Thanksgiving

Gavin relaxing

My great aunt, Mom and Dad

Thanksgiving meal

 Thanksgiving meal

 We had fun after eating, playing games.

We went to the cemetery to put flowers on my grandparents grave and sister Tami's.

Then we walked over to Dennis the Menace Park.

We had so much fun with our family. It's hard to get back into our normal schedule again. We'll get to see them all again soon this coming weekend when Will (my brother's little boy) gets baptized.

Recently...

 I got a new camera! Nothing fancy but it'll do the job. Here are a couple of pictures of Gavin at a recent game. We didn't get any of him playing because we were on the edge of our seats the whole time but this was half time. Gavin has been quite a dynamite soccer player again this season and has practiced and played quite a bit with the 10 and 11 year old team even. His coach is getting him moved up to the older age group for next year's team. Gavin is #9 above and below is the one pouring water on #8.

 Our good friends and neighbors are moving at the end of this month. We are so sad to see them go. We walked down with two of their kids on Sunday to get a much needed break from sitting after four sessions of conference. I'm anxious to see how they like Utah!

 Micah is going to be a T rex for Halloween! Isn't he scary?! He loves to wear his costume.

What I've been up to....

http://www.refuge.com/hydro_thermal_waterfall.html

 

First off, our camera broke and that is mostly the cause of the lack of posts. I hope to be able to replace it soon. I think it must have gotten sat on on the way back from girls camp this summer. 

 

This past Saturday Albert and I had our date night at the Refuge in Carmel Valley. It was amazing. Talk about relaxation! So, you go through these cycles of hot and cold that both relaxes and invigorates your body, releases toxins and endorphins, and basically just really relaxes you. First you have the choice of going into a Eucalyptus Steam room or a Dry Sauna and get nice and toasty hot in there for 5 to 10 minutes. Then you walk through a cold water pool. You have the choice of an icy river or ocean water temperature. It is cold! But not as hard to do as I thought it would be. You are just in that pool for 10-16 seconds and enough to put your heart under the water. Then you go lay on a zero gravity bed and relax for 10-15 minutes. Then you can do the round again or go explore waterfall hot tubs before repeating the round again. Each round, the relaxation is deeper and body-tingling-feelings more intense. Overall, it was very cool and I want to go back.

 

  Another bit of news is that I obtained the best oatmeal cookies recipe ever. I was visiting teaching my friend, Pauline, and she concocted this recipe for a big party she was throwing and she shared her cookies and recipe with me. Pacific Grove has this quaint, delicious French restaurant called the Red House Cafe. It's one of my favorite places to eat and I'm kind of picky about where I eat. They serve these yummy oatmeal/apricot cookies and that is the cookie Pauline was trying to recreate. I think hers is even better. 

Pauline's Oatmeal/Apricot Cookies

Mix with a wooden spoon: 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 c. butter (soft!), 1 cup brown sugar

Then mix: 2 c. instant oats (I used regular and it was fine but probably a courser cookie), 1 c. flour, 1 tsp. soda, 1/2 tsp., salt

To prepare the apricots, fill a pot with a couple cups of water and boil, then add apricots and just simmer until they are good and soft. Then drain and dry with towel and chop finely. It'll be a little messy.

Mix all together with 3/4 c. chopped pecans and 3/4 c. chopped apricots.

 

Bake at 350 degrees about 8-10 minutes until done.

 

We've also been making lots of jam with our summer berries. First I made ollalaberry and it was so amazing. Then I made strawberry and its good but not as good I don't think. The kids love it anyway though and I don't think I can even eat store bought jam now.

 

Our weather all summer and now continuing on has been cold and cloudy and foggier than usual even. I've been wondering what has happened the the usual Indian Summer that we usually have in September and October and sometimes even into November. Now yesterday all the sudden the sun peeked out and it was gorgeous. We went tide pooling after church with some friends in order to enjoy it a little. Today is supposed to be almost 80 degrees which is almost unheard of here! 80 degrees here feels like 95 degrees in a drier climate! Maybe we'll have time to go to the beach. Hope so. Maybe our warm weather is just coming a month late. By next weekend its supposed to be 60 degrees again though.

 

I've been busy with my calling, feeling utterly humbled and out of place serving in the Relief Society Presidency. I absolutely love Relief Society though so I am glad to be there.

Hope you are doing well and enjoying your October! Can't believe its already October! I love the fall even though it usually doesn't feel like fall here.

Happy Birthday Albert!

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband!

Here we were when we first met and little did I know I would someday marry that boy!

I'm so glad I did. We aren't perfect but we are perfect for each other.

