Weekend Review

This weekend was great....Fri night the school had a Luau for the new married students and their spouses. They had a roasted pig and everything! The seminary has really gone out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and especially to make sure the spouses feel included. It's very nice.

Saturday morning Abel got to try out his new surfboard. We got up at 7:30AM to find some waves (in 60 degree weather!). Luckily both spots had the parking lot nearby so I was able to sit in the car and still see the water. Abel's lips were so frozen after a half hour that I couldn't understand what he was saying. =) He had fun but realized that it's better to go in the afternoons when it's a bit sunnier and only worth going out when the waves are really good, b/c it's really cold! He has also met a couple of guys that surf, so hopefully I won't have to sit in the car every weekend. =)


Then Sat night we ate dinner with our neighbors before their friends came over and we all hung out watching the Rick Warren interviews. Their friends were really nice and we had fun hanging out with them. One couple has a two week old baby girl! She was precious and I got to snuggle with her for a long time. I love having friends with babies (sorry Dad, I don't think it's rubbing off on me. I still like handing them back over to go home with their parents). =)


Today was a great day too. We drove about 45 minutes to Santa Rosa to visit this cool church- New Vintage Church. They had Mac Powell from Third Day visiting and the whole service was like a worship concert. The church had an environment that was a lot like Flamingo Road, so it made us feel good to be there. And the music was great! We probably won't make that trip every Sunday, but it was fun to be there today. After lunch we drove back towards Napa and saw all the vineyards. It was a beautiful and relaxing drive and the weather was warmer than where we live. A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.


We're really enjoying living in California! 'Til next time....

Home Sweet Home

We officially arrived in San Fran last Tues. at about 5 P.M. after a long but beautiful drive up the coast. In the days that followed our arrival we worked hard to get all our stuff unpacked, we shopped for and purchased some furniture for our space, and after getting everything set up we have been showing my parents around and enjoying some of the cool sights around San Fran and Marin county where we live.

It's beautiful here, the weather is cool at night and in the 70s-low 80s during the day. We have really nice neighbors and are looking forward to meeting more people as the week goes on. Here's a few pics of our new place so you can picture where we live.

We miss everyone back home! Abel signed up for classes last night and I've started applying for jobs- please keep us in your prayers.

Viva Las Vegas

Vegas was….well, hot! We were a little tired and over the desert heat by the time we arrived so we actually spent most of the time resting in our hotel room. And even then, we were suppose to stay on the Strip in the New York New York hotel, but chose to stay in a Doubletree 5 minutes off the Strip both nights instead. We thought it was great. We needed the rest, and coming from all of God’s beauty we’ve seen in the last week the Strip wasn't very appealing to us.

We did have one special Vegas night, Sunday night, we had dinner at Olive’s in the Bellagio hotel and then saw the Cirque du Soleil show “O”.

It was incredible; the Cirque people really know how to wow your senses! O is the show where they incorporate water into the performance- so there were divers and swimmers as well as the acrobatic routines. There are several Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas, and it was worth going to Vegas just for the show. In front of the Cirque theater there was an art exhibit that featured sculptures of different Cirque performers. That was really neat too. We watched the famous fountain show in front of the Bellagio hotel a couple of times which was a cool ending to the Cirque show we had just seen. We didn’t walk around any of the other hotels but we enjoyed our time at the Bellagio.

We missed the beach, so we headed out this morning and drove to Laguna Beach, which is just south of LA. The weather is amazing, and we loved being in the cool breeze! We then drove up the coast to Ventura Beach, which is just south of Santa Barbara. The drive took a lot longer than we expected, but there were a few pretty beaches along the way. Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be our official last day on the road. We hope to arrive in San Fran in time to have dinner with Abel's parents. They flew in on Saturday (Happy Birthday to Rosa!) to help us move in. We've had an awesome trip, our dream vacation became a reality, and now we are ready to see our new home. We'll let you know what it's like so you can begin planning your vacation to visit us! =)

Isn't it Grand?

We arrived in the Grand Canyon on Friday night after a long day of driving and exploring Antelope Canyon. We had reservations to stay in a cabin along the rim of the Grand Canyon and it was beautiful. The weather was cooler when we arrived, which was great. We got dinner, sat at a table next to the window, and watched the colors change as the sun went down. We walked around and watched the sun set before heading into bed for an early night’s sleep.

We woke up early and enjoyed the cool breeze and stillness of the early morning. There were very few people out on the rim and we decided to walk along the rim for several miles while it was still cool out. We saw two deer feeding along the path and continued to take in the vast beauty of the Grand Canyon. About 10am we got on a shuttle and rode out to the furthest point along the South Rim to see a different part of the Canyons. We climbed the Watch Tower and saw an amazing view of the River. After a long ride back on the shuttle, we had lunch, and headed on to Las Vegas. On our way out of the park there was a huge elk feeding on the side of the road. It was so cool, and it totally didn’t seem to mind all the cars pulling off or the many people staring and taking pictures of it.

The Grand Canyon is an amazing site. We really enjoyed the early evening and early morning times, when there were less crowds. It was so calming. There’s not much to do but look at the Grand Canyon, but it is breathtaking.

Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon was simply amazing. It is one of God’s wonders. We spent more than two hours walking through and just couldn’t get enough of the simplistic beauty. The swirled patterns, shapes of the rocks, and the rays of light were mesmerizing.

To get to it you walk out into the desert and squeeze through these cracks in the surface. There are steps and ladders at times to help you descend. If you look thru the pictures you can see some of the path we took. They lead tours through the Canyon, but we bought a photo pass which allowed us to go through on our own pace.

