Goodbye to The Van

We said goodbye to our 1994 Chevy Astro Van this week. There are so many memories associated with that van! It was our first new car. It was the first vehicle we had that fit our family (we used to have to drive two vehicles wherever we went!). The first year we had it, a deer "hit" us - yes, the deer jumped out onto the road in Utah by Moon Lake and hit us. Keldon was only four years old (now 16 1/2) and he still remembers how hard the impact made him jerk in his car seat. Two years ago I got a Toyota Highlander (love it) and Ethan started driving the van. Then Keldon started driving the van when Ethan bought his own car. Recently, the van did not pass smog, so we had to take it to the next level of smog check, and when Brad went to pick it up at the shop, it just didn't drive well. Just too old and too many miles (note the odometer!) We donated it to Father Joe's, a charity here in San Diego. Brad and Keldon were there to say farewell and to capture the event on camera. The Astro van was a great car and served our family well. Kind of sad to see it go...

That's a LOT of miles...

Memorial Day 2008

My flag is flying in front of my house - is yours? It makes me sad that people are not that patriotic anymore. My flag is the only one on my street. Brad and I watched a great movie last night - "Flags of our Fathers" (the edited version). We liked it and thought it very appropriate to watch on Memorial Day weekend. I am thankful for the service my own father provided in WWII and the Korean War. I am grateful for our military personnel today that sacrifice for our freedom. I am so grateful to those who have given their lives in service to our great nation.

Brad and I rode our bikes to the waterfalls this morning. These waterfalls are in the canyon preserve that is next to our house. The waterfalls had plenty of water since we've had rain recently. The canyon is so, so pretty. Green (and some gold and brown!), the cacti are blooming, lots of birds and a lot of people enjoying it - walking, jogging and riding bikes like us. On our ride back we stopped at a place called Carson's Crossing by the creek and there is a beautiful grove of oak trees there. Brad shot some photos, including his favorite tree. It was good to be out in God's beautiful world.

Here is a picture of Brad's favorite tree


Here is a picture of me at the creek


A picture of the creek in the canyon



The cacti beginning to bloom

Rainbows

We have had some rain in the past few days. Not unusual in May for San Diego, actually. Kimberlee's birthday is May 22 and I can remember several of her birthday parties that were planned for outside that we had to bring inside because of rain. It poured rain on Friday - I couldn't believe it! Yesterday, it started raining late in the afternoon. I saw that the sun was shining, so I went outside to find the rainbow. It wasn't showing when I first went outside, but after a few minutes, a beautiful rainbow showed up. I always marvel at rainbows. I consider a rainbow a magnificent gift from God. I just sit and look at a rainbow in awe and wonder how people can be atheists. I was thinking - how many rainbows do you think you've seen in your life? Not that many, I'm guessing. I wish I had counted. I just hope I can see many more...