Cat Haven

On our way to Kings Canyon, there was a sign for the Cat Haven, which Joy had done research on previously and so we decided it was a good time to stop and stretch our legs and give our car a chance to cool down too.  We spend the next hour plus on a guided tour to see leopards, jaguars, bobcats, lions, tigers, cheetah, and lynx.  We heard their stories and enjoyed our time.

Swimming in the water to cool off.

We weren't far away from these large cats.

Leopards have long tails (here), jaguars have large jaws, and panthers are a name for either if they are black in color.

A bobcat marks its territory as we walk by.

Hanging out in front of the cheetahs.

 

Monterey bike rides

The first of our roundtable discussions landed us in Monterey, where we checked into our motel, grabbed dinner to eat at Spanish Bay, and then mounted our bikes for a ride along 17-mile drive ending at Pebble Beach and passing other famous golf courses such as Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay.  We played games in the motel and had special drinks before waking up the next morning to swim at the motel pool.  Afterward, we sat in for an amazing breakfast at Rosina's and then packed up and headed to Asilomar Beach where we saw the washed-up humpback whale.  We finished our time there with a 2-hour bike ride along the Monterey Coastal Trail.

Those aren't large rocks...That's a beach full of seals!

Bryce and Griffin get ready to bike back up the sand dune path.

We stopped at a beach to throw the football a bit.

Joy with some pretty flowers along the trail.

Lover's Point was the starting place for our bike ride heading east through Monterey.

The washed-up humpback whale on Asilomar State Beach.

What a wonderful breakfast!  This powered us until we would eat again close to 3pm.

The swim crew before breakfast.

This is how we roll, five bikes on the car.

The Lonely Cypress along 17-mile drive.

Stacking rocks at Spanish Bay.

No group photos in front of bird rock...ok we are just 4 individuals.

The 18th hole at Pebble Beach:  I think we saw Steph Curry and Draymond Green playing golf.

Beautiful seaside bike ride...but a bit chilly too!

High rise table at Spanish Bay...all of our feet are dangling.

 

ICON Tournament of Champions

All three of our boys qualified for the ICON tournament of champions based on their work in tournaments throughout the year.  They each qualified their duos and in the category of the roundtable discussion.

Nice to be on Zoom, you can wear crazy shorts?!

Mr. Eliason announced the winner of roundtable, Garrett finished fourth.

Griffin and Jake spent the day at his house and received the award of getting a Showcase Presentation slot.

Celebrating with ice cream at the Ice Cream Emporium.

Presenting:  A Christmas Carol.

Presenting:  The Single Shard.

Roundtable Star-Garrett.

Bryce competes in roundtable.

Griffin competed in roundtable too.

 

Grand Rapids Gatherings

We met with two of Joy's high school friends at Meijer Gardens to eat and walk and talk.  Chris was in town with her son, Eric, from Arkansas while Mary drove from Iona for the reunion. We had sent the boys up to the beach house with Grandma and Gramps the night before, so we actually had a date night on Saturday night, but after having been up at 230am to make it to the airport to catch our flight on time, we were pretty tired.  So we went for a walk along the Grand River at Riverside Park and then headed back to her parent's house where we watched the KLOVE Fan Awards and got some quality catch up sleep. 

This looks like a pulmonary artery mapping.

Brett and Eric use the force to hold up the stone arch.

Chris, Joy, and Mary had an easy time catching up.

How about breakfast at a cute diner across the street from your old high school?

Taking a break along the Grand River.

 

Sunset Photoshoot

In planning the 50th Anniversary Celebration for Joy's parents, we had tried to get a professional photographer for a photo shoot.  The original negotiated price was reasonable for an hour, but then suddenly the price jumped to 250% without anything else that we were getting.  We decided we would accomplish this on our own.  Matt and Alecia picked up a great tripod.  Aaron and Kaarli scouted out some spots, and Joy coordinated the color scheme.  We got better pictures than we could have imagined as the setting and weather were perfect and God provided the lighting.

Alecia, Aaron, Joy--3 siblings.

Sisters!

Gramps and Grandma

The whole crew for the 50th celebration.

Matt and Alecia.

The boy cousins, all 2 years apart from 16 to 8.

Aaron and Kaarli with Kaleb and Logan.