We had some  real nice warm days while we were in California.  I think it was actually warmer than when we were there in August.  The beach was pretty much deserted except for some gutsy birds that got into our stuff and ate all of our treats. Seriously....then the dang pigeon came and pecked my toe. We played some bocci ball and Kelley and I came out on top...which is pretty funny cause Dan was talking about using his left hand or shutting his eyes to give us a chance.  Ha! 

Pictures don't really do the ocean justice.  It's just so beautiful and powerful.  I never get tired of the sound of the waves...We saw a lot of dolphins this time too. They were very close to the shore and were really putting on a show...leaping in and out of the water right in front of us. 

 Stacey had us over for lunch on Tuesday. Katie met us over there cause she had to work that day. It was so nice.  She had made a nice chicken  dish and vegetables and we brought a salad.   She has been such a good friend to Katie.  Sure am grateful for her.

 Kelley made these box shelves for Kate to surprise her.  We were looking for some brackets to hang them up, but then came up with this idea of the pipes.  It looked pretty cool.

We went back over to Stacey's on Wednesday to load up the wine barrels.  That was the reason we took the truck down there. (It's not small or easy to get around or fit in a parking spot.)  Kelley had made arrangements to get them with Stacey's boyfriend (who is now not her boyfriend...seriously,I don't know what is wrong with guys!) and she had been storing them there for us in her yard.  Oh wait, I need to back this up a bit.  Wednesday morning, Kelley got a text from Bishop Blake saying him and Sherry were down at Charlies Chile's having breakfast.  So we went over there and ate with them.  They had Mike and Janice with them. ..I haven't seen them for about 20 years (since they moved to Arizona) so it was fun to visit with them. Then we went shopping a little, then  met Dan and Brenda at Rogers gardens.  It's always fun to walk around there and look at the flowers.  They had just opened up the Halloween boutique and had some neat things to look at. 

Then we headed over to Stacey's house, with Dan and Brenda following us.  The only problem was that we didn't know where we were going.  I got instructions from Kate, but I didn't write them down very good, so we totally missed a turn we were supposed to make and ended up way off base.  Then I called Stacey to see if she could straighten us out and she helped get us back on track....then we missed another  turn and had to turn around...about this time Dan calls and asks if we are lost or on crack or something.  I don't blame him.  We were all over the place.  Sorry. I will admit, I am not a good navigator.  Well we finally made it to her house and Kelley and Dan loaded up all the barrels and some cool wood slabs that she didn't know what to do with. Brenda and I got to visit  with Stacey  and look around her cute house while the guys loaded everything into the truck.  By the time they got everything on there ( she threw in a chair she found at a flea market that she was giving to Kate) we looked like the Clampets going down the street. Dan and Brenda were headed to the airport after that so we had to say goodbye.  It was sure fun to spend that time with them.

Kelley and I went back down to the beach for a few hours...It was really so lovely and warm there ( and I knew we were getting some cold weather at home) I could have stayed another week and been very happy.  After we got cleaned up, we went back to Kate's, then out to Calientes again. Then we went back to Kate's and she did my lashes.   I had about 3 eyelashes left and they were so grown out, they went every other  direction than the one I wanted them to go so I was sure grateful she could fix me up!  I sure hated to say good bye that night...we had had the best time there with Katie and decided it sure is better to be together...hope someday we will get to have her back in Utah.

 We got up early Thursday and headed home.  The closer we got to home, the crappier the weather got...(nice rainbow though!)

 This was my project I worked on while we were driving...a ladybug backpack for Olivia's birthday!  It's turning out pretty cute!

 Going through Vegas, we decided to stop at Chris's to say hi and Kelley ended up redoing the block work on his entry way.

 I think Kelley just really loves doing stuff for people. He would sure go stir crazy if he couldn't be helping someone.  I love that about him.   He's about the hardest working guy I know.  Sure do love him and feel so lucky to have him for my own. 

We came home to a nice clean house, happy chickens and Lizzy, and a great son who took care of everything while we were gone. He really is just the best kid and I'm so grateful for him and the good person that he is.

It's good to be home.