 5 years and I have been blessed because of it. The Lord has taught me so much through the kids and through their parents and I am thankful for the time I had with them. The kids and I spent the day doing random fun stuff. For example: There is a really steep hill in Salem that I drove down with the kids a year or so ago and Brendan would always ask if we could go down it again. Well, the hill was located on the complete opposite side of town from their house so it wasn't the most convenient thing to do. Except for today, we made it convenient. Random, yes! Randomly fun and memorable, even more so! The kids enjoyed it and I enjoyed the fact that they are easily pleased! Conveniently enough we were able to stop by a park that is located near this same hill. A park I took them to a LONG time ago, and still remembered as one of their favorites.
After eating lunch and running and spinning around (they had a merry-go-round) at the park we all agreed it would be a good idea to stop at DQ and get some well deserved ice cream! :D I even succumbed to taking them to the Dollar Tree and letting them pick out a cheap-o toy that never lasts but a day or so. Asking to go to the Dollar Tree was another one I heard a lot, but, never gave in to. I figure it is always more fun for them when you take them before they ask. More of a treat and a surprise! Well, Tyler opted for a bow-and-arrow (as seen on the right) and Brendan and Samantha went for the candy, this was no surprise...At least not for Brendan who would eat sugar for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner if he had the option. Our day was fun and yet I don't think it has hit me that I am not going back there tomorrow or any other morning. I will miss them. Yet, I trust that they will be a part of my life from here on out and for that I am thankful. Thankful to have met them and thankful to have been accepted as a family member.