Luke's Twenty-Fifth Week

Hiking in Big Basin

Since our San Diego trip got canceled this weekend, we decided to explore one of the best local Bay Area hikes - the Waterfall Loop at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. There are many good easy and moderate hikes in Big Basin, but we wanted to see the BEST waterfalls so we did the strenuous loop, Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail to Berry Creek Falls, returning on the Sunset trail. 10.5 miles with 2000 feet of elevation changes! We are insane.
When we ran into this sign about an hour into our hike we knew we were in for quite a day.
We encountered fallen trees everywhere, many were very recent from the winter storms and last year's fires.
The family at Berry Creek falls.
Luke and Dave checking out Golden falls. All these cool waterfalls (Cascade falls was another one, but not pictured) were well worth the hike; we loved seeing this beautiful area that is so close to home.
Natalie with her favorite Banana slug - 8 inches long!
Luke loves nature! He didn't even cry once throughout our entire 6+ hour hike. The $8 hiking kid-pack that we got at a garage sale held up well.We wanted to test our gear and our endurance limits in preparation for our Yosemite camping trip in May. Right now, 6 miles of this tough terrain is our limit -- 10 miles was a bit over the top -- we'll have to get in better shape before trying a hike like this again.

Luke's Twenty-Fourth Week

7 new pictures from Easter

Easter in Lodi

We got to visit Gram in Lodi this weekend to Celebrate Easter! Here's the family picture:Luke wasn't so sure about the Easter bunny...
He was content to chill out under gram's famous orange tree with grandpa all afternoon.
He looks a little grown up in this picture, lounging in the shade... I wonder what he'd be saying...
"Hey mom, grab me another Corona while you're in there."

Luke's Twenty-Third Week

19 pictures this week of swinging and lounging...

Park Day with Natalie's College Friends

Met up with Anne, Leslie, and their husbands and kids today in Pleasant Hill for a pleasant time in the park. The kids' expressions in this picture are great:
Cole teaching Luke how to share... Luke loves swings!
Great families to hang out with for the day, we hope to see them again soon. We even got to eat Chipotle!

San Diego Condo for Rent

Our tenant is moving out next week so we're evaluating potential replacements. Let us know if you know someone in San Diego who wants to live in a cool new condo near the beach in Del Mar Heights...

5 Months!

Luke is 5 months old and he can grab stuff, drool, roll from his back to his stomach, sometimes roll from stomach to back, move himself short distances, and make a bunch of different sounds. Next on the curriculum... multiplication tables.

Video: Luke Playing his Piano

At 1:33 he starts playing "Mary had a Little Lamb."

Interview with a Ukrainian

In her first appearance on stage as Missions Director at Central Peninsula Church, Natalie highlighted our missions partners around the world, spoke of her vision for growing awareness of and participation in our missions/service opportunities locally and abroad, and interviewed Ruslan, a missions partner from Ukraine and visiting America for the first time.
Ruslan has planted churches and trained church leaders in Andrushevka, Ukraine; Irkutsk, Siberia; and is now back in Kiev, Ukraine preparing a church plant in Chernobyl. Pictured above: Vitaly (friend of Ruslan, CPC member, and great translator), Ruslan, and Natalie. After church we enjoyed lunch with them at Mimi's; Ruslan was impressed with the restaurant's well appointed interior.

Video: Luke bouncing

2 minutes of Luke bouncing.

Video: Luke with Pacifier

A couple minutes of Luke trying to put his pacifier in his mouth.

Luke's Twenty-First Week

9 pictures from this week...

Video: Luke at four months

Here's about a minute and a half of Luke giggling a few weeks ago.