Highlights from November…

A surprise visit from our Bakersfield family

A wonderful weekend in Tahoe with friends

Celebrating our daughters 18th birthday…presents, zoom parties, a walk in Muir woods and backyard root beers floats with friends.

Our son coming home before Thanksgiving and staying for Christmas

The adventure continues….

October highlights…

Girls road trip to the Oregon coast…giant redwoods, beautiful beach walks and the sound of the crashing waves

Gathering at a distance with friends…hanging out in the backyard, having lunch and carving pumpkins

Zooming…speaking, leading, listening, connecting with people around the world.

The adventure continues…

Highlights from September…

Wearing tiny hats in celebration of my husband’s birthday

Our son staying an extra week before moving back to LA for online college

Taking my daughter and friend on a two week trip through Montana and Wyoming…hiking, kayaking, horseback riding and wandering through national parks (Glacier, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons) all while doing online school.

Visiting family we haven’t seen since February

Breathing fresh air and marveling at the fall colors

The adventure continues….

I took my daughter and a friend on a grand adventure for two weeks. It is their senior year and we are working on making it memorable instead of a huge loss. The benefits of online school….

May was spent at home. My husband grew a giant beard and my son tried to grow one too! My daughter choreographed a dance about how hard it is to be six feet apart from her friends. We got used to wearing masks and we watched my nephews wedding in Michigan over zoom. You can see the Six Feet Apart dance and video here…

Dance https://youtu.be/EB1EBNVAwO0

Video https://youtu.be/3ycz7MAHWC8

June brought the Black Lives Matter protests to our community and more awareness of the struggles we are facing in our country. My husband spent the summer teaching online classes on ethics and race. In late June, we decided to take a trip to Montana to see family. We enjoyed the big sky, the beautiful mountains and we were able to visit Grandma Ella (94) from her porch while 6 ft apart.

See our trip here: https://youtu.be/3ycz7MAHWC8

Two weeks after we were in Montana Grandma Ella passed away. My husband led a wonderful funeral service for her in Hamilton, Montana. We were so grateful that we had been able to visit with her before she died.

At the end of July we decided to head up to Oregon. So after a COVID test, just to be safe, we headed to my Mom’s in Ashland. We enjoyed hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail and kayaking down the Rogue river. We continued up to Portland to deliver a photo show and saw cousins and friends along the way. We were really moved as we walked around downtown Portland and took in the BLM street art.

My daughter has one friend she is bubbling with as she begins her senior year online.  We continue to get used to masks and social distancing as the school year begins.  We are making the best of distance learning by spending time away in beautiful places like Lake Tahoe and soon to come, Montana and Wyoming.  My son is starting his junior year online as well but he will be living with college friends in LA.  We are keeping our spirits up despite the virus, the fires, the protests and the heatwaves.  So many of our friends around the world are suffering.  May God make a way for life to return to all of us and protect and sustain those who are most vulnerable during this time.  The adventure continues….

Highlights from April…

Playing hacky sack every night after dinner

Lots of brother/sister time with lots of laughs

Coloring Easter eggs and our traditional egg hunt with friends over FaceTime

Mowing the lawn with our new push lawn mower

Birthday air hugs

Sad prom photos and an alternative prom night of ice blocking 6ft apart

Still sheltering in place

The adventure continues….

Highlights from March…

The world has changed.  I was planning on flying to Italy for a photo show for the International Women’s Day, but instead jumped off the plane in Portugal skipping my flight to Rome.  Things in Italy were escalating as the Covid-19 virus took hold.  My show was cancelled along with the rest of my travel.  I was supposed to continue on to India but instead booked a flight home to California.  Now, like everyone else around the world, we are sheltered in place.  We are figuring out how to work and do school online and take walks in remote places with just our family.  We have taken up a family game of hacky sack in the evenings and have started eating ice cream sandwiches (uh oh).  We pray for those that are hurting the most and try to help our neighbors.  Thankfully we are all healthy and finding our way in this new reality.  Peace to all.

I’m a month behind!

Highlights from February…

Birthdays!  My birthday celebration with friends and celebrating our sons 20th birthday

Family wedding in Michigan–

snow, cousins, celebration of love, family time

The adventure continues….

Highlights from January…

Ghana summer project reunion

Wandering around with the daughter taking photographs

A new gymnastics season starts

Dear Evan Hansen in Sacramento

Facetiming our college student

The adventure continues….