Camping at Bass Lake

We spent a night camping at Bass Lake and had a great time. The week we had reservations, we opened up the trailer to discover that the mice had not only visited our trailer during the winter, but lived in it. Without enough time to clean all that up, we borrowed a tent from our neighbors. The kids thought it was pretty fun to camp in a tent since they hadn't ever done that before.

We sat around an old grill for dinner since the picnic table was in the hot sun.

After dinner, we went to Miller's for milkshakes then walked out on the dam.

Back at our campsite, we had a campfire.

The next day, we met up with friends and hiked the Angel's Falls trail. It was beautiful.

We enjoyed a view of the lake on the way back, then got a well-earned dinner together at the Forks.

Fifty Years

We got to celebrate Dad and Mom's fiftieth anniversary with them. I made a cake and Heather organized a basket with things that remind us of family memories.

Mary made a banner.

 

Happy anniversary!

April Showers

Joshua spent a week on study leave with our friend, Ian, so the kids and I spent the week at Dad and Mom's house. It started raining one afternoon, and the kids quickly got soaked and had a grand time running around in the warm spring rain.

Dad had lots of help with his project of replacing the garbage disposal.

Hannah was very excited that she's just barely tall enough to ride the bike with training wheels.

We spent an afternoon visiting at the Trevinos' house, and Heather made us hot and cold orange matcha lattes to sample. It was a lot of fun, and although it wasn't my new favorite drink, I did like the hot version.

 We helped Dad and Mom pick the rest of the grapefruit that was left on their trees. There was a lot. We had a fun week, but were glad to return home and see Joshua again.

We also got to go boating with Mary Mellon and Christina the day we returned.

Weekend Storm

A big storm blew in bringing thunder, lightning, and hail. The kids were excited to catch the hail and show us how big it was.

Sunday morning, we woke up to snow.

The kids hurried out to play in the snow before church knowing it would probably be melted by the time we got home.

Happy Easter

We celebrated Easter at our house this year, which was unusual but pleasant.

Dave and Gayle came up for the weekend to celebrate with us.

The kids enjoyed the egg hunt after church, and they all found lots of eggs.

We enjoyed lots of good food including charcuterie for lunch on the wooden cutting boards and bowls Dad made and prime rib for dinner.

 We made a scavenger hunt for the kids to find their Easter baskets.

Quilting Retreat 2

We enjoyed attending our second quilting retreat and did lots of sewing.

Hannah enjoyed sewing with Leslie, a family friend from Modesto.

 Mary finished her quilt top and did the quilting herself. I was able to finish the project I started at the first quilting retreat too.

George's Falls Adventure

We decided to hike to George's Falls for a picnic lunch. Even though we had heard there was a lot of debris in Sherwood after the big snow storm, it was pretty shocking to see all the branches and trees down.

As expected, there were also trees and branches down over the trail.

We climbed over, under, and around a number of trees.

It was quite the adventure. David lead the way through most of the time, and the kids had fun trying to figure out how to navigate each obstacle. 

Eventually we decided it was taking too long, so we didn't go all the way to the falls.

 We found a pleasant spot by the river and enjoyed our picnic and wading there.

Fun in March

David and Mary both lost a tooth in the same week.

Dad and Mom kicked off the celebration by coming up for a visit the day before my birthday.

Joshua smoked meat, so we had a feast for birthday dinner.

Abby made Hannah a crown after church.

Hannah's clavicle fully healed, so no more brace or restrictions.

Mary lost another tooth, so now she and David are missing the same front tooth.

The kids found a bare spot of ground under their pile of leaves and decided to plant a garden there.

A Full House

The kids and I went to visit Dad and Mom while Joshua was at the CCCA conference, and the Trevino kids were staying with them too while Jonah and Michelle were at a different conference. Mom had quite the group for a bedtime story.

Mary enjoyed doing her school at this little desk in the sewing room with Emery.

We helped Dad pick up wood from his neighbor's house and stack firewood.