August Highlights

Although we didn't take any big family vacations this summer, I do feel like our summer was quite full. July was quite eventful and I think I blogged mostly then about what we were doing. Well, here are the events that happened since then.


Girls night out to John Mayer concert. Courtesy of my very good friend, Charlotte. We had a ball. What fashion gals we are in our shades!!

Andrew turned 21 and came down for 4 days from Portland. We celebrated at Blue Water Grill in the District. Here are my cute boys...Andrew in the middle. And no, he only drank Lemonade and water that night.
I can't leave out Calvary's Camp Surf. That was definitely a highlight! We had a great time in our little motor home in Leo Carillo campgrounds. Alison, Patty and I were quite comfy in our home away from home, especially Patty who had the master suite. I still can't get over the Sains' tent trailor looking like a 7/11 Store. Here is a cute picture of Christian and one of his favorite persons on the planet, Josh, jr. high pastor.

This was a very fun night at Simon LA in Beverly Hills. This was the Sodaro Winery dinner event put on by Dave's Uncle, who owns the winery in Napa. We actually stayed the night up there at the Sofitel Hotel after a wonderful day of lunching at Sofi's and strolling down 3rd street and Farmer's Market. Lots of eating that day!!

NASCAR day!! Here is my little man and my little lamb at the California Speedway last Sunday. We all were rooting for different drivers, Christian rooted for Denny Hamlin (sorry dude, no Denny hats for sale). Jeffrey Y. rooted for Dale jr., my husband, Jeffrey rooted for Carl Edwards and me, Jimmie Johnson....who, ahem, won the race that night...but I don't want to brag or anything.

Siamese twins attached at the curls

I just thought this was a very cute picture of my youngest son, Christian and his friend Samuel. They often get mistaken for each other and they love that!! I told them the other day as they were glued to Christian's new Wii game, Rock Band, that their band name should be the "Poodle Heads". Chloe could be their mascot.

Jonathan got home last night from England with a huge burrito from Chipotle's. He had been dreaming of that burrito for a long time, I'm sure. They had an incredible time and Jonathan made alot new friends and really saw God at work.

Andrew flies in tomorrow from Portland. I haven't seen him since April. We're all very excited to spend some time with him. He flies home Monday night as he is a busy working man now. He's 21 now....wow, when did that happen? Aren't I too young to have a child that old? Oh, I guess not.

Comings and Goings

Goings....


Yesterday was bittersweet. I dropped off a very excited Jonathan for his missions trip to England. We were so very blessed that the Lord made it possible for him to go. It was lead by pastor Brian Broderson and a great team of leaders with 75 teenagers from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. They met in the parking lot at Calvary Chapel then boarded 2 buses and on to LAX. Today they arrived at Heathrow at 11am boarding buses for an approximate 4-5 hour drive to Woolacombe.

Tomorrow (July 26) they will have an outreach in Exeter all day.

July 27-31 Outreach/preparation/set up for "Creation Fest". This is basically a concert of various rock musicians...both from Jon's team and local Christian artists, with testimonies and a Evangelical message.

Aug. 1-3 CREATION FEST EVENT

Aug. 4 Tear down of Creation Fest

Aug. 5 Drive to Kingston University (just outside of London)

Aug. 6 London

Aug. 7 Fly out of London Heathrow arriving at LAX at 7:30pm.

Comings....

And Christian is back from his mission trip with the jr. high group. He had lots of stories to tell me about and felt he could have stayed there longer. They traveled to a place called "Rainbow Acres" in Flagstaff, AZ. It is a functioning ranch run by mentally disabled adults who live and work on the ranch. Christian said that he and the jr. high group did various chores and duties with the sole intention of serving the ranchers, who were "amazingly awesome". His favorite person was "Matt" who loved to talk and was fun to be around.

For a suprise treat for the kids, the Calvary staff took them to a natural water slide place in Sedona where they had fun in the water and a picnic. And to think he didn't even miss his wii or his ipod! Will wonders ever cease?

Wonderful Girl's Getaway

We headed out on our road trip Thursday morning and headed up to San Francisco and Napa by way of highway 5. After we came down the Grape Vine I started to notice something very strange! I didn't recall tract homes on the 5...we're they new??? Then to my horror I noticed that we were actually on the 99. I have done that drive a million times, how is that possible that I got on the wrong fwy and ended up in Bakersfield? After stopping off to get directions back as to the fastest way to 5, we were soon on the right track again. 4 1/2 hours later we were happily in SF at our hotel, the Galleria Park. We then met Nancy's sister, Marcia and her husband Walt for a delicious dinner at the Fog City Diner. The highlight for me in the city, however, was the trip to the open market at the Ferry Building on Saturday morning....Amazing! We were happy girls...especially when we got our tarts at the Frog Hollow Bakery. I am truly still dreaming of that place. Thank you, Nance!! After that awesome experience we headed up to Sonoma. We carbed out at a great local little Mexican place called the Hacienda right by our hotel in preparation for our 1/2 marathon the next morning.

