LAKE TAHOE SKI TRIP

This is our last day of skiing, our knees were throbbing, we were sweating, our aderenline had been pumping, but we had huge smiles because we just had a blast taking on the slopes!!

Seth did so great on the Snowboard....he was able to pick it back up very fast.

This was after a wipeout, I was really hot trying to get BOTH my skis back on :)

On the shuttle to the Gondala to take us up the mountain to go skiing!

Getting ready for our second day of skiing, not as many layers this day. We got way too hot yesterday! There was one guy skiing backward down in this boxer briefs....he wanted attention!

This is our view of Lake Tahoe from the Heavenly ski slopes.

Getting ready to eat lunch, they had a band playing as you would eat a 10.00 hamburger ( we weren't eating a hamburger though...too much money)

Snow Bunny

Seth is getting ready to take on the California slope, if we went the other way we would be skiing on the Nevada Slopes.

I just love this guy!

Well, we had a blast!!!! Lake Tahoe was very beautiful, the water looked different each day we were there, but it is known for its blue blue water. We went skiing for two days, and stayed at a really nice ski resort for an incredible deal...due to the last weekend of ski season and great deals they were offering!!!! Seth snowboarded while I skied. On our first day we practiced on some bunny slopes, then we were ready to hit the Blues (because there were no greeens) We asked for the easiest one to go down first, and we were misadvised. This Blue was right under the ski lift, and I could already tell that I wasn't liking what I saw up ahead. Yes, there were Moguls...icy moguls...and I had a good wipeout! One of my ski was left behind ( above me on the crunchy icy snow), my husband was below me just watching ( I am sure with a smile), and I also had an audience from above on the ski lift. I literally had to crawl up the Moguls, slide back down, crawl again....I stretched so hard to reach the ski. I finally got my ski, tried and tried to get it back on but since I was on such a steep slope I could get an weight to push down to pop my ski back on. I ended up sliding down on my rear over the Moguls as my ski lift audience gave me words of encouragment....yes....yes....kind of embarrassing :)

However, the rest of the day went really well. The slopes weren't very crowded, which made our ski time more active due to no lines and low ski traffic. Seth and I asked each other when we got so old, because our knees were killing us....good thing I remembered to bring the Advil!!! We ate at a sushi restaurant that evening, we loved it! We ordered the sunburn roll....amazing....it also matched our sunburned faces. The next day we found some new blue routes that were really fun, we got more adventurous our second day of skiing. Seth tried some jumps, and conquered a few and wiped out as well...both were fun for me to watch :) We ate Red Hut Waffle for breakfast, which is like the E's Inn for Lake Tahoe. On our way home we listened to "The Broker", stopped at TJMaxx, and got a sandwich at Safeway. Overall, we made some wonderful memories and had a perfect trip! What a blessing!

BERKLEY AND BLONDIES PIZZA

We just sat at this little table and we were able to look out a open window and watch college life pass us by. I told Seth that we could fit in...but I need to feel more stressed, like I need to not be able to fully enjoy the Pizza because I need to be worrying about a Chem quiz coming up next class :) We were too relaxed to be college students...and I will take it the relaxation any day!

This is what you see as it sets above all other buildings, it is the bell tower. This sounded like MSU bells, that sounded at lunch time.

We were told that we had to try Blondies Pizza, it is just a college pizza joint...but it had a great atmosphere and good pizza! We just drove around Berkley campus, it was very different from Stanford....much more like Missouri State in the look of the campus. We were in that area because Seth had to get his fingerprints made for the Florida licence that we are getting ready to send in. We stopped at an Any Mountain store and bought me some warm gloves for our ski trip to Lake Tahoe.

STANFORD BIKE DAY!

View from the top of the Hoover tower.

Sue and I riding bikes around the round about in front of the Hoover Tower.

Snuck a picture with a girl after she just got done taking her horse out for a ride.

We should have taken off our long sleeves and we could have matched and been Christmas colors....oh man. Our matching shirts are green and our bikes are red :)

This was Diamond...and she wanted a treat!

This is in front of the bells that play about three times a month. However the are broken right now :(

This is at the top of Hoover Tower....named after Herbert Hoover.

