Claire's First Year

Claire has officially had her first graduation... from the Red Room at U of I Pre-school and Day Care to the Orange Room for toddlers. The teachers gave Jen and Fok a CD with over 250 pictures taken throughout the year. Here are a sampling. If you really want to see them all, just check out Jen's Flicker site. Enjoy!

A House on a Hill

Last weekend on our SoCal trip we spent several hours on Friday at Hearst Castle outside San Simeon. Virginia had been there once as a kid but I'd never been, so we were both looking forward to seeing it. We weren't disappointed!! From the wonderful Visitor Center to the ride up the hill to our quality guide and, of course, the buildings and gardens, it is an amazing place.

The stories about how the castle was built and the life of William Randolph Hearst are almost as amazing as the facility. Click here for some of the castle story, here for additional info about William Randolph Hearst, and here if you'd like to schedule a visit.

Located on a working ranch owned by the Hearst Corporation, the castle and grounds are now operated by the state of California, welcoming over a million visitors a year. Here are a few pics just to give you an idea. Enjoy!!

The Reunion

Virginia and I drove to the Oxnard Beach (which has really grown up into a ritzy area) to the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay Resort in the early afternoon to help the group who did almost all of the work finish setting things up. They had it pretty much all done, but at least we were able to take them some lunch.

After finishing up we drove around and saw all the old haunts... our houses, schools, hangouts, etc. Lots of change, yet a lot still the same.

The reunion Saturday evening was a lot of fun, even if I hadn't seen any of the folks there in 40 years!! Here are a few photos.

There were a lot of displays of memorabilia.

Red and white and Vikings were everywhere.

Trying to get everyone together for a group shot. I'm somewhere in the back. Hopefully the photog's shot will beat this one. :-) One sad thing we found out is that 10% of our class of about 480 have already died. Wow!

Three of our old teachers made it. Here are two, including my senior English teacher, Bill Lindquist. I always thought he looked sort of like Bob Hope. He certainly was a challenging English teacher, and treated us with respect.

Two of our exchange students from that year (Steffi from Sweden and Kate from Finland) came back for the reunion. Here they are with our old class president, Terry. They've both stayed in touch with classmates over the years, and they were both thrilled to be with everyone.

And, here's a shot of Terri Van Bibber with her husband, Mark. She was our school mascot in the old days, and she used to come to church with us. It was fun seeing her and meeting Mark.

We got "home" late, but Jeremy waited up for us... talk about a change in roles. It was a really fun weekend, but the best part was our time with Jeremy and Amber.

Forty

No, I didn't turn 40... at least not recently. (Cool pic above, eh!?!) And It has not rained for 40 days and nights... this is summer in California, remember. Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years... maybe getting closer with that one, but, again, we're actually in California, so some would say we live in the promised land. :-)

No, what is really happening is that VJ and I are on our way to attend my 40th high school reunion. Never been to a high school reunion, so thought it was about time to make one, and 40th seems like the most biblical one to attend as a first one.

In 1968 about 500 of us graduated from Hueneme High School (if you can't pronounce it, you're probably not from SoCal :-) ). I think about 120 of us will be present at this gathering. Should be fun... comparing pics of grand kids, talking about vitamin supplements, and so forth.

We decided to make it a two day trip, sort of a belated anniversary thing, and drive down the PCH. We're staying in San Simeon tonight and going on a Hearst Castle tour tomorrow before heading on down to Jeremy's and Amber's.

It was a beautiful and clear day today, and we took a number of shots along the way. Here are a few. Enjoy!

Jubilee Weekend Images

Here are some pics from the Jubilee Weekend at Sugar Grove. Enjoy!

Saturday evening, Josh Kasinger and the SG praise team (plus Jeremy and Amber) getting ready to introduce the new CD, Sing with Me, that Jeremy recorded and produced for SG.

Mark Howell talking at the Saturday night celebration.

Praising the God who loves us!

The "birthday gang" gathers to celebrate birthdays.

June, July and August birthday celebrants attack those candles.

Lisa and niece, Mia, with daddy Josh in the background.

Glenn, Nancy and Carolyn.

Virginia joins in for the photo.

Jubilee Weekend

This weekend Virginia and I were blessed to be with our former church family at Sugar Grove. Closing out what SG called a Year of Jubilee, we got to be part of celebrating ten years in the new facility that opened in 1998.

We flew Thursday and got to spend time with many friends Thursday, Friday and then Saturday morning. Saturday evening there was a special celebration to introduce the new CD entitled Sing with Me. Jeremy did several of the arrangements, recorded and produced the CD for SG, so they invited he and Amber for the weekend as well, and the two of them sang with the group as they introduced the new songs.

Sunday VJ sang with the praise team, while Josh Kasinger and I did a tag-team thing to lead worship. It's been a while since I led for two services. Mark had a wonderfully appropriate lesson, and it was just a very meaningful service.

We got back home last night, tired but happy to have been able to spend time with folks who have meant so much to us... and still do. Great weekend!!

Contra Loma Park

One of our favorite things to do on a nice evening or Saturday morning is to simply walk through our neighborhood, up the hill, and through the public access gate into Contra Loma Regional Park. The shot above is from the highest point of that hill down into the park proper, the reservoir and accompanying swim lagoon. I love this shot!

As mentioned in the previous post, we took our French friends on our hike. A few of the trails are pretty steep!!

Une Visite des Francais

Back in 84-85 Isabelle Trembley travelled from Chartres, France, to Cabot, Arkansas for a year as an exchange student. She lived with our friends, the Sutherlins, but, because VJ was the French teacher, she spent a lot of time at our house as well, and we grew to love her.

In 1987 we took an extended trip to Europe and stayed with her family for almost a week and really appreciated their hospitality.

This summer she and her family have been travelling some of the western U.S., starting in SF and going as far east as Yellowstone. On the way back to SF they stayed a couple of nights with us. It was so great to see Isabelle and meet Christophe, Clement and Gabriel.

At the lake on a Sunday evening hike.

Also at the lake.

We put our guests to work right away. Or maybe they we cleaning out the RV and doing some laundry.

Packed up and ready to go... and heading on the last leg to turn in the RV.

Super Saturday Success!

Saturday our church basically did two days of a 5 day VBS curriculum all in one day. The preparation was intense, the decorations were both creative and incredible, the energy was palpable, and the kids had a lot of fun learning about the power of Jesus all wrapped up in a science theme. A huge THANKS to everyone who made it happen!!

Here are a few pics from the day.