Mendocino and Friends

We had such a delightful surprise the other day when Dwight and Karen Nelson stopped by on their way back to the Sacramento airport. Dwight had spoken at the inauguration of Heather Knight at PUC.

Next enjoy the pictures of the fantastic orchid on Hanna's patio. This plant doesn't look like much most of the year, but wow, it sure
is beautiful when it blooms. Next, we took cousins from Germany to the Mendocino coast last Friday. We stopped at the Navarro Winery to get

some of their wonderful grape juice (yes, real grape juice) I took these fun pics of the newly born lamb. Notice that in the one pic the umbilical cord is still visible. We then continued on to Mendocino, which is one of our favorite destinations and just shot some fun pics of seagulls, cormorants, family, flowers, and my beautiful bride. Hope you enjoy the pics half as much as we enjoyed the day. Have a good day yourselves right now!

Sorry for the absence!

OK, I know it's been too long, but I really have been very, very busy! Obviously that means that I should be posting more so that you would know what I have been busy doing, but I do tend to procrastinate just a wee bit. So, let me show you just a few pics of late activities. We have had two cousins and spouses from Germany with us for the past week and a half. One of the couples has never been to the U.S. before and the other only once. They don't feel like venturing out on their own with a car so we have squeezed in as much as possible with them and have had a great time. These pics will show just some of the activities which include a trip to Ukiah where you will see some of the cherry blossoms (note the busy bee), the sheep, and a fun little lizard. Also I took off a day to go to a ball game between the Oakland A's and my Seattle Mariners. Yeah, we lost, but I included a pic of Ichiro about to hit the ball. We did hit a day of perfect weather in SF and enjoyed walking across the bridge. That night we BBQ'd some really great salmon,if I do say so myself. One pic shows the group after the crossing and looking just a bit weary! They will still be here for another week and a half, but will be in Ukiah for much of that time. God has blessed us with such a great family and so many other things to be thankful for. I hope your life is equally blessed.

What A Gorgeous Place To Live!

Another beautiful Sabbath afternoon and we headed for SF once again. Seems like we are making a habit out of this, but there are so many areas to explore and every one of them is special. We began by hiking along the coast starting at the USS SF Memorial. There is a great trail down to a labyrinth overlooking the ocean. That must have taken a lot of work to make. We then hiked up (and up and up some 500 steps in all) to the Cartier Exhibit Hall and then back to the car. Then we drove over to the north side of the Golden Gate and up the road to where it becomes one way. There are some really neat tunnels and gun placements to explore and just such wonderful scenery. These pics were taken from that site. Note the fantastic strata formations in the rock. Our friends JC Buller and Andrea Clarke (husband and wife and both physicians in our church) were with us and then we capped off the evening with a lovely dinner at Piatti's in Mill Valley. Did we have fun? Yup, I think we did. I should note that these pics were taken with my iphone and not my regular camera.

The Birthday Party

Well, this was the day of the birthday boy! We did all kinds of things for his enjoyment. We went to the Chinatown Coffee Company where he got the gourmet hot chocolate and you can see that he enjoyed it. We went and saw the dinosaurs at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We had dinner again at the Old Ebbitt Grill, where they let Beck be the honorary Maitre 'd (see the pic) and had a spectacular chocolate birthday cake delivered and then came back to the hotel for a surprise decorated room with dinosaur decorated cupcakes and presents. Yes, it was a Beck day, but we all had fun! Wish you could have been here!

Singin' In the Rain

Well, it was a bit wet, but that didn't stop us from having any fun for sure. We had a relaxing morning and then went down to the Museum of American History. We saw Julia Child's Kitchen, a wonderful experimental play area for kids which Inge found "electrifying," we ate at the Old Ebbitt Grill and walked past the White House. Now we're back at the hotel and the kids are wired for sure, but that's what we came for. Tomorrow will be more of the same and we're looking forward to it. Tune in for the latest news! Notice the flag. That is the original that flew over Ft. McHenry and inspired our National Anthem.

A Fun Day Back East

We have arrived in Washington, D.C. and, as you might expect, we are having a blast! We are now with all the kids and grandkids and debating which part of the Smithsonian we want to see today. On Thursday we went to visit a friend of Julies, Margaret Hluch, who is a wonderful artist with woven artwork. Her husband, Kevin, works with clay, but all free formed and no wheel. They have this marvelous place in Frederick, Maryland that was a dance hall and entertainment center for blacks. Ike and Tina Turner performed there. The building was left abandoned for decades and was pretty well destroyed when they bought it, renovated it and made their studios downstairs and their marvelous home upstairs. You will see pictures of their work and one picture of Julie, Ingrid, and Margaret. This is amazing art! You can also see the molds Kevin uses for lids and trays. Many of them came from China. We had a great day here!

San Francisco Beauty

The past two Sabbath afternoons we have gone down to the area around Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and the Cliff House Restaurant. The first time was the day after the Chile earthquake and we were looking out over the ocean at the time any tsunami activity was due. We saw the most spectacular wave action clear out on the horizon. Unfortunately I did not have my camera at that moment. Last Sabbath we simply hiked along the coastal trails and soaked in some much needed sunshine. We have determined that we need to make more time to enjoy God's beauty all around us. Life is short! I hope you enjoy the pics with us.