Crystal Cove & Laguna Beach

We all needed a little break, so we took a mini-vacation and spent the day at Crystal Cove State Park and in Laguna Beach...

Jeff took this picture of the shore.

While Jeff and Tiffani played Smashball, I relaxed in one of the chairs. I felt as though something was watching me, so I turned around and here is the culprit. This little guy chatted with me for quite a while.

He definitely ruled the roost in this area! Later, Jeff and I saw him attack a fellow gull and steal the meal that had just washed upon the shore. He swallowed the seafood (shell & all!) and ran off down the beach with it.

Tiffani sleeping...so relaxing...warm sand and the waves sliding upon the shore...

Our view from the The Cliff Restaurant...all seating is outdoors. The weather was perfect...78F! And so clear that we could see Santa Catalina Island.

Sitting in Brown's Park, Laguna Beach, CA.

View of PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) from The Cliff Restaurant.

First Tea in our New Home

Our CBS group didn't meet today since schools were closed for the holiday,

but several of us wanted to gather anyway, so we had Tea here.

Hopefully, this is just the first of many in our home and others'.

Meet Noelle, Sally Jo & Carrie. Carrie brought her sweet daughter, Marissa,

who played games with Tiffani.

It's ALWAYS a blessing to share time with sisters and I was so blessed today!
Just filled to overflowing.

Menu:
Frittata *
Blueberries
TJ's Orange Cranberry Scones
TJ's Chocolate Croissants
Tiffani's homemade Pita Chips and Dip
Apple Cinnamon Tea
Orange Juice
TJ's Organic Breakfast Blend Coffee

* I substituted pancetta for the bacon and chives for the green onion.

Annual Apologetics Conference

Tiffani and many of her desert friends have been reading books written by Joel Rosenberg...his fiction and non-fiction writings.

Today she and 2 of her friends (Sierra & Krysten) heard him speak along with Ergun Caner, Norman Geisler, William Dembski, Lee Strobel, and Ron Rhodes at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. The church was hosting the Veritas Evangelical Seminary's Annual Apologetics Conference.

After Mr. Rosenberg spoke, he was available to sign their Epicenter books and talk to them about visiting Israel. The girls were able to share with him that their Theology Book Club read and discussed Epicenter a few months back.



Joel Rosenberg signing Tiffani's book.

Graduation II

I found more pictures from Tiffani's June 2010 graduation on Jeff's iphone last night! Enjoy!

Other Graduation pictures can be seen HERE.

Pre-Grad HOPE pictures. And here she is Jumping for Joy!

Graduates presented: Elizabeth, Tiffani, Elissa & Josiah


Cap toss!





Karah

Jerry & little Josh

Hannah

Patti & Dale

Sierra

Grammy & Helen



Senior Grad Mamas: Anita, Traci, Susie & Kathy



Elissa



Christine & Ashley

Alyssa ~ Special Speaker, 2005 Homeschool Graduate, 2009 Vanguard University graduate and Tiffani's former babysitter! :-)

Letterboxing

We went Letterboxing today!

Thank you, Deborah, for filling us in on some that were newly planted in our area. The directions said to begin in a park close to our home, but as we re-read the directions, we realized that the letterboxes were along the SAME trail we took yesterday in Peter's Canyon! So off we went to find the series of 10...planted on 10.10.10.

We found 3. Some were just not there (no doubt washed away by recent rains); others we avoided looking for due to the necessity of going off-trail. Too much grass in some areas and we've been warned about rattlesnakes and poisonous spiders.

We saw a brilliant orange & black spider hanging in a HUGE web near the possible location of one letterbox and decided to leave it be. AND during the second passing of an older gentleman who was going the opposite way on our loop, he stopped us and asked if we'd "seen the rattlesnake."

