Last night Grace and I went out to dinner with David & Kristin. It was their last night in 
California before heading out again back to South Dakota. Jeri & Ric joined us for a delicious dinner at Stubricks in downtown Fullerton. I wish we all lived closer together... South Dakota is TOO far away! After dinner we walked over to Cafe Veronese for coffee and hot chocolate. Good times... good friends... we're going to miss you! 
It has been incredibly sad to watch how devastating the fires have been throughout this area. I have many friends and their families that have been evacuated and some of them still don't know if they have a house to go back to. The last couple of nights as I looked out my window at home it was very sobering to actually see some of the burning hills in the distance. Early this morning as I was having breakfast around 7:30 AM I was looking out my window and saw this... the sun trying to shine through all of the smoke. It looked more like a sunset than what morning should look like. Here is the sun at 5:30 PM.
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I really enjoy traditions...they bring back good memories and you also make new ones as you celebrate them year after year. One tradition that I have enjoyed since moving up here to the heights has been the "Pomegranate Tradition". For the past several years I have been getting together with my dear landlady, Charlotte, to squeeze the freshly picked fruit. This year I also got to help her pick them from our tree out behind the shed. It is a labor of love as we squeezed out every drop of the delicious red juice (four quarts in all) and make jars of wonderful jelly to give as gifts. This evening I finished making my jars of jelly. It's a bit of a long but gratifying process! I love cooking! You can see pictures of the whole process here: 
Last Saturday Grace, Jon and I went to Long Beach. Grace came up with the great idea to have lunch at Cisco's, a cool hamburger place right next door to West Coast Choppers. It was actually pretty good for a burger place! Then we set off to the Aquarium of the Pacific. There is so much to see there. One of the most exciting things was being able to "pet" the stingrays. 
So many interesting creatures and such brilliant colors were just another reminder of our amazing Creator. It was a bit crowded but we enjoy it anyway. Later we took a walk along Shoreline Village and saw the Queen Mary across the water. The weather was beautiful and the sunset very picturesque. I'm so blessed to live here! 
