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....

SPRING BREAK WITH DEBBIE & SLADE!

Tunnel view...we were blessed with wonderful weather. Debbie was so excited to see Bridal Veil Falls from the view. Slade couldn't believe people actually climbed El Capitan.

Vernal Falls...isn't this precious. Debbie with her boys looking at a waterfall....I am sure she is one happy mother right now!

These are the roots to the "Leaning Tower" Giant Sequioa tree. We hiked down to the grove in the snow, the snow was so high that it covered up picnic tables, and we had to brush snow off the signs that told us about the giant Sequoias!

CHINATOWN in the USA...this is the biggest Chinatown in the United States. It had great shopping, Debbie went to the local market and bought some incredible strawberries. I was getting a little grossed out by all the hanging chickens and ducks...with their heads still on! We ended our day with Gelato...Seth was memorized by the delicious taste of it! Sue was so sweet to us, we had so much fun spending the night and hanging out!

We are on the Santa Cruz Pier, where we saw Sea Lions and Seals! We ate at a good restaurant and then walked on the beach a little bit...the boys didn't like getting their feet wet...it was too cold for them...poor boys!

This is some brotherly love in the Golden State at the Golden Gate Bridge! The Golden Gate Bridge was named after all the golden flowers on the hillside...not the gold rush. Sweet moves boys!

This is at Alcatraz, we took the night tour. We heard all these doors open and slam shut...it was an erie feeling.

This is on our hike to Vernal and Nevada Falls, we had to hike through snow, hills, and water sprays to get to our destination!!! It was the most beautiful hike...Debbie got her waterfall fix I would have to say! :)

Here we are at Half Moon Bay. We climbed all over the rocks and watched the spray from the big waves!

HALF MOON BAY DAY...SURFS UP

We had a relaxing day at Half Moon Bay, it was about a 35 minute drive from our place and it was a beautiful day! Shorts and a T-shirt would have been perfect where we live, but once we got on the beach the waves were blowing in some strong winds. We cuddled under a blanket and listened to the sounds of the waves and took a nap on the beach. The waves were beautiful to watch because they were huge and made tons of white foam. We could tell that there were some gnarly currents going on due to the angles of the waves...this is a place where only expert surfers get to ride the waves. We played some Frisbee on the beach and then our tummy's told us we were hungry. We went to this seafood shack that was really well known, and the food was marvelous! The crab cheesy bread and the fish taco were the highlight of our meal....so good...I am a changed lady because of Seth...I really enjoy seafood now! We then went exploring all the different beaches and ended up sitting on some huge rocks watching a surf meet for kids. We had fun watching them show off, and set in amazement of how young some of them were! We feel blessed to have lazy days like these where we really just get to enjoy one another and the relationship that we have!

Seth's One Minute of Fame

YO-YO-YOSEMITE!

We are on our hike to the base of El Capitan, I believe that these are the Cathedral rocks behind us. When we were at the base and looking straight up the biggest slab of granite in the world, and camera case fell from one of the rock climbers. We yelled and yelled and finally got their attention to let them know where we put it, but then it started getting a little scary because rocks were falling...pretty big rocks. We got out of there in a hurry!

Here we are at the bottom of the lower falls.

This is Yosemite Lower Falls, it is flowing really good because there was lots of snow melt...so guess how cold that water was. We hiked to the bottom of the falls and got completely wet just from the mist, but we had our waterproof jackets thanks to Seth...so we didn't get cold.

Seth is in awe of how big the waterfalls are....and creating ideas about how he can hike up to the top of one...sounds like him doesn't it?

This is Half Dome in the background, our camp ground was right under Half Dome...so when we looked up through the Redwoods we would see the face of Half Dome. Also, the bears have been getting a little more tricky, so the camp ground rangers made us sign a contract about our food and use a Bear Box. On our first night I hadn't yet figured out how to lock it completely and I look over and a Coon is already trying to get my Oreos....So it is a coon and bear box.



I was looking everywhere for this rock, because this is where my Dad always takes a picture of us when we go. It is really neat to see us grow in the timeline of pictures, but the background stays the same. Seth and I are going to start the same tradition, and watch us grow through our visits to Yosemite!

This picture is from Tunnel View, where you can see the whole valley. When my parents took me to Yosemite, this would be our first stop. One time I saw a wedding party taking their wedding pictures at this spot...wouldn't that just be amazing!