Spring in Santa Cruz

Travis and I spent the weekend enjoying God's beauty. Even though we've done the same hike numerous times, I'm still taken by the beauty of the views.

Spring all around

Contrary to my previous post, I love spring. Here are some of the beautiful signs of spring.

Taken from the Urban Dictionary: (I believe the definitions are submitted by the public)


"Nemesis-
A nemesis as a low-life, evil enemy of yours, that stands in your way of everything you live by. They could be your sworn enemy, fighting with you till the better end, it could be that evil presence surrounding you--day in--day out..."



Pollen is my nemesis.

Happy Bithday Dad and Trace

Yesterday my sister threw a birthday party for her son's first birthday and our dad's birthday. I'd state what birthday it is for my dad, but he announced that since Trace was born on his birthday, Trace takes over counting the years and Dad gets to stay the same age. Works for me! Here are just a few pictures for the happy day. The rain held off until the very end, and even then, it was just a light sprinkle.

Belle's New Toy

For Christmas, we gave Belle and Tanner a new toy that looked like a little bear, with a squeaky piece right under the face. Belle immediately took to it and wouldn't let Tanner get close to it. After a few days, we found the toy in the back yard, with the face ripped open and the squeaky piece gone. Belle still picks up the toy gingerly and is incredibly possessive of it, it's just really scary looking- without a face and all. Last night, I picked up a new toy for Belle. It's a long cylinder fuzzy thing, with a smiley face on one end. I pulled it out of the bag and gave it to Belle, and again, she immediately took it and made it her own. She and Tanner actually fought over this toy. I can't remember the last time they fought!!! This morning, I went outside expecting the toy to be in pieces, shredded to a pulp. Nope, this is what I found instead.

Now, 14 hours later, this is what we have:

She did this herself! She settled into the carpet, then got up and went outside. She came back inside carrying the toy and wagging her tail. She then went right back to where she was previously and put her toy down to sleep right next to her. How cute is that?!

Ski Day

Travis finally succeeded in dragging me out to ski for the day.  I use to ski all winter long, but as the years go by, my poor ol' knees get worse and worse and I have lost the fearlessness I use to have.  I now worry about making a wrong turn while skiing and blowing out a knee, which would put me out of work for  awhile.  This time around, I took my time and didn't push myself too much, which resulted in me being not nearly as sore today as I thought I would be!  I definitely feel it in my knees and I am achy, but I'm up and walking around which is more than I thought I'd be doing.  I'm even thinking of joining Travis and his students this coming Saturday...we'll see how I feel half way through the week ;)

I packed my camera for the outing, but forgot it in the truck.  As we took our last run back to the lodge, I truly missed an opportunity to capture nature's beauty at it's finest.  I asked Travis to stop a few times on the way home so I could try and make up for it.  Here are a few pictures of a "sno-park." I'm not quite sure what it was called, but people were snow shoeing, cross-country skiing, and playing in the snow with their families.  Whatever the name, it was beautiful.

When it rains, it pours!

This afternoon we had a rain storm that took us right back to Kauai.  One moment it was overcast with a few sprinkles, then it started raining a bit harder.  Then harder.  Then HARDER.

Big rain with big splashes.

Big rain with big rainbows~ a double for a short time. 

The photo isn't grainy or smudged~ it's the rain!  It was beautiful.  The storm moved so quickly that the sun came out, creating the rainbow.  The sun rays hit the raindrops in such a unique way, it looked like bits of glass were falling from the sky.  I've never witnessed anything like it.  On one side of the sky was the above picture, on the other, the picture below.

I love the rain- it's one of the things I miss most about Kauai.  This little storm took me right back to our little place in Lawai.  Hopefully we'll make it back there soon to visit our friends and favorite places.