July 12,'08

Our vacation in the Sierras was wonderful. Spring had just "sprung" so we had another chance to view gorgeous wildflowers and green foliage. (Hemet turned from extraordinarily beautiful spring, to summer, hot and brown, many weeks ago.)
Our first 7 days were spent at Silver Lake with Devin, Daren, and their families, along with some longtime friends of theirs who we've known for years as well. We also got to know some neighbors of Dev and Shell, saw the Dad catch an 8 lb. trout and receive accolades and photo shoots for several days thereafter, and fell in love with their two little girls. Our first grandaughter (thanks to Dar and Sky) won't arrive until Sept. so we especially enjoyed getting in practice for the feminine responses in camping situations.
The most fun day Dan and I had was taking Nate, Matt, and one of the girls, on a gondola ride to the top of Mammoth Mountain (11,ooo+ ft. elevation), to play in a little bit of snow, see spectacular views, and watch mountain bikers ride down the incredibly steep slopes below us. After that, we hiked to Devil's Postpile, a geological phenomenon---the only one in the world! I loved teaching the kids, of course, about God's AMAZING CREATIVITY in that, the rivers, lakes, waterfalls, granite walls around our campground, as well as the detailed unbelievable beauty we observed in the fish, flowers, insects, and deer.
Michelle and Sky told me I had to blog my Ug Boot story. Our first night there, Brody, Dar and Sky's dog, started licking my boots! I immediately knew why! Several months before, when it was still cold, I had dropped and broken a jar of mayonaise on the floor in out kitchen. Some of it was on my boots, and wouldn't clean off with anything I'd tried. When I got the boots out to go camping, and saw the big dark brown stains still there, I decided to put more mayonaise on the
light brown parts of the boots. They looked like new--all one color again. (I just didn't know that all dogs who got near them would enjoy their flavor so much. It'll be interesting to see if the attractive taste dissipates by next trip!!) I'm glad to report that I felt great almost the whole time we were at Silver Lake.
The last 3 days we spent at Twin Lakes with dear friends from church, Steve and Roberta Webb.
We hiked, played games and told campfire stories. Dan watched Steve fish, while Berta and I had some good sharing and prayer times together. Fellowship in the Body of Christ is another great creative idea of our Lord!
My health situation is about the same. I do need a little more rest time, and I have to do more
procrastinating than I did in my 65 "Type A" years. Pray that I'll be wise enough to pace myself and better listen to Dan and my body. Thank you for your prayers.