Trying to show my husband that I am strong....I might have gained a few inches...but he still has big muscles :) We are in front of the Gates of Hell....very interesting piece of work.

This is where I would have been married if I went to Stanford!!!! It was a beautiful courtyard!

If Seth would have taken off that black long sleeve shirt...he would have matched his wife that day...we bought matching shirts at Yosemite and we would have had the same shirt and same bike that day...it was adorable in my head! Seth lucked out because it was kind of chili that day, so he had an excuse to keep on the black shirt. Though deep down I knew he wanted to match me :) Do you see Sue's cute bike behind us!

It was weird being on a college campus again...and I don't think it should feel weird just yet. Maybe it was the beauty and atmosphere that Stanford had, I just felt smarter being there :) Seth and I rented bikes (Stanford is very biker friendly) and Sue and her boyfriend Luise ( sorry if I spelled your name wrong...my spelling is what kept me from getting into Stanford...haha) ,..... who did actually go to Stanford, brought their own bikes. Sue had an adorable seafoam green bike and her outfit matched her bike, Debbie you would have loved how they matched :) We visited some art work that was on campus, we watched potential Olympic divers practicing between the ages of 8-14 I would guess. That was very interesting, they actually use the trampoline with the harness that pulls you up higher when you jump to help them practice their diving. As well as diving boards that go into a pit of mats. We went up to the top of the Hoover tower, that had a beautiful view of the campus and the bay! We rode over to the stables and got to pet the horses...but after we went through the stables we noticed a sign....guess what it said....you guessed it....glad I didn't see the sign before though because I really liked petting all the horses :) We also saw a girl doing all that horse whispering stuff as she was training her horse that was very interesting to watch...they must really have a tight bond. Then we went to the coffee house and got a Latte...where I saw Chelsea Clinton, Tiger Woods, and Reece Witherspoon picture up on the wall because they also went to Stanford! Then we went home and Aunt Billie made us a pie from her own lemons that were grown out front...we played Skip-bo, watched American Idol and LOST the rest of the night!!! What a great day!!! Thanks Sue for all you have done for us!!!

CAKE DECORATING 101 !!!!

I went over to Sue and Aunt Billie's house and basically took over their kitchen, because I needed an oven to bake cakes that I could then decorate! What would I have done without them??? Who knew you would have to bake cakes to decorate in a decorating class...haha! Just a day in a life without an oven :) Something that I got to experiment with when I was baking was "Bake Even Cake Strips"...they really helped make the sides of my cake raise and bake evenly...giving me a taller more level cake! Today we learned how to hold the icing bag, the positionings for stars, letters, borders. We learned pressure control and how to recognize good frosting consistencies. I call this cake my polka dot with stars cake, I took a circle cookie cutter and pressed it into the cake to make my outlines and then I started in the middles. I am really getting excited about this class....I have been in desperate need to do something creative!

SETH GOING TO WORK AT EDEN!

Seth getting ready to run up those stairs to go to work at Eden Medical Center. That folder in his hands is how he organizes all his paperwork, since charting isn't electronic like it was at COX, he even said that other nurses are impressed by his organization system folder...I was so proud of him :)

This is how our mornings go:

* Seth wakes up and takes a shower

* I wake up make breakfast (oatmeal has been a favorite) and then get his lunch together

* Seth drives to work and gets to work around 6:45am

* I drive back home and get stuck in rush hour traffic :)

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

I have decided I want to swim with the sea turtles...this was the first time I saw a sea turtle in an aquarium and they are corky and cute ( and non-threatening). The jellyfish exhibit was amazing, we felt like we were in the deep sea. We got to see the feeding of penguins and otters and how they trained them. We had to rush home so I could get to my cake decorating class, it was my first night! I am excited about it, however I didn't realize I would have to make all these cakes. Making the cake isn't the problem....but BAKING the cake in an ovenless home is...so I am asking Sue if she wouldn't care if I use her oven. I can just freeze the cakes for class, plus the teacher said she always freezes her cakes before she frosts them because it makes them denser and more flavorful!

