Monterey & Santa Cruz!!!

After visiting the Greens, we still had half of the day left and a few hours of the weekend...AND we were ONLY about an hour away from Monterey, which is where we went for our honeymoon almost 2 years ago! So of COURSE we decided to take a side trip!

First stop was Carmel, which I'm sure you know is amazingly beautiful! Just REALLY windy and cold that day. The picture doesn't show how aqua-teal green the water was. Quite beautiful!
We then headed just down the road to Monterey and stopped by some of our favorite spots. Good memories....
....but we've also learned that we LOVE exploring and making NEW memories! So we soon headed up the highway to a city we've never been to together, Santa Cruz! We only had time to see the beach and enjoy a walk on the boardwalk!
And Matt couldn't pass up a ride or two...a great way to spend some birthday money! :) He reminds me of a little kid in a car seat in this picture! :) I honestly don't think he and I will ever lose the childlike heart inside that gets a thrill out of things like this! This is right before he was shot up into the air, which he fully enjoyed.
And then he bought us both a ride on the famous roller coaster! I haven't had that much fun in a long time! FABULOUS!!! I avoid most rides cuz the older i get the more nausea i seem to experience...even on a simple swing. But this was PERFECT...as the picture shows!

Just having FUN!!! There it is!!

The beach, a day with my love, laughing, music.....how could i not DANCE a little!

A Great day!!! I am so thankful to share life with my best friend!

Greens to Australia

Rachel, one of my closest friends through the years, and her family recently found out that they will be moving to Sydney, Australia. It's a move mixed with emotion- joy over God providing Chris with a job teaching at a Seminary (he's worked EXTREMELY hard to find one here but it just isn't happening), and sadness because it means leaving many friends and family across the world for an unknown amount of time. We had the chance to spend some time with them and say goodbye this last weekend.
In the midst of all the moving preparation Rachel found a way to make a cake to celebrate Matt's birthday! Have you heard of "Poke Cake"....it is SOOOooo good! Thank you Rachel!

All the guys went to the park to give me and Rachel some talk time.

I think Ethan thinks mommy is a pretty good rocking chair! She IS a FABULOUS mother!!!

And Chris is an amazing daddy! We really enjoyed watching him play with their boys! This is Benjamin.

Hmmmm, we're thinking that it MUST be in God's plan for us to take a trip to Australia sometime in the next few years....since two of my closest friends will be living there (Jen and her family moved this last year)! Ya never know! :)

WE LOVE YOU GREEN FAMILY!!! AND WE'LL MISS YOU!!! we've enjoyed getting to see you three times in a year...while it lasted! see you Australia!!!

My Birthday Man

THIS IS MY MAN....on his birthday 2 days ago.

I LOVE HIM

and am thankful that i get to walk through life with him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!!

MOM CAME!!!

MY MOM CAME TO VISIT!!!! Can you tell that I'm HAPPY!!!! :)

We had a fabulous few days together, and I THANK we did a few things other than just talk! I LOVE that we can talk! Mom is a great listener and I especially enjoyed asking her questions this time about what life was like from HER perspective during my childhood years. My parents are both quite full of wisdom...not perfect...but full of love and things that they have learned through their years. I feel lucky and blessed to have a mom who likes to share her life with me and is willing to be not only a great mom but a fabulous friend as well!
One day Matt, mom and I went to a nearby place called "The Flower Farm"- recently discovered by Matt's mom and grandma when they came to visit. Along with MANY beautiful flowers (which I'll post next), there were a couple FUNNY sites, including this cow!

And some Chinese Chickens!

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of some of the white ones! They were hilarious, especially if they'd run our jump!

We had a GREAT time together! THANKS MOM for coming! YOU ARE LOVED LOVED LOVED! And Thanks Dad for sharing her with me for the weekend! :)

Some More People We Love...

I recently got to spend a few hours with a WONDERFUL friend of mine, Melissa! I don't get to see her much since she's usually in Germany, Italy or some other European country loving people for Jesus! It was a gift from God to get to see her!

...and here's Jeff and Joanne, some friends and mentors of ours from PDX. They are an amazing couple who also truly love Jesus as well as people. They've continued to bless us with time together sharing our lives and learning from their wisdom. They did our pre-marital and post marital counseling! We just wish we could take them with us to Cali. It was SO good to see them again recently!
...as well as some great friends from The Well!

And here's my fabulous brother, Craig!!! and yes, his sweet and beautiful girlfriend, Paulette! We finally got to meet her after they have been dating for several months now! He loves her SO much and it seems she's quite a great gal! I just hope we'll get to spend some more time together soon.
And who couldn't love my sister Cynthia! It's been fun to get time with her recently! Maybe someday she'll decide to move to Cali! hint hint! :)
SO MANY MORE people in our lives that we love and miss. These are just a few that we've had a chance to visit lately!

Cats, Kids & BABIES!!!

I was looking through some pictures recently and saw a pattern...cats, kids and babies...

Riley, Allie and Evan!!! They quickly and proudly introduced me to THEIR little guys...webkins I think they're called.

...and this is Chloie, my mom's new cat. She's a little shy.

Before the days of Matt, Teigen was the man in my life! But now it seems he's a bit annoyed at my affection. I was happy that he at LEAST remembered me.
And Luna, my sisters cat...I believe the most beautiful of them all!!! VERY hard to get a good picture of though.
And onto the KIDS and BABIES!!!! This is my wonderful cousin Jason, and my newest cousin and Jason's wife, Connie....
....and their new little girl, Selah!!! It was SOooo good to get to finally meet her! (Proud Grandpa Gabbert!). So she is my...second cousin???
And here's baby ?????, almost ready to come into the world!!! This picture is a couple months old. He'll be joining us hopefully in just 2 or 3 more weeks!!! LaVonne is one of my closest friends and it has been so much fun as she's shared her journey with me through pregnancy. I'm looking forward to the continuation!
...and OH MY GOODNESS, Carol Ann and two of her beautiful kids!!! I got to meet her older daughter as well, who was on her way to school! If you don't know this family, I hope you can meet them someday!
And here's Caden with his mommy, and my great friend, Allison!
I don't think I'll ever get over the miracle of LIFE!!! Especially after watching so many friends go through challenging times being able to conceive or give birth! Every life is truly designed and planned by our Great God...the Ultimate DAD!!!!

Learning from the Master Cook!

For many years I've been blessed by the AMAZING cooking (anyone who knows her will agree) of my friend Trina! Back when we lived in Lithuania I began to realize how lucky I was to get to experience her food creations (including CinnaBon cinnamon rolls one night around midnight!...and baking isn't even her specialty...but WOW!!! YUM!!!).

A couple years after LT I lived with Dave and Trina for a year or so. Can you imagine...coming home from work to a gourmet meal every few nights! She even did the impossible and taught me that cooked veggies can ACTUALLY TASTE GOOD!!!! REALLY!! I LOVE them now!!
Teigen even knows when it's time to come hang out in the kitchen!!! They still blame me for teaching him to beg! (hey, animals need little treats now and then too, right?!!)
It wasn't until I got married and then had to change my diet that I actually started to learn to cook myself (no, i didn't get into the pot but you know what i mean:)!!). I've LOVED it and have SO much more to learn. So when I had the chance to visit Trina, of course we had to share our love of cooking together. She was fabulous and taught me a basic- roasted chicken...and then how to make a broth with the remains!
Tiana came along for the fun too! YUM!!! OH SO GOOD!!! Thanks Trina! Can't wait for the next time!

(Dave and Trina keep a food blog as well if you're interested. It's at givetothewheat.blogspot.com.