We call them "grand" for a reason...

My parents came to visit us in Cali!  We had a lovely week of taking them to all our favorite places around LA.  (Now that we are feeling like locals and all...)  It was so wonderful to see faces of family and do some fun things together, such as......

visiting the Vasquez Rocks like true Trekkies should....

 going to see the Endeavour Space Shuttle...

 the Tar Pits (but this time they took us into the museum!)...

 Going 'junking' in antique stores....

 visiting Leo Carillo Beach (my favorite in Cali so far)...

 the Travel Town Museum for my train-loving Papa...

The top of the mountain for the Griffith Observatory... 

 Don't forget the coffee!...

And picnics in the park.  Shew!  We had quite a week...and we loved every minute of it!  What fun to share God's creation with loved ones.  The kids had a blast getting spoiled by the grandparents...well, we all did for that matter.  :)  Mom and Dad left to drive back to Houston on Sunday and have made it home safely.  See you guys back in Texas!

Happy Birthday, J-man!

My little babies are growing up.  Justin has turned 4!  We were so blessed to have my parents come to California to help make Justin's birthday a real party!  The day started with birthday breakfast, then a little rock hunting (I will blog on that separately) and a movie in the afternoon! Turbo was a really cute movie; everybody loved it.

We decorated the kitchen while he was sleeping, so when he woke up in the morning he was very surprised! 

We all got a birthday tattoo to mark the occasion.  ;)

After the movie it was time for presents and singing.  Justin has the best expressions when he opens gifts.  You do not have to wonder if he is excited.  Haha!

 Monsters U theme....

Then we went to Chi-Chi's for dinner, a yummy pizza place we have found in Cali, before we went home to dig into the cake.  Such a happy day full of so many great memories!

He's wonderful, and brilliant, and we're getting married...

  Come to find out, the house where they filmed "Father of the Bride" with Steve Martin really is in San Marino (just like the movie says) and is only about 40 from us.  We had to go down there.  It was so fun to see the house and quote most of the movie together.  We had to watch the movie that night too and point at the screen saying, "Look! We were right there!"  It looks just as pretty in person as it does on the movie.  Even the street was the same.

 After we saw the house, we drove around the town a bit and found a very pretty park.  The weather was a gorgeous 80-something with a cool breeze.

 So we got some Subway sandwiches and had a picnic.

We got to see Despicable Me 2.  :)  

We got a few minions in the Happy Meal at McDonalds.  We figured they would enjoy seeing the film to, haha!

An update...

 Hello all! Here is a little update to our comings and goings.
We found a Martial Arts Museum near the house and got to see some cool ninja stuff.  We even got to see a World Record being broken!  The officials were there and everything.  The guy (can't remember his name) broke the record for the number of full contact kicks in an hour.  Pretty cool.

 We found a sweet little country church tucked away in the mountains.  This is the church that Andy and Shaena Kirk (two of our pastor's kids) attend when they are here for school during the year.  It is called Crown Valley Community Church and we love it.  Solid teaching and loving people.  The pastor there is actually an Aggie!  Small world.  Above are the boys in the parking lot last Sunday.

 Here is the front...

 ...and here is the view from the front doors.  I will never tire of the mountains!

 This is what our drive to church looks like.  With the sun coming over the mountains and worship music on the radio, it is a beautiful morning every time.

 This is the library is right behind our apartment and we joined the reading club.  Justin is showing off his reading card with the library in the background.  :)

 We visited Pointe Dume State Beach.  I love this picture because I usually only get their backs in beach pics.  :)

 The thing I love about California beaches so far are all the rocks.  Such a pretty bit of scenery.  I could sit all day long.

 

 ....and we're dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign!

 Okay, now be serious and look like tourists.  :)

The moon was so bright over our apartment the other night, June 23.   My mom told me that this was the closest and fullest the moon was going to be to the Earth in all of 2013.  Astronomers are calling it the "supermoon". Such a timely reminder of how small we are and how big God is!