California

 It was good to be in Yuba City for a few days.  We managed to visit with all my siblings (we all got together on the 4th of July) and even some cousins.  We met up with my good friend Tara in Old Sacramento and has a nice time visiting. It was slow paced but busy enough. We got lunch at In N Out, grabbed cookies at the Cookie Tree and bought a lot of delicious Tilamook products.  One highlight was driving by the Feather River Temple.  I had not been to the site yet and it was so fun to see a temple being built there.  It seems to be coming along close to the same pace as the Richmond Temple and it was just really special to see it in person.

 

Old Sacramento: Our family occasionally drove to Sacramento to visit Old Town when I was growing up.  Its right on the river and set up to mirror what it looked like back in the 1800's.  It was fun to walk around there with Tara and her daughter Lainey.  Lydia and Lainey were best buddies the 2 years the Lenox's lived here but don't know each other too well now but Tara and I loved catching up. We ate lunch, toured the old riverboat and enjoyed walking down the boardwalks and checking out treats and stores. 

Unplanned twining. 

We took dogs on walk which made Jared and Lydia very happy (Susanna brought her dog Dandy with her family) and spent a morning at the river which we all really enjoyed.  Yuba City recently developed this section of the river with a really nice sandy beach and lots parking and it was just relaxing and fun. We all wish we knew how great it was and had gone every day we were there. My sister Katie's college age boys, Cade and Cameron came and spent the night Saturday to Sunday and we played games and got to meet Cameron's girlfriend Rebecca.  I hadn't spent much time with them for a good while so it was nice to see them and great of them to make the effort. 

With Jamie my Mom's dog

My Mom, Susanna and Katie all seem to really love dogs. I don't get it.  They were introducing Jamie and Dandy the first night Susanna got there and it was loud and chaotic and they all seemed to really enjoy it.  Mark and I didn't get it. But in the end I guess they accepted each other? 

The water was so clear and pretty!  Va water is clean but it not clear like this and it was so nice.  You can kind of see it but the sand has tons of gold flecks in it and it just felt so Northern Californian to me. 

We spent the 4th of July at my brother Davin's house.  They and my Mom rented a huge bounce house/water slide and Lydia played on it for hours with Kaylee, Davin's oldest daughter who is 7.  I was the only fun adult who played on it and had a great time. My cousin Julie who lives in Roseville came down with her husband and her mom Barbara to visit which was a fun surprise.  I hadn't seen Julie and Barbara in years and enjoyed catching up with them. We played yard games and painted rocks which were great activities to have on hand. We had delicious food and a ton of fireworks to set off.  We all enjoyed our root beer floats while watching the fireworks. Davin has a neighbor who really enjoys fireworks and had a lot of illegal ones which was exciting but also a little nerve-racking as there are some serious drought conditions.  Quite a few neighbors all lit their fireworks at the same time and it was nice to watch them all. Jared was especially happy as he got to be the assistant fire work lighter who worked with Mark and my nephew Cameron.  

Alexis, Jared, Lydia and Kaylee

Susanna and I collaborated to make this cute ice cream cone together.  Then we had a mini photo shoot to try to get a cute picture.  I didn't get to visit with her as much as I would have liked this time around. 

Lydia and Kaylee, so happy they got some fun cousin time in.  

Tara had tons of glow sticks for everyone which was fun.