Race day started out chilly....I hated having to part with my flimsy little jacket that I checked in before the start. But knew it would be long forgotten after the first extremely steep hill right at the beginning known as the "butt burner". The race was awesome. The Lord definitely shines his face down on that part of the world...beautiful. Needless to say,I ran the whole way stopping a few times to take a few sips of Gatorade. By mile 12 I was in serious pain....where the heck was that finish line???

We did it! What is quite comical is that not only do you get your finisher metal, but your commerative wine country 1/2 marathon wine glass and all the wine you want....after running 13.1 miles wine was the last thing I wanted, especially at 9:30 in the morning!! We opted instead for the free 10 minute leg and foot massage that we had to stand in line an hour for. That afternoon we hung by the pool, had awesome pedicures at the hotel, ate dinner in our room and watched a "chick flick" then it was lights out. The next morning was our long drive home. One perk to that was that we stopped in San Francisco and had breakfast with my long time friend, Steven Oliver, who I have known since my college days.

We had great weekend. We will most definitely do this race next year, and will have to add on another day to the trip.

Which is your personal favorite?

My latest obsession has been frozen yogurt. I try and try to restrain myself, but I do indulge every few days. My numero uno favorite is Pinkberry...oh, I know about the law suit and all that. They're not really a yogurt because their a culture short of being legally called "yogurt" or something like that. Sorry, but do regular people really care? There are so many other things to worry about these days...sigh. I love the original plain with or without topping. If I am feeling nostalgic I most certain will get it with carob chips. That brings back memories of my youth when frozen yogurt first came out and the only toppings were pretty much fruit, carob chips, peanuts or granola. I guess nobody had thought of putting Oreo's, M&M's, cookie dough, gummy bears, etc...yet. What's your favorite?

I am heading up to Sonoma tomorrow with my best friend, Nancy. We're running the Napa to Somoma 1/2 Marathon! Pray for us two "old gals"!!!

I Married a Car Fanatic

Does anyone have one of these? I have literally lost count on how many little cars suddenly appear in my drive way. The majority of these are vintage Porsches. My husband drove home a couple of days ago in a little white 912 which means the brown one will be leaving shortly. He thrives on this. Today we're going down to Dana Point and staying the night at the Marriott. There is some big vintage Porsche extravaganza going on this weekend to which Jeff is heavily involved in. He has made it worth my while as he is springing for a 50 minute massage for me at 1:30 and dinner (with 20 other vintage Porsche fanatics) at one of my favorite restaurants, Jack's in Dana Point http://www.jacksdp.com/. Tomorrow morning I plan on getting up early and running on the Beach and then catching the second service at Capo Beach Calvary, where Peter-John Coursin is the teaching pastor. After church the Porsche car show should be in full swing on the front lawn of the Laguna Cliffs Marriott. I will pretty much be on my own on Sunday as Jeff will be directing traffic, organizing, solving people's problems and going a 100 miles an hour. Hopefully, I will be able to pin him down for lunch at the catered buffett and then I will head home making a quick stop at Plant Depot in San Juan Capistrano (just to look, of course)....and then back home to normal routine. I do love doing short little weekend trips like this. Well, better go pack!

My baby is back from Camp

We picked up my sweet boy, Christian, Saturday evening from his week at camp. And just as we thought, he had no money, he was exhausted, had a really interesting odor to him and had the time of his life! He immediately jumped into the shower which I am sure was 35 minutes long. After that he gave me a blow by blow account of his wonderful week of being up in the mountains in the midst of fun and frolic with his friends. His counselor was his Jr. High school pastor, Josh, who Christian views as pretty much the most awesome person on the planet! He roomed with some great boys from church and in his view all got along great including his best friend from babyhood, Joe F. I am so glad that he loved it. When asked why he never bothered to call home, he merely answered...."Why"?

Who needs Daphne's?

Okay, here is my latest lunch obsession. First of all, besides Mexican food I absolutely love Greek/Mediterranean food. Bring on the hummus and Kalamata olives! Besides loving food I am always trying to look for ways to cut calories and fat. Daphne's Greek Cafe has this amazing chicken sandwich in a pita that I can't seem to stay clear of for very long. But when I looked at the nutrition guide on this particular item I fell off my chair...well, not really but close. I then decided to make my own version of this. Checking out pita breads was my first challenge. The best one in my opinion is the Western Bagel Alternative Pita, being very low in calories and fat, and really high in fiber. I then smear Tzatsiki sauce from Trader Joe's (cucumber and yogurt sauce) on top of the pita, then place cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, a few Kalamata's, and avocado slices on top of the sauce....Delicious and filling!!