Magnificent Water

Our "Summer List" of all the fun things we want to do over our break has been created! On the very top, is seeing the massive amount of water in Yosemite. This has been an incredible snow year. Just 1 month ago our yard was covered with snow.

So as not to miss the height of the waterfalls in Yosemite, we packed the bicycles and a picnic lunch and headed to one of the most beautiful places in the world! It was inspiring.... the river was rushing and overflowing its banks, the water falls were enormous leaving us wet from their spray, the colors of spring were still everywhere with all the shades of green as if spring had just begun and wildflowers galore .

Josiah reminded us how lucky we are to be mere minutes from a National Park. While others may only get to see it once in their life time..... we get to experience it time and again, in all its seasons! And perhaps, by taking it in, piece by piece, each time we visit, you experience its grandeur even more!

It was good to be in this place!

Breakfast in Bed

Introducing the 2 silliest girls on the planet that you just cannot help yourself to love until your sides split!!

One special summer morning, these 2 sillies were sweet enough to bring their Mommy breakfast in bed. Although I loved it dearly, it was not the breakfast that endeared them to my hearts, but their words!

So I thought ..... these I must record!

"Mommy, we made this surprise all by ourselves.... Daddy said we could!"

"Do you know HOW we made these eggs so lovely?? We cooked them on "off" for most the time!"

"The only bad part of this delightful surprise .... is the kitchen!"

"We were thinking about cleaning up the kitchen too.... but we thought that making breakfast was enough!"

Gotta Love it!!

Let the fun begin...

Oh, I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic summer!! We spent our first few days on the lake being positively giddy. The girls tried just about every skiing instrument we had in the boat.... surf board, wake board, skies, doubles surfing, and just plain dragging on the rope! Summer has just begun and already Josiah is cutting in and out of the wake on her doubles!!

Exciting stuff!!

I can't wait to dive into all the fun adventures we hope to have this summer!!

Swim Lessons

Look out YLP, North Fork is taking over the pool!

To ease into our summer fun, we planned swim lessons with some of the buddies! It was fun to learn and then spend of rest of the day splashing and playing!

Last Day of School

In our house the last day of school is celebrated... not because we dislike school, on the contrary, we love school and will miss all our great teachers.... we just love the freedom from the schedule that school creates!! So, it was fitting that on the last day of school Billy Beam Day was celebrated with lots of games, water and sweet treats!!

A perfect ending to a great school year!

Kindergarten Graduation

Our sweet AdieBear is a Kindergarten Graduate! She looked so adorable in her little green cap and gown. And all her family was there to celebrate with her. But if you asked Adalie her favorite part of Kindergarten Graduation, it would be that her Daddy read all about her!

When Seth found out he was elected as a school board member, his first words were... "I will get to do the Kindergarten Graduation!" And when it was Adalie's turn to receive her diploma, he may have been a little bit biased when he said she was the most special of all the graduates today... or at least his very favorite!

So to Adalie who has learned so many things this year, we celebrate you!

Adalie Waltner is 5 years old and she lives on Sierra Linda. She likes to play with her sister. Her favorite color is blue. Her favorite food is pizza. Her favorite places to go are Disneyland and the water park. Her favorite rides are Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain. When she grows up she wants to be a flower girl. Her favorite flower is lupine. She says, "It is fun being a flower girl."

Note: a "flower girl" is someone to takes care of pretty flowers!

Open House

It seems that yet another year has flown by. Tonight we celebrated all the hard work and all the fun had in Mrs. Durrell's second grade class and Mrs. G's Kindergarten class.
How bittersweet!
How we will miss our crafts with Mrs. Nolen and Mr. Durrell. We will miss the smile of Mrs. G. We will miss the candor of Mrs. Durrell. Yet I am overcome with gratitude as a look over the last year and see how God has been faithful in answering our prayers.
We have spent a year praying over these girls as they left our home each morning, as they learned their academic subjects, grew in their friendships, experienced life lessons and gained independence. We have prayed for their protection from the tops of their heads to the bottoms of their feet (physical, mental and spiritual), we have prayed for wisdom in relationships, we have prayed for grace and patience, but most of all we have prayed that these girls would have their eyes open to see the one friend who needed their love that day.
God is faithful.
He is guiding, teaching, protecting and blessing!

Ut Oh

In just 1 week's time, Josiah went from learning to ride a motorcycle, to racing on "Lil Okey" track and winning 2nd place!

I think we may be in trouble!!

Adalie also learned to ride ... watch out!

The girls' friend Turner was not only gracious in loaning his championship bike, he had a pocket full of riding tips too! He is a sweet encourager!