The OC Fair!

The Gang is off again! We got tickets to see my FAVORITE bands--Mercyme and the David Crowder band at the pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. Admission to the Fair was included, so we got there about 1:00 in the afternoon and enjoyed the exhibits, fair food ;0, and the concert.

Roy, Shawna and I at the Ranch ;0--the baby cows were SO cute!
We also had to take the cardboard cutout face photos. For some reason Jerry and Charlene opted out of these:)--go figure!

The girls!

The gang waiting for the concert to start

Roy and Shawna

Jerry and Char

Pat and I

The girls close up. Thank you Lord for my beautiful friends!

Roy was apparently explaining something???

These are two videos from the concert. Our camera couldn't get too close, but I did the best I could. NOTHING could describe being there. Some of the highlights were: The audience singing "Amazing Grace", Bart Millard's commentary and when we all sang "Word of God Speak", David Crowder's--well, what can I say--just DAVID CROWDER!!(he is such a whack--he cracks me up!)

Thank you Lord for such an AWESOME night with friends who love you! (and a SPECIAL thanks to my WONDERFUL Mom for babysitting!!--We love you --you are SUCH a BLESSING!!!)

Sea World--Our Trip to San Diego

We are off again!! We went with the Earls to Sea World on Tuesday. We had a BLAST!! It was Owen's first trip to a "theme park", and he was a trooper. He loved the new Elmo's World playland (Jenna did too) and was excited to ride all the rides!

This is us standing in line for Elmo's teacups.
Owie and Dad on the flying Elmos

They had a cool jumpy area for the little ones--that was Owen's favorite!

Oh, you just gotta LOVE that face!

Jenna and Miah by the sea stars

Malia and Jenna by the manatee

Another TOO CUTE face!

Pat thought this was a great picture spot

The girls at Sea World

Pat had to get a shot with a Sea World lunch bucket on Owen's head (he said it was his "brain hat")

Owie, Miss Charlene and Malia at Shamu ROCKS!

He stayed up until 10:30 that night--what a trooper!

The day after Sea World, we slept in, used the hotel pool, and then headed out for Seaport Village in San Diego.

Of course, we had to find a hat store to take pictures :0

ROCKIN' DIVAS

The girls actually found places to pose--they are not hams at all ;)

We saw this cool Navy ship in the distance with people walking on the flight deck amongst TONS of fighter jets so we thought we would check it out. Come to find out, it was a Naval Museum on board the Midway which was an aircraft carrier during WW1, 2, and the Persian Gulf War. We decided to take the 3 hour self guided tour and it was AWESOME. We were all in awe over the size of the beds that our Navy service men slept in, in addition to the cramped quarters all over the ship.

We decided that Pat could never be in the Navy because the poor guy had to duck through all of the passageways in the ship. It is definitely a MUST SEE if you are in San Diego.

The girls and I tried pulling the anchor ropes--MAN tough work!

Pat and the girls too a picture in the ship's "brig". That is where they kept prisoners on the ship. This is NOT a place you want to be! We got to hear stories from men who experienced the brig, and how it changed their lives--for the better. They realized that it was NOT worth it!

One of the planes

Jerry and I--each passenger got a pair of earphones with a narrated journey while you are in the museum. You just punch in the numbers by the displays and you can hear info. about the planes, where you are in the ship, and actual messages from men on the ship about their experiences. I have a whole new appreciation for our service men and women!

Needless to say, we had a great trip and we are VERY thankful for our freedom.

CAMPING!!!

Well--we took our first camping trip with the kids this summer. We had a BLAST!! We decided to go for the gusto and we dry camped for a week with Pat's Dad about 1 1/2 hours north of Bishop in Taylor Canyon. We cooked over the campfire, made s'mores every night, went on some MAJOR hikes and visited Mammoth, Twin Lakes (thanks Linda Bridgeman!!), Bodie --the old ghost town, went swimming in NATURAL springs, and MUCH MUCH MORE!

A BIG THANK YOU TO THE LINDBERG FAMILY FOR GIVING US SUCH A WONDERFUL GIFT!!

THE TRAILER IS AWESOME, AND WE ARE SOOO GRATEFUL! WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Here are just the beginning of the pictures:

This is my FAVORITE! Owen's favorite thing to do was play in the dirt. Partially because it was EVERYWHERE :)
We took a family hike up a MAJOR hill on this day --I did it twice with Owen on my back and Pat braved it once :).

My sweet birdie having her morning cup 'o joe--hot chocolate, really!

Sweet babies

My little dirt man

Jenna's first "outhouse" experience was at 1:30 in the morning when she and Pat emerged from the tent for a "middle of the night pee excursion". She was such a trooper!

This is our "camp site"

A visit with Grandpa Ted

A lawn picture in Lone Pine

Sweet camping boy

I know that prayers from our friends and family were covering us because we had such an AWESOME trip. The kids handles the 8 hour drive with ease. They played and laughed. We had "family bonding time" and we were overwhelmed by the beauty of God's creation. I am SO THANKFUL!! What else can I say?? My Lord is AMAZING!

We end with-- of course--a video of BATH TIME in the trailer!