Surprised, we asked where and he said we'd walked by it seconds before he passed us and heard it hiss at him. We knew the location to which he was referring and Yikes! We'd walked so close to it and never saw or heard a thing. He said it was small (just a couple feet long) and didn't rattle...just hissed at him. He said he's walked this canyon for years, always hoping he'd see a rattlesnake and this was the first time...he was very excited.

So! We'll know the next time we're on the trail to be even more alert when walking along the trail's edges.

This picture reminds me of a time that my parents and I visited a Ghost Town while on vacation in our motorhome. There was a wooden box sent upon a platform and the worn, handwritten sign on it read Baby Rattlers. Daddy took a look in there and laughed and told me to go ahead and take a look. I was terrified. I didn't want anything to do with rattlesnakes, baby or otherwise. Finally, I trusted him to pick me up and look inside. The box was full of baby rattles, not baby snakes!

Hiking Peter's Canyon

How blessed I feel to be plopped into a home surrounded by wildlife and hiking trails! We hiked part of Peter's Canyon this afternoon. And here are a few of our favorite scenes. I realized after we got home that Tiffani is not in one of them...next time! There will be MANY more times.

It was a little disconcerting to read the Mountain Lion and Rattlesnake warnings at the trailhead, but plenty of people and dogs were moving about on the trails throughout the canyon. We saw nothing, but beautiful blue sky and critters of a feathery & four-legged reptile variety.

Happy trails to you!

Corn Maze & Hot Fudge Cake

Tiff's Teen Scene group went to a Corn Maze on Friday night. I didn't take pictures ~ surprise! And Tiffani didn't either as she left her purse in the car. I'll post more as we receive them from friends.



After leaving the maze, we drove to Bob's Big Boy ~ haven't been one in over 20 years at least! Had to have my favorite ~ Hot Fudge Cake...brings back childhood memories and evidentally not just for me! LOL!

Here's a picture at Bob's of her former Girls Bible Study group.
(Karah, Hannah, Tiffani and Sierra)

Brunch at Pelican Hill

OK...I think today concludes my 10-day birthday celebration! LOL!

After church today, we had brunch at the Pelican Hill Grill. It was a gorgeous day and you can see the ocean in the distance of this picture.

Our sweet girl enjoying a laugh and French toast.

Gratitude is
the memory of the heart.

~Jean Baptiste Massieu

What a difference a year makes. Last year around this same time I was in the midst of an incredible health crisis. Today I am thankful to be here and alive and loving & being loved by my family and friends. I am truly blessed.

Sending love and hugs to all of you who share my life in the big ways and the small ways...

Courtesies of a small and trivial character
are the ones which strike deepest
in the grateful and appreciating heart.

~Henry Clay

Ferris Wheel

And my birthday celebration continues...

Today was Date Day, so Jeff and I were off to the Irvine Spectrum Center for dinner and a movie. We had an hour before the movie started and realized the Ferris Wheel had reopened. So up we went...did I mention that I'm afraid of heights??!

My Special Gift...DOVES!

We were blessed by a pair of Doves in the backyard today while we were pouring our tea! They are the first pair we've seen since moving here and they appeared TODAY.

If you've heard my Dove Night testimony, then you know this is a very special gift. How God-incidental that they'd show up on my birthday. :-) Tiffani and I just looked at each other smiled...God is good!


And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!
for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
~Psalm 55:6

Happy Birthday, Traci!

How fun! While I was chatting on a birthday phone call, Tiffani came into the Craft Room and motioned for me to follow her. I hung up and we walked over to the Den. I walked in and found this beautiful Tea Table. She'd baked the Chocolate Croissants from Trader Joe's and the teapot was ready for the new Moroccan Mint (mint, jasmine & green teas) that Lyndi gave me last week. She'd even written "Happy Birthday" in the powdered sugar.

What a perfect way to begin a birthday morning! Thank you, Sweetie! I love you!

Once again, Wiggles is not to be left out. LOL! He enjoyed playing behind the tablecloth...thinking we couldn't see him.




What greater gift than the love of a cat?
~ Charles Dickens