Top 10 Things They Have in California That We Don't Have in Virginia

1. Sunsets on the Pacific Ocean

2. Seagulls That Enjoy the Sunsets on the Pacific Ocean

3. Deserts - like this one, the Anza-Borrego Desert

4. Pesky Ground Squirrels - we have squirrels, but they aren't as pesky (or photogenic) as the ones in the California deserts


5. (Lots of Naturally Occurring) Palm Trees - sure, people plant them in the South, and, yes, there are some at the beach in Virginia that naturally grow, but they're simply everywhere in California



6. Large, Friendly Cacti - again, we have cacti here and there, but the key is that they're numerous and naturally occurring out there, and they'll even become your friends if you give them a pair of sunglasses to wear

7. Grapefruit Orchards - like this one in the Borrego Desert, where they grow the world's best grapefruits, Seley Reds

8. Other Unusual and Hard-to-Grow Fruits - like this persimmon...

...and this cumquat tree:

...and this lime tree:

9. Statues of Sailors' Wives Being Doubled Over at their Husbands' Homecoming - like this one, next to the U.S.S. Midway

...and...

....drum roll....

10. Tuna Boats - like these sitting in Coronado Bay

T-giving in SoCal

Hey everyone! Well, as we said in last week's quick post, we traveled to Southern California (San Diego area) for Thanksgiving to visit Ben's family, as well as for Ben to do thesis research at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. We have a couple hundred photos, so we'll spare you most of those, but we're posting a few. More will come in a post above. We had a layover in Atlanta of about 2.5 hours, so my parents and brothers met us for dinner and a brief visit (see above photo of us in parking lot at the airport, where we were getting some "fresh air").

Overall, the week was a fun one, though I must say that I think I've read and seen just about enough material on Nixon for awhile. And I'm not even the one doing the thesis, so I can't imagine how Ben feels. Aside from the work, we were glad to get time with Ben's family, and I was happy to also spend time with my good friend Susan from Atlanta (who is out there doing her internship for med school this year).

This picture may be familiar to those who can remember the Nixon resignation:

Same helicopter, August 9, 1974:

Inside the archives - Ben's dad pretends to find an amazing discovery in the archival material (we'll have to leave it to Ben as to whether there was actually any ground-breaking information within his research):

The Nixon Library is in Yorba Linda because that was his birthplace. Below is the front of the library, as well as the house in which Nixon grew up (restored for visiting/touring):

Both nights after the library closed, we took advantage of the unique things in the area: first, Downtown Disney, where we went to a cafe and walked around; second, El Adobe Restaurant in San Juan Capistrano, which was Nixon's favorite restaurant when he lived there (since we, of course, hadn't had QUITE enough of Nixon yet and wanted to be sure to get the FULL Nixon experience...plus, their Mexican food is just downright good!).

THANKSGIVING '07

Ben, the Turkey Carver. He carved all 23 lbs. of it:

Hmm, did someone have a little too much to eat?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100 (A psalm for giving thanks)

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We're in San Diego for Thanksgiving this week. We'll post pictures when we return! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that we'll each take a little time out this year to be thankful for all that the Lord not only gives to us but all that He is for us . . . so that we can have eternal joy!

Fall Colors

With the cooler weather that we've had lately have come the fall colors as well. It's beautiful around here. In Colonial Williamsburg, the trees are particularly brilliant. The only thing that is bothersome (though beyond our control) is that it gets dark at about 5:00 here now. By 4:00, it feels like the sun is about to set, even though it's still the middle of the day! It's been difficult for trying to get exercise, not to mention just sort of strange. Oh well...

Here are some scenes from this weekend that we wanted to share:

The above tree in Colonial W'burg was attracting a lot of attention today--it's absolutely gorgeous! Practically everyone who passed it was gazing up and taking pictures. (The shot below is from the foot of the tree trunk looking up.)

These below are trees near our house:

This is a lake near William & Mary:

And, then, after our short little break out in the town, it was back to this ... (Ben is knee-deep in his thesis research!!)

Earlier in the week, Ben also surprised me with a dozen roses :)

Yorktown Creatures

The cooler weather has arrived! In between Ben studying and working on his thesis, we managed to make it outdoors today to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. Here are some of the sights from Yorktown that we saw...

A bald eagle, perched atop a tree:

This isn't a "creature," but it was quite interesting. This is a demonstration at the Yorktown Victory Center of shooting off a cannon:

A guinea fowl on the farm at the Yorktown Victory Center:

...and a turkey...

...and a rooster:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone--were going to post these yesterday but never got around to it... We were too busy handing out candy. (Not! We only had 4 trick-or-treaters! So, really, we were busy eating all the candy that we didn't hand out :) hehe)

Last weekend: cookie-making