You went to Yosemite how many times?!?

Between June of 2020 and June of 2021, I went to Yosemite National Park twenty times.

Yes, you read that correctly, twenty times.

Of course, gas was a whole lot cheaper then. But that is a whole other topic…I have been meaning to write and post something about all my trips to Yosemite, but I am finally making time to do so…

Once the national park system decided to open the parks back up after being closed for almost four months in the spring of 2020, I was dying to make a day trip to one of my favorite places. They had implemented a reservation system, and I did my best to take full advantage of using it as often as possible.

After months of being told by the government to stay home (not that I stayed inside my home that whole time), I was beyond ready for a full day outside in the sunshine, getting lots of fresh air and exercise, spending time in God’s beautiful creation.

From June of 2020 until June of 2021, I explored parts of Yosemite I had never explored before. I hiked more miles in one year than I had probably ever done before. I kept track of my steps on each visit and figure I hiked about 90 miles in the park that year. I took 12 people to Yosemite for the very first time.

There were two hikes that have to be my absolute favorites from that year. The first one is Lembert Dome. My daughter-in-law and I did this hike in August of 2020. The whole time on the trail we probably saw no more than 25 people. The view from the top of the dome looking out toward the eastern sierra mountains was incredible!

And believe me, no photo is ever going to do this view justice. There is nothing like hiking up a trail at over 8000 feet above sea level and seeing an almost 360 degree view of Tuolumne Meadows and the surrounding area. This is one hike that I would definitely do again!

My other favorite hike from that year has to be Columbia Rock. This trail is the first part of the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. As I was making my way up this trail, I almost didn’t think I was going to make it! It is a brutal 1000 foot elevation gain in just one mile! But the view is so worth it!

I loved this hike so much that I brought my daughter-in-law with me to hike this same trail the following month.

It amazes me that so many people live within driving distance of this incredible place and have never been. I spend $80 for the National Park Pass and it is so worth the price. It you live in the state of California, you are within driving distance of at least one national park, given that we have nine national parks in our state, the most in all of the United States. I have been to five of the nine national parks in California, so I need to make time to get to the other four.

Do you have a favorite national park in our country?

"I can't find Joy"

Last week, I was working the Compassion table at a leadership event. On the second morning, a woman came by and was looking at the child packets that were laid out on the table.

After a bit of time, I heard her say, “I can’t find Joy! She was here last night when I was looking at the children on the table.”

I had to let her know that maybe Joy was sponsored the previous night. So the woman kept looking at the children and I encouraged her to open the packets and read more information about the children on the inside of the packet.

She found one little girl from the Philippines and began reading. Then she said, “This girl is from the community that I am from!”

Even though this woman couldn’t find Joy, she found the one child that God knew she would need to sponsor.

Way back, when we started volunteering at Compassion events, we would be asked how people decide which child to sponsor. It wasn’t until my son and I went on our first Compassion sponsor trip, that I realized we are not the ones with the ultimate decision on which child to sponsor. We may think we are deciding, but I truly believe that God already knows which child each family needs to sponsor.

At this same event, I even found a new child to sponsor.

I wasn’t looking to sponsor a new child. But when I saw his birthday, I knew I needed to add him to my Compassion family. My daughter’s birthday is on December 6th, I read that he likes math, and I just received my first letter from his mom and she wrote that he likes the color blue. I loved math in school and blue is also my favorite color!

There are times when it is hard to find joy as we live through many of the challenges of this life. But I am thankful for the many reminders that God places in our life to keep our focus on Him.

Over the last two years, I have missed working at Compassion events, seeing kids be sponsored, and having great conversations with people about how Compassion is working to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

I pray we are moving into a time where more events will be held and I can help more people find a child that will be a reminder of the joy that can be found when we invest into the lives of others.

When Family Moves Away

When I was growing up, we lived fairly close to both sets of grandparents. I remember many days of sleepovers at nana and papa’s apartment, hearing the percolator making their morning coffee, and eating stacks of Bisquick pancakes.

After my siblings and I were all married and started having children, my own parents still lived fairly close and they were there shortly after both of our own children were born.

But then my parents moved out of state, and as my own children were growing up, we tried to see my parents at least once a year. Either they would drive down here for a holiday, or we would try to get up to visit them during the summer.

My mom would always say, “At least we didn’t move to Connecticut!” Meaning, we can make the drive to their house, or they can make the drive to ours in less than a day.

