Staff Reunion Retreat

We had our first annual summer staff reunion retreat the weekend between Christmas and New Years. It was a great time to reconnect and enjoy seeing some of the staff from last summer.

Christmas

Christmas began on Monday morning with Christmas breakfast and presents in front of our tree.

We drove to Modesto later in the morning. David brought along his new baseball glove and ball so he could play catch with Joshua.

We had a charcuterie board for Christmas Eve lunch.

The kids went to O'Brien's with Dave and Joshua for some last minute shopping before dinner with Joy and the kids. They had fun riding in the firetruck.

Photo: Heather

 We finished off the celebration with Christmas lunch, gifts, and dinner at Mom and Dad's house, along with the annual tradition of picking ornaments made by Dad.

Feeling Festive

We made a weekend trip to Modesto to watch Solace and Amari in the Nutcracker. The kids got to put their bells on the Christmas tree when we arrived.

We enjoyed watching Solace and Amari perform.

Back at home, we made shortbread cookies.

One day while we were out for a walk, we stopped to talk to Katie and Joel, and Katie invited the kids to jump in the pile of leaves they were raking up.

 Painting Christmas ornaments.

George's Falls Trail

The outdoor ed team, along with some chainsaw work by the maintenance team, cleared the George's Falls trail. This was exciting because it's one of my favorite trails in the area, but it had gotten overgrown to the point of being difficult to find and follow. We went out one afternoon to see the progress and helped clear sticks and needles off the trail.

We loved getting to help with the project.

After it was cleared, we hiked all the way out to George's Falls. It was a long hike for the kids and ended up getting pretty chilly in the forest, but we made it all the way to the falls and back and had a good time. It was so fun to be on the trail again.

Christmas Tree Hunt

We trekked through the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree.

The kids and I had a mini tree hunt to find little trees the following day.

We brought the tree in and put the lights on, and it looked so pretty and festive.

 We borrowed a bunch of Christmas picture books from Heather.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving first with the Kerrs, then the Chandlers.

The kids got to help decorate the sliding door.

After dinner, Mom gave the kids the pajamas she made this year.

November Happenings

We got a pop up trailer and spent some time cleaning it and fixing it up.

Hannah loves the rain boots she got for her birthday.

We studied ancient Egypt in school, and Mary and David made mummies.

They even made their own spice blends to spice the mummies before wrapping them up.

We enjoyed the first snow of the season.

All the leaves fell off our tree at once and looked beautiful, especially covered in frost.

We made a trip to Modesto, and David loved helping make dinner.

David drew a picture of dinosaurs, complete with lots of sharp teeth and food in their tummies.

Mary lost her first tooth.

We picked rose hips and made rose hip syrup.

We enjoyed a rainy day walk and puddle stomping.

Yosemite

Dad and Mom came up for a visit and took us to Yosemite. It was a beautiful day.

There wasn't much water in the waterfalls and it was pretty cold, but there weren't many people there and the fall colors were beautiful.

We had a picnic lunch and watched the climbers on El Capitan. The kids loved walking along the logs.

In the afternoon, we stopped by a museum and hiked to Yosemite falls.

We got some great views of Half Dome along the way.

It was the kids' first time in Yosemite, and we all had a wonderful day.

On the way home, we enjoyed a pretty sunset.