our event-ful week

If I can start the week with last Friday, I wanted to post a few pictures from our community baseball game event. We thought it would be a fun outing for our apartment complex to go to a Dodgers game, so we found a date when we could get super-cheap tickets on one of their group nights. There were at least 6 people who attended their first-ever baseball game that night (one Chinese family and one Kenyan)!

Grete and Krissy, a few of our neighbors

Our view - we get to watch the fans AND the game! :)

The view of downtown is excellent from the Top Deck parking lot - one of the rewards of climbing all those steps!!

Then, we had a going-away party for a good friend at Fuller, Lara. We played games and barbequed at a park, and got to catch up with several people we don't get to see very often--all in the process of saying goodbye to Lara. She will definitely be missed!

Then, Wednesday I (Kristi) took the opportunity to attend a taping of Dancing with the Stars in Hollywood with my friend Lisa! It was somewhat of a surreal experience to me--getting dressed up, standing in line for a few hours, going through security, and being told when to clap, scream, stand, and sit! :) It was amazing to watch the whole production aspect, especially since we had heard recently from Bob's friend Mark about some of the complexities of operating their high-tech cameras. Definitely a fun experience, but I was surprised at how tired I was afterward!

I think that caps off the most noteworthy events of this past week. Now we gear up for tomorrow - Christ Church's annual picnic and Bob preaching at a retirement center in the afternoon. Should be fun! :)

Two are better than one...

"because they have a good return for their work." (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

Two of the goals that Bob and I set for this year are 1) to go jogging consistently (e.g. 2-3x/week) and 2) to memorize passages from the Bible regularly. This week we started memorizing Psalm 145 together, and decided that it might work well to work on it while we are jogging.

On Saturday as we were jogging for the third time in a week, I was reflecting on all the benefits of this system. First, since we jog together, I tend to push myself a little more than I would if I was jogging alone. And Bob goes jogging more frequently than he would otherwise. Also, since we work on memorizing the psalm while we jog, we get a concentrated patch of time to learn new verses, and since we are both hearing and speaking I think it might even sink in a little more! To top it all off, we get to speak about God's glory in creation ("They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.") while we are enjoying the trees, sun, and creation of God. What more could you ask for?? :)

Celebrating 40 years!

Bob and I took a tour of California in the past week, that included a weekend at Lake Tahoe with all of Bob's family, celebrating his parents' 40th wedding anniversary! I have so many pictures that show all the fun we had, but I'll try to pick out a few to show you some of our adventures.

First, we had a short retreat at a monastery in the desert near Palmdale. It felt great to review our goals, set a plan for the next year, and be able to pray together in such a peaceful place. Here is a picture of us sitting by the pond there.
Then, we headed up north up 395 along the Sierra Mountains. We stopped to see my cousin Cara, who also lives in this beautiful but desolate desert. We camped for the night at the base of the mountains--our first time camping together! It was our first time using our new tent, so it was somewhat of an experiment...we didn't sleep to well on the hard ground, but it was still fun to be outside and have such a great view. We didn't bring supplies to make a fire, so we huddled in the tent and read Severe Mercy with our small flashlight till we were tired enough to go to bed. :)
As we headed north again the next day, we took the June Lake Loop and stopped to see Mono Lake along the way. We also stopped at a mysteriously famous restaurant at the road that goes into Yosemite from the East. The Mobile gas station restaurant. Their menu includes things like "Legendary Lobster Taquitos" and "Kansas City Steak Ceaser Salad", and it truly smelled delicious. Too bad it was only 10am when we went through!
We made it up to Lake Tahoe Friday afternoon to join Bob's family. We took in the beautiful views, played tennis, cooked together, watched The Man from Snowy River, and played Taboo...just to name a few things. :)

Walking across Fanny Bridge

We took a beautiful hike together on Sunday morning--The Rubicon Trail. The views of the lake, the trees, and the mountains were spectacular. Here are a few pictures from that:
We could walk down to the lake from where we stayed, and there was a long pier for enjoying the views of the lake. People use rocks in the shallow water to write names and messages...a challenging task given how cold the water is!
Sunday night we had a barbeque to celebrate Bob's parents' anniversary. A scrumptious meal and an even better reason to celebrate. :)
On Monday we celebrated our 1st anniversary--how did a year go by already?? We went to beach with Tiffany and Jon and Bob's parents...Bob swam, but the water was a little cold for me.

Look how blue and beautiful the water is!

We began our journey home then, with a stop near Sacramento to spend the night with a friend. We felt like we received the royal treatment--a swim in her pool, then a delicious dinner on the deck...a wonderful bed and breakfast. :)
So--that was our big road trip for the year! We were very grateful that our car made it the 1000+ miles without any trouble, and that we got to spend time with people that we don't see very often. Now we are catching up on things like laundry and paying bills, and glad to be home again. :)