While we were homeschooling, I started my blog so that my parents could learn about some of the things we were doing and some of the adventures we were taking. Since I have always loved photography, this was also a way to share photos of our family. The homeschool blog took a different direction as the kids grew up and I had less to write about on that topic.

Over the years, I have used this platform to share some of my interests, whether it be on the topic of Compassion International, or books, or photography, or some of the other things I enjoy.

I am not really sure what the future of this blog will entail, but I know it is a place where I am free to write about things I am feeling. And just maybe, somebody who is reading this may be feeling the same way.

Two years ago, when our son got married during the shut down of the entire world, it was a pretty stressful time for everyone! We were pretty excited that our son and his new wife would be renting the home across the street from us. Once the national parks opened back up in the summer of 2020, I loved taking my daughter-in-law on multiple trips to Yosemite. I really thought she was beginning to love California as much as I do.

But I believe she was really homesick for her family, over 2000 miles away.

Just over a year ago, our son and his wife bought a home close to her family, over 2000 miles away.

It has been an incredibly hard transition for me because I suffer from a huge FOMO syndrome.

Fear of missing out.

And now, we have learned that we are going to be grandparents for the first time later this year.

I never anticipated being a long distance grandma.

I always thought I would be the grandma that would take grandkids to Yosemite, the ocean, the bookstore, on coffee dates, have them over for pancakes.

How do I be a long distance grandma?

Thankfully, I am not the first one to travel down this road!

I did a little searching today and found a blog written by a grandma who has been a long distance grandma…Grandma’s Briefs. The first post I read is called, “An open letter to new long-distance grandparents.”

I have already saved the article and have subscribed to her updates, because I know I will need to remind myself that I am not alone of this journey. In fact, a couple of my close friends are just now or will soon be long distance grandma’s also. I have already shared the blog with them!

I think through all of this though, it is a good reminder to me about the importance of a local church family and connecting with good friends.

I can be excited to see my little friends at church who run across the room and hug me when they find me.

I can drive up and see my younger mom friends who have little ones at home, sit on their couch, and read a pile of books to their little ones.

I can set aside time to watch little ones who live close by so a mom and dad can go on a date.

I can be present for a young family whose own parents might live far away.

Life is full of adventures and unexpected happenings.

And as always, I try to cling to this verse, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” - James 1:2-4

Question: Have you had family move away? What are your tips for staying connected?

Have you read the original?

As long as I can remember, I have always loved to read.

When I was little, I remember creating my own card catalog so my friends could ‘check out books’ from my home library.

I loved reading books aloud to my children when we were homeschooling. I wish I had kept a list of all the books we read over those years.

In most cases, I have always felt that books are better than movies, especially movies that are based on books.

Recently, I realized there is a movie that I have always loved and I have never read the original story. I have been taking some free online classes through Hillsdale College, and one of the classes is Classic Children’s Literature. There is one class devoted to the original story of Beauty and the Beast.

Unfortunately, in today’s society, most people are only familiar with the Disney version of this classic story and many others. Considering the current agenda of the Disney executives, I decided it was time to read the original version of Beauty and the Beast. My copy of the book arrived this week and I look forward to reading this story which was originally written back in 1740!

Do you have a favorite book that has been made into a movie?

An afternoon in the kitchen

This afternoon, I did not have anything I needed to do. So, I decided to bake a cake I found in a book I picked up at the library yesterday. Not that I needed to look at another recipe book, since I have a pile of printed out recipes from the internet that I still need to try.

I found this particular recipe book when I was scrolling through my Goodreads account. The title is called ‘Snacking Cakes’ and it is written by Yossy Arefi. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I want a bit of dessert, but I don’t want to spend the time making a big cake with all the frosting. So the cover of this book and the title made me search for it in our local library.

The book arrived yesterday, so I walked down to the library to pick up the book. As I was looking through the book last night, I spotted a recipe for Browned Butter, Pecan, and White Chocolate Cake. Oh my!

Since part of the recipe is on the following page, I did not realize that I needed to keep back some of the white chocolate and chopped pecans for the top of the cake. Oh well! I am sure it will still taste delicious.

I do like that this recipe book has some suggestions for using different pans, provides some flavor variations, and offers a way to dress up the cake when serving it.

It is too soon to tell whether I will add this book to my cookbook library, but in the meantime, I know what I am having for dessert tonight.