Valentines Day Celebrations 2020

We started of the month of February with our annual "Love" dinner on February 2. The scripture I picked for the theme is "I know God loveth His children" (1 Ne 11:17) My friend, Sarah, created this great graphic of the scripture for me. The Tree of Life at the top has special meaning to me. There are eight "fruit" hearts on the tree, representing each member of our family. To me, the tree represents Jesus Christ. Staying at the tree (next to Christ) is my first personal commandment. The kids humored me by singing "The Tree of Life" by Shawna Edwards a couple of times with me on the piano and Graigry on the Violin. It is such beatiful music with lyrics I love.

 Warren and I wanted to bring our 30-year anniversary into this dinner and so we came up with thrity stories with pieces of marriage advice that we want our children to know.

 It was a typical menu:

Steak and Shrimp

Strawberry Spinach Salad with sweet vinaigrette dressing

Roasted heart shaped sweet potatoes and carrots

Brussel Sprouts

Pudding cups with fresh Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries

Sparkling Cider

Red Velvet bar cake for dessert

 Our example of Long and Lasting Love.

 

 Trevor and Tyler joined us from Virgina!

It is always fun to decorate the house.

 I found this from Warren when I woke up the morning of Valentine's Day:

I have been thinking long and hard about you lately...
and you know what? Our 30-year anniversaries have already begun!

The 30th anniversary of our first kiss?  Yep, come and gone.

The 30th anniversary of our engagement? Check!

The 30th anniversary of your wedding ring? I still love it, BTW!

Now, today, our 30th anniversary of Valentines Day! Will you still be mine? I'm yours!! I'm all in!

Most importantly, 30 years of looking forward, ever forward to a union everlasting? Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, YES!

I celebrate more than thirty of saying, I LOVE YOU!

Ever yours,
Warren

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I have some happy memories of Jessica reading out loud the book, "The Art of Racing in the Rain" to me when she was a teenager. I think it was the only book she read me out loud.  When I saw it was made into a movie, I immediately thought of her. I was excited she and I could go and see the movie together. It is definitely a "crying movie". (Bring Kleenex)  We agreed they did a good job of adapting the book to a movie. We loved it.

Goodbye Holley House

It was a lovely vacation. Thanks to Tyler for driving most of the way home.

Making a friend at the rest stop.

Warren wants to remember: "that you could see the Milky Way before 10pm. He wants to remember rock jumping with his sons, kayaking with my wife, and the beautiful lake and falls, and hiking the kayaks down to Emerald Bay on their heads."

Something I want to remember: We were treated to beautiful star shows each evening when it got dark.

Some fun facts about Lake Tahoe:

• The water is 99.994% pure, making it one of the purest large lakes in the world. For comparison, commercially distilled water is 99.998% pure.
• Lake Tahoe is over 2 million years old. Tahoe is considered an ancient lake and is counted among the 20 oldest lakes in the world.
• At its longest and widest, Lake Tahoe measures 35 kilometers (22 miles) by 19 kilometers (12 miles).
• Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States and the 16th deepest in the world.
• It is the largest alpine lake in North America.

Lake Tahoe Day 4: Calawee Cove Beach, Kayaking, and Cliff Jumping

We started the day by finding us a good spot on the beach at Calawee Cove. We brought our pop-up, a few camp chairs and a picnic lunch in a cooler. Graig and Andrea stayed behind to watch the stuff while the rest of us did the Light House Trail.

Warren, Tyler, and Graigry climbed up these rocks so that they could jump into the clear water below.

 The kids took advantage of the shade to play a card game.

After our hike, we took the kayaks out to row along the shoreline. We went quite a way towards Emerald Bay. It was fun to be able to go right up next to the rocks away from the motorboats. While we were out, Warren noticed a big nest in a dead tree. When we got closer there was a bald Eagle sitting on the branch next to the nest.

 Once Warren and I got back, Melanie and I took a Kayak ride.  She wanted to see the Bald Eagle and, of course, couldn't resist taking some photos with such a beautiful backdrop.

 We got a kick out of watching these birds. When they want to go fast they scurry across the top of the water on their feet.  It is really funny to watch.

Back at the house we barbecued steak, chicken, and a couple of salmon burgers and had a feast eating up as much of the leftover food as possible. 

Jessica said what she wants to remember from our trip is "Kayaking, seeing the bald eagle, finding out the "outhouse" we saw was actually the lighthouse we were looking for, doing puzzles with Grandma, and stargazing out on the deck."

Graigry said what he wants to remember is: "Puzzles, food, me jumping off a rock (into the water below), Eagle Lake hike, Lower Eagle Falls, the Tea House, and Grandma's (blue) birds."

Tyler told me what he wants to remember from our trip is "When we sang together. When we played games together after hiking together. And talking about Star Trek with Jess"

Melanie told me what she wants to remember from our trip is doing puzzles with her Grandmother and how clear the water at Lake Tahoe is.

 Shopping for souvenirs.

Lake Tahoe Day 4: Hiking the Light House Trail at D L Bliss State Park,

On my agenda for today was spending a day at the beach where we could take a short hike, Kayak, swim, and just relax. We staked out a good place on the beach and then took advantage of the morning to do the Light House Trail loop.  Lake Tahoe has the highest elevation light house in the United States. The hike starts off on the Rubicon Trail walking right along the water. It was so beautiful.

 I have to admit, the light house looked more like an outhouse. It wasn't very big. Warren read that it was rated a 70 candle power. 

Lake Tahoe Day 3: Emerald Bay and Fannette Island

Warren and all of our children, went straight to the Emerald Bay Trail head while my parents and I were on the Rubicon Trail. Jessica, Clayton and Melanie had missed seeing lower Eagle Falls and so they first took the short walk to see those magnificent falls and take some pictures.

Emerald Bay is very beautiful but to get to the water requires a one-mile hike down a rather steep trail. We were really excited to kayak to Fannette Island but didn't want to pay the high cost to rent kayaks at the water's edge.  Warren and the boys blew up two of our Kayaks and carried them down the hill.

 The water around the bay is crystal clear.

 They didn't want to take turns kayaking to the island two at a time and so they put four in one kayak and three in the other.

 The view from the Tea House looking back over Emerald Bay.

 The remains of the Tea House up on top of Fannette Island.

 The sand along Emerald Bay has flecks of pyrite in it so that when you walk along the water's edge it gets stirred up into the water like gold glitter.  We called it Mermaid sand because it felt like something out of a fairy-tale.  It was magical.

 Warren and the kids really took time to explore the outside of Vikingsholm Castle. (A tour of the inside cost more than we wanted to pay.)

Warren took my parents and I get out to Fannette Island and showed us the best way to hike up to the Tea House.

 My Mom and I with a really cool tree on Fannette Island.

At the end of the day, those kayaks had to be hiked back up the one-mile very steep trail.  I say it was worth the trouble, but I didn't carry them. It was a fun day. We went back to the house, ate tacos, and spent the evening doing puzzles and games.