I hope he enjoys his gifts of a new jacket and shorts, the movie Mormons and Mobsters, and tickets to the BYU game. Micah and I made some pretty awesome cupcakes for him and we played Chinese checkers as a family. I also organized and cleaned his chest of drawers and closet as another gift to him. I love this man and hope he had a nice birthday.

A few pics...

 The kids have been LOVING to roller blade. They do it in front of the house or across the street at the track. That was probably one of their favorite things to do this summer and still do when they find the time. Here is Linnea rollerblading.

I finally got a picture of Micah actually looking at the camera without closing his eyes for a picture! Yay! Hope this will be a trend. Isn't this the cutest picture? I think so. (: He is three and wants to go to preschool but I'm putting it off for a bit. I love spending my days with him! He is so fun and such a good little guy.

Tide Pools with Our Chinese Girls

In July and August we hosted two Chinese girls. They were here going to school in Pebble Beach, studying English and learning about American history, as well as visiting some of the sites California has to offer. It was so much fun to have them stay in our home and get to know them and learn a little bit about Chinese culture and language. We will miss Susan and Yi.

Micah always closes his eyes when I take a picture!

Susan and Yi were very interested in the tide pools and finding treasures there. They both live in big cities and are not used to all the nature we have here. They were enthralled.

 Unfortunately the tide was really high the whole three weeks they were with us during the day. Low tide was during the middle of the night. However, we still found lots of hermit crabs and some big crabs and sea anemones. They loved finding those things. This is Susan with her tidepool treasures.

 Yi is wearing the hair bow. Yi is 12 and Susan is 11. They became quick friends with Gavin and then when Linnea came home from Girls Camp, they also became friends. They loved painting nails with Linnea and playing with their i pad. Gavin and the girls loved playing tag.

Gavin finding cool things.

 Linnea looking pretty.

Snorkling and 4th of July comments

This is Gavin and his friend, Lily from a couple of weeks ago at the beach. Lily's Dad is a diver and brought snorkeling gear for the kids and took them out snorkeling. Gavin LOVED it and that's an understatement.

I'm sad that we didn't get any pictures of our Fourth of July yesterday. Jacen still hasn't taken the Fiji pictures off the camera and I'm afraid to use it and have something happen to them. I will probably do it for him though because we need to take the camera to Bass Lake this weekend. It was a very fun filled day even without fireworks (which are banned and there are no shows around here either). We started with a 5k run for me (I was very happy with a 23:10 time, 7:28 pace) and then a nutritious breakfast with our ward at the greatest-park-ever, Dennis the Menace Park, and a 1k run for the kids and families. Micah ran the whole way and Gavin led the pack. We played at the park and then headed off to the parade. Thank goodness Monterey had a return of their parade. It wasn't quite as good as it has been in years past but I'm not going to complain. At least it was a Fourth of July parade. AND it was pretty cool when the Navy SEALS dropped from an airplane in parachutes on the lawn of Colton Hall. Cool. We came home and the kids played with friends and then we headed down the street to a friend's house for a barbeque/pool party. It was a cloudy, cool day so it was great that their pool was indoor. We were exhausted and glad to get into bed early after watching Albert interviewed on television about what its like to celebrate Independence Day as a Latino. As usual, the kids will wait until the local Feast of Lanterns for their fireworks at the end of the month. I'm so grateful to be an American and enjoy the freedoms that are ours. I don't take them for granted. At least I try not to. I think its noble and I am proud that America stands for freedom, no matter who or where. No matter if the oppressed is on our soil or not. I'm proud of that. And I pray that God will continue to bless America.

Future Missionaries

Here is another picture from Fiji..future missionaries.

This trip has been like a little mini mission filled with fun and tons of service and has been a spiritual boon to Jacen. I'm so glad that he could go. He comes home on Thursday night!

A few Fiji Pictures

 Jacen had a couple of awesome days on a small island that he said was like paradise before boating back to the main island and then busing across to where they would be working the remainder of the trip. Jacen said that the bus ride was long and difficult and this picture shows why. (: I guess they had to push it out of the mud. I was amazed that it rains SO much in Fiji. In the month of June they average 8-9 inches of rain! They get way more in one month than we get all year. No wonder it gets muddy. (Jacen is the one in the dark orange shirt.)

 Here is a picture of the whole group. I love that Jacen looks so happy. (:

 Last night they went to the temple. Jacen is in the middle/left of this picture but he's behind a girl's head. Too bad we can't see him in the picture but I'm so glad that he got to go to the temple there! What a great experience.

Jacen isn't in this picture but this boy is one of his group working with native Fijians. It shows the work that Jacen is also doing.