Don't it make you wanna smile?

Brooke loves the camera, and the camera seems to love her, too. Photos of her always make me want to smile! We thank God for our precious youngest daughter (and for the 3 older ones, too!).

Pier Birds

One of our favorite spots whenever we are back in So. Cal. is the Redondo Beach pier. Always full of interesting sights (like the birds below - blue heron and pelican), and they've got the best churros around!

"Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world..."

The girls have learned to love the Beach Boys, so it is not surprising that they're favorite pasttime now when we are in CA is boogie boarding! This is Elise catching one of her waves. She seems to have a great eye and good patience in picking out the waves to catch and the ones to skip. Grace, on the other hand, just walks down into the water and stares at giant waves with utter delight and absolutely no fear. Her comment of the day: Whenever I see a wave I remember that God made them!

The Great Haboob of 2011

Fortunately, or unfortunately (would have been amazing to see this!), we were too busy enjoying the beach in CA when the great haboob of 2011 hit the Phoenix area a few days ago. Take a look at this amazing time-lapse video of the storm hitting.

* Haboob is the Arabic term for a dust storm, and the term that is generally used in Phoenix for some reason.

Sunset at the Redondo Beach Pier

One of our must-do family outings whenever we are privileged to spend a little time back in the South Bay area is to head on down to the pier in Redondo Beach to watch the sunset, check out the fishing action, and enjoy one of the wonderful churros. We went a couple of nights ago with some of our extended family and couldn't have enjoyed it more!

the sun setting over the pier

Janelle & the girls with her mom, brother, & niece

love to colors at sunset!

Grace gives our pier visit a thumbs-up!

Cow Appreciation Day 2011

With appreciation for good, clean humor and the need to be able to laugh at yourself (and let others do the same!), the extended family headed off to Chick-Fil-A today for the 2011 Cow Appreciation Day. I had my favorite - the spicy chicken sandwich deluxe, yet as tasty as it was, I am not certain what was mor enjoyable - the food, or making people in the mall laugh as we made our way to & from CFA!

10 Awesome Years

We hit a milestone last week: 10 years of marriage! The traditional & modern gift for 10 years of marriage may be tin, but for us it was golden. Our good friends the Phillips & Driggers graciously watched the girls for the night, allowing us to enjoy not only a rare date, but an even rarer night away. God blessed us with an awesome find - The Inn at Eagle Mountain, located in Fountain Hills AZ. For under $100 we enjoyed a spacious room with a great view, nice balcony, gas fireplace, and oversized jacuzzi tub, along with a heated outdoor pool & jacuzzi a couple minutes from our door. If we were golfers, we had a gorgeous course just a few feet away, as well. But for the non-golfers, the cart paths are open for walking & jogging and are as scenic as they are tranquil. Of course, it was most enjoyable simply because we were together, and we had the awesome privilege of celebrating 10 wonderful years together! A happy anniversary, indeed!