GARY DANKO (REALLY FANCY RESTAURANT)

Seth has been dying to go to the famous Gary Danko restaurant. We got dinner reservations at 9:30 and got all dressed up and headed into the city. We shopped at Bloomingdales....I think that was my first time I had ever been in one. We found FREE parking and then began our adventure to visit Mr. Gary Danko. We had a three course meal and were able to pick from a wide variety of choices of appetizers, seafood, game and bird, cheese, and desserts. We could have ordered all three courses from the dessert menu...tempting but we had to resist. It was a wonderful night, incredible atmosphere, and we made some special memories.

Happy Easter!

Seth has worked 60 hours this week, trying to make up for all our time off last week. We started going to a church about 30 minutes away called Cornerstone in Livermore, we really enjoy the pastor. He is a very well rounded pastor...very clever and funny, incredibly deep, and he is very good at getting his congregation involved in each lesson. Seth and I have been coming out of Church with deeper insight about scripture, and coming out with more "after church" follow-up conversations. We got up this morning and I did kickboxing and pilates while Seth played basketball. I made my mom's mac'n'cheese last night, and it actually tasted like hers...which made me start to miss home and my family. We are now trying to figure out where our next assignment will be and when we will start. My school has been going pretty good, I spend too much time on the computer though :) We are going to be going to Sue's house for Easter...how cool is it that we still get to celebrate Easter with family! We have been so blessed as we have been out here. Miss you all so much!

More of our Spring Break

You are now looking at the largest living organisms to ever live of the earth....yes this tree could have been touched by Jesus!!!!

Slade and Debbie at the base of El Capitan, good photographic angle Seth! They saw rock climber climbing the biggest chunk of granite on earth, that is what puts everything in perspective...when you see that tiny red or blue dot of the rock climber.

Classic pictures spot....this is for you Dad, we have now officially started our collection as well!

We are getting ready to go play at the base of lower falls. Which means were about to get waterproofed up, because it becomes a wild, windy, rainy storm the closer you get to the base of the falls.

Debbie is giddy about the 5th tallest waterfall in the world!

Chest bump in front of the Yosemite Falls...yeah dog!

We are at Mirror Lake, this Lake is famous for the perfect mirror image the lake gives of Half Dome. Can you see the reflection of the boulder behind the human pyramid :)

Seth just came out of hibernation....gurr...Yes he is inside a hollow tree. He created an audience and got some giggles....but you know he likes to be an entertainer.

We are on our bear box, this is where you have to store all your food so bears won't tear off your car door to get to your food!

It was a little nerve racking to be walking alongside the path of fallen boulders...that are held in place very awkwardly by other boulders. I love to hold my man's hand...I know he will protect me from any rock slides :)

Who can resist a kissy picture in front of a beautiful waterfall :)

It was so cool being so close to the top of Vernal falls. The colors of everything was so rich....so awesome!

This is the top of Vernal Falls in Yosemite. This is right before the water falls over the edge, it was whipping through!

Darling. Seth misses his Mother. Need I say more?

They were climbing and jumping off everything that had any elevation whatsoever. You all know how they are...

The beams on the Golden Gate Bridge were so tall. Did you know that the Golden Gate is a little arched, so it will have some give due to earthquakes (we still haven't felt one...and I really want to feel a LITTLE one)...anyway they were celebrating something for the bridge and tons of people were one the bridge...and the arch collapsed because of the weight of the all the people...once the people got off it popped back up.

That is Alcatraz Island, if you look out into the bay you can see all these crazy currents flowing all around the island...we even saw a whirlpool due to the collision of different currents.

Do you think that the prisoners went a little stir crazy in that cell???? You know what freaked me out....no PRIVACY...that is the toilet right behind Slade....and the cell doors don't have curtains...but they do have locks :)

BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS, WHATCHA GOING TO DO WHEN ALCATRAZ COMES FOR YOU!

We are walking the beach in Santa Cruz...the water was pretty dang cold, but poor Slade couldn't get his feet wet it was "too cold"....poor Slade....:)

I love having the power to write the captions. That is for all the stinky smells that came from your direction all vacation long....