A Week of Bliss

A good friend of mine from church called several months ago and asked if our family would join their family on their yearly get-away to a place called Lake Almanor. I had never heard of it before, but it is up by Redding - VERY north CA. After a month or so of going back and forth (with health issues) we finally said yes and couldn't WAIT to go. To break up the trip we stopped in Sacramento at my cousin Julie's house. We were able to see the remodeled kitchen of my aunt and uncle, as well as my Nana's new apartment. Everyone came over to Julie and Bill's for dinner and we had so much fun. It was a welcome break from driving and we always love being with family.

All of us at the table for dinner.

Then on to Lake Almanor. My friend Lori's husband's mom (are you tracking here?) owns this home located right on the peninsula of the lake. Yep - it backs right onto the water. We were spoiled here. There was a main house and a guest house with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom, which we stayed in. I can not tell you how much fun we had. Their family was so gracious and was willing to share everything with us from the boat to the golf cart we took to go to the park. It was amazing!! We had all our meals together and we got along so well. Here are some shots from our trip...

The boys took advantage of the dock. Even though they didn't have hooks, the novelty of fishing off the dock was so exciting to them. We got a good amount of wear on those life jackets which was awesome. They were in heaven!

Here's the amazing family - Jen, Kate (Jeremy's girlfriend), Jeremy, Sarah, Lori, Aaron and Stefan. We had all stopped in the nearby town to have sundaes and ice cream. The poor girl behind the counter was sort of flustered when we walked in because she was working by herself. OH...and it made it worse because the whole town's credit card readers weren't working. Ya - the WHOLE town. That made things complicated. We enjoyed vanilla and chocolate ice cream with marshmallow sauce and caramel drizzled over it. The boys each had a cone. There weren't too many "picky" stores there, so we spent only a short amount of time in town, then headed back to relaxation.

Ethan and Austin's new buddies...Aaron and Jeremy. These guys were so awesome with the boys. They loved playing baseball, wrestling, and just being 'big brothers' to my boys.

Austin on the 'little boat.' At first the boys wouldn't ride on these, but as the week wore on, they got a little interested. Austin went with Bryan and Ethan eventually went with me, then on a longer trip with Bryan. For the most part they wanted to see the shore and only go 100 feet from it. It was pretty funny. AND - even though I didn't get a picture of it, I got up on water skiis and went for a couple minutes. The first day I tried wakeboarding (that's a no), then tried the skiis. On the second day I got up for a couple minutes!! Afterwards I thought....I hope my insides have healed enough. I'm sure they weren't crying too hard or I'd have felt it.

The last morning we were there we went to breakfast across the lake at a cafe. We all jammed ourselves in the boat and unloaded at an RV park with the coolest cafe. They had yummy breakfast stuff which we all inhaled and then when we went back, we packed, said a sorrowful goodbye and headed onto my Uncle Dannie's house. We were sad to leave because we had SO much fun there. We can't thank them enough for the awesome experience and the friendships that we have made.

On to Uncle Dannie's where Austin got to hold my Aunt Lynette's guitar. This picture was pretty special. Austin has showed an interest in guitars and my aunt loved playing them before she died. My uncle's house was pretty big and open, along with the 5 acres he owns around it. I really felt like a city girl, though, traipsing about in my flip-flops where ticks and wild turkeys roam. It's not like Washington where I grew up and where Dannie moved from. I mean here they have BIG whopper snakes (like the 6 footer Dannie saw last year) and black widows. OH...and they also have Mountain Lions...ya. A deer was "ripped up" on Dannie's property. All in all we loved staying over and seeing the mountain beauty. We'll have to do it again sometime Dannie!!

Dannie 'getting a piece' of the boys. They were getting some energy out before we headed for home. We had so much fun getting to meet Dannie's friend Kathy and her kids. A big thank you for allowing us to hang out and giving us the pleasure of all of your company!!