After Antelope Canyon, we drove by Horseshoe Bend to see this beautiful river. Only I was toooo hot, so I turned back and sat in the car w/ the AC on full blast while Abel hiked on. So I'm enjoying this beauty through the same pictures you are. =)







It was amazing. Definitely a day trip you have to do when you visit Sedona and the Grand Canyon….which everyone should do. =) It has been an incredible trip and we’ve been trying to burn all this beauty into our memories forever.

We were in the Grand Canyon Fri night and Saturday so we are a bit behind on posting updates. Today we are resting in Las Vegas before dinner and a show on the Strip. We'll post more on the Grand Canyon soon. We've changed our plans a little so we will head to California tomorrow so that our last day we can travel up the coast all the way to San Francisco. We're looking forward to leaving the desert behind and being at the beach again! Til next time....

Speechless in Sedona

Today we were blessed once again to spend the day enjoying God's creation as we continued on this trip of a lifetime.

We spent the day in Sedona, AZ where we started our day hiking in Red Rock State Park. While on our hike we came across a field of wild flowers, (if you stood quite all you could hear was the sound of bees buzzing), we saw a snake crossing the trail, a colored lizard, and we came up on a deer grazing who seemed as curious and interested in us as we were of him. The park was awesome, although it got really hot quick, we did get to enjoy not only the wildlife but the amazing scenic views as well.

After lunch we went to a place called Red Rock Crossing which was just outside the state park. We took pictures and sat in the shade next to the creek to take in the scenery and cool off. The pictures say it all.We later went up to see this cathedral that was built into the rocks. It was beautiful.

AND finally we ended our day with an off road jeep tour that was out of this world.

So far this has been my favorite stop. It reflects God's beautiful creation everywhere you look. In fact our jeep tour guide said something which was amusing. "even the gas stations have a view in this town"

Jenn and I feel so blessed to be able to experience all this and we've been able to spend so much time talking about how awesome God has been to us. We are totally having a blast and we wish that you guys could experience this to so we hope that the pictures and stories will do for know and maybe they will inspire your next vacation.

White Sand Dunes

Today we woke up at 5 AM to repack the car and head to another destination. Today’s trip took us by the White Sands National Monument.

The White Sands is a large area where all you can see are the white sand dunes with the mountains blue in the background. It was quite beautiful. It was sort of like being on a beach in the middle of the mountains. You can walk around on them, camp out, picnic, and even sled down the dunes (although we didn’t). Again it was hard to capture the vast beauty that we saw on the camera.

Around the White Sands is an Air Force Base so we saw several planes flying around while we were there. And there’s also a Missile Range surrounding the White Sands, it was kind of cool!

Once in Arizona we started to see Saguaro Cacti along the road.

We got into Sedona tonight about 6:00 and learned that we gained another hour! Today’s drive took us 11 hours….but we were amazed as soon as we started to see the Red Rocks. It is unbelievable- this is the best part of our trip so far. The views are spectacular, and our hotel room has a full wall of windows that face the mountains. We can’t wait to check it all out tomorrow. We had an awesome dinner tonight with the same view- it was near perfection. Below is the view from our room- I’m not sure how we’re ever going to leave…

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns is awesome! It is a must-see-in-your-lifetime place. It is so amazing, and so hard to describe it all. We went on two guided tours and through two self-guided areas, each were unique and fascinating! It sort of reminded me of scuba diving, but without the water, because it was like being in a different world. Other times it reminded me of sand castles. It was neat to think about how the early explorers experienced the caverns, which is something the rangers talked a lot about. These Caves were discovered by a 16 year old kid. We had a chance in both tours to experience a "blackout"- I know I couldn't have gone in those caves 100 years ago!
Hope you enjoy the pictures, it's not the same as being there, but I think some of them came out good. Be sure to read the captions along the bottom for a little more explanation.

Tomorrow we're headed to Sedona, AZ but first we're going to go by the White Sands National Monument. We've heard the white sand dunes are another must-see in NM so we're looking forward to checking them out. Thanks for following us along on our trip across the country! Til next time.....

On the road again...

Today we drove from New Orleans to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Yup, all the way through TEXAS!

We traveled 995 miles and it took us 15 hours, not including our stop for lunch. It wasn’t too bad though, and it’ll be our longest stretch of the trip. We were just really excited to be getting out West. We’ve never driven out here so it’s fun to see different things.

We saw some billy goats by the side of the road; don’t usually see those in Florida! We passed windmill farms also. Abel’s favorite part of the day was when we passed San Antonio and the speed limit went up to 80 miles an hour. (See photo for proof) =)

Tomorrow we’ll be underground all day…which I’m excited about escaping the heat!! The only thermometer we saw was in Houston and it said 98.

Not sure if we’ll get any good pictures inside the caves, but you’ll see them if we do! Till next time…

Our Day In New Orleans

We spent the day checking out New Orleans. We started by going to the City Park, where we visited the Botanical Garden and the Sculpture Garden. We then drove into the heart of the famous French Quarter to meet up with our friends Jennifer & Ryan. Jenn & Ryan took us to lunch and then sightseing around the Quarter. We saw the St. Louis Cathedral in front of Jackson Square, we walked through the French Market, down by the river (where you could see the unfortunate results of the tanker spill that occured just a few days ago), and we had coffee & beignets at the world famous Cafe Du Monde.

It was realy HOT, kinda like in South Florida but we had a good time and it was good to hang out with friends.

Tomorrow we're off to Carlsbad, NM which is supposed to be a 14hr. drive but I'm sure it will be fun.