San Diego visit

We had such a wonderful trip to San Diego again this year.  With how busy we were this summer with house hunting, we postponed our usual summer trip to San Diego to October and planned an extra couple of days for a trip to Disneyland.  We spent our first few days at Gateway.  

Darin and I planned two full days to work at Gateway.  While one of us was working around Gateway, the other one did small jobs with the kids.  It worked out wonderfully.  There were plenty of jobs for them to help with!  One especially exciting job for the kids was washing the Gateway van.  Nolan got to be in charge of the hose.  :)

Washing with Daddy outside the Residence!

Giving it a good scrub and wipe down afterwards.

Another ongoing job at Gateway is working in the garden.  They always have something needing to be picked, planted or transplanted.  Maya, Nolan and I picked chard this time.  They were actually in the middle of crops this weekend we visited.  Papa was tilling part of the garden getting it ready for a cover crop for the winter, and he beginning to plant the winter vegetables.

The kids also helped transplant baby lettuce with Daddy, Papa and Oleg.  

Another morning, the kids helped me pick grapefruit from these huge trees outside the units and in the orchard.

We also picked lemons...

and oranges in the orchard.  After we picked the good ones, we picked up the rotten ones from the ground and put them in the compost pile.

Gretchen helped us with this big job to make sure we had picked enough for Gateway and the Fellowship.

Hauling our grapefruit harvest down to the residence.

One of the jobs I did while Darin worked with the kids was helping with the edging on the cello stands in the crafts.  Last time I helped glue in the padding inside.  This job was very precise and I had Jan and Ruth to show me how to do it.

Tracy and Marilyn were working on cello stand padding one of the days I was working in the crafts.  Blue is the most popular color!  

Of course, we had many opportunities to sit and visit with our dear friends at break, lunch and dinner while we were there.  It was so heart-warming to hear all our voices together in prayer and laughter.  It really does feel like home there.  Here John and Jan are visiting at break.  

One of the kids' favorite things is taking hikes around Gateway's property.  Nonnie has some walking sticks that she likes to use on the steeper trails where the dirt is slippery and gravelly.  Maya gave them a try.

On this day, we hiked to Inspiration Point.  The kids saw these balancing rocks and thought it looked like a man in a cowboy hat!  Clever eyes.

Here is the gang starting the walk.  See Nolan running up ahead?  He kept running up ahead and then running back to us.  So much energy!

Hiking!  Everyone at Gateway works to make sure the trails are kept up nicely.  They have to bring in dirt to help rain water flow off the path to avoid erosion on the trail.  It's one of the many ongoing projects they have with all their land.

Here we are at the entrance to Inspiration Point!  The trail gets quite a bit steeper here.  The kids loved it!

The view of Gateway atop Inspiration Point.  It was a hazy day but you can still see the units and the shop in the picture, along with the big water tank on the right.

Another picture of some balancing rocks!  I think Bob is responsible for many of these balancing rock formations.  

On Thursday we went to the Fellowship to work in the morning.  The kids helped clean up the area about the reflecting pool with me and went on another hike with Darin and Connie.  Here are some of the gang at the Fellowship, next to me is Carole, in the middle is Sally, and next to Darin is Connie.  Kneeling in the front is Natalie with their sweet dog Buddy.  Doug was kind enough to take our picture on this day.

I want to take a moment and talk about Doug.  A few days ago, Doug passed away after a long battle with cancer.  We were so saddened by this news, but we know his lasting legacy is his contribution to the Lemurian Program and how many people's lives, like mine, he guided and improved.  He was a role model for me at Gateway my entire life.  He performed Maya and Nolan's Christening 3 1/2  years ago which was one of the most memorable milestones of our lives.   He will be greatly missed.

During our visit at the Fellowship, Maya brought one of her library books and enjoyed reading it to Connie.  I just love these pictures of them reading together.  :)

While in San Diego, we always like to stop by and visit my Great Aunt Jackie at her house in Rancho Bernardo.  No bee stings this year!!

Nonnie always has so many fun activities planned for the kids.  This year, she got some kinetic sand and the kids had a blast playing with it!  

Papa and Nonnie have the best books too!  Each time we go they have a few new ones we have not read before and they are really good.  Nonnie loves reading to the kids and they love listening to her.  

One of our many days of taking walks around Gateway.  This big rock is outside the House of Ling Quong.

Nonnie also got this little turtle that grows into a BIG turtle after he is submerged in water for a few days.  The kids loved watching him grow!