"Explorer Spirit…Servant Heart…"
Sep 26th, 2011 by leigharev2
Not sure what these little fellas are called, but about 10 of them swooped down on our rose plant and ate a bunch of the aphids before flying off. They are no bigger than a hummingbird. It was impossible to get any great shots of them, but I am pretty happy with this one…
Sep 21st, 2011 by leigharev2
My beautiful cousin, Robyn, married her long held beloved, Dan, in a ceremony that was such a perfect representation of their love for each other. I was so glad to witness this incredible life ceremony, and the beginning of their life as one…
My cute little second cousins serving a flower girl and ring bearer…
One of my favorite of many favorite moments was witnessing Dan’s reaction when Robyn walked down the aisle. The love and joy was evident and his emotion could no be contained…
Robbie looked amazing. The bridesmaids were gorgeous. Their grey dresses complemented the grey skies (we were in Washington after all…
They incorporated a neat element into the ceremony. It is an Italian tradition that Robyn learned of. As I was researching it online, I learned that there are many variations, but the idea is the same. The most common one I read of is that the couple takes an engraved padlock to a bridge a locks it to the bridge.
For Robyn and Dan, they have three padlocks. One is going to go with them and locked somewhere on an island in Desolation Sound, a place that holds significance for Dan. Then, they will lock another padlock somewhere in Hawaii, as significant place for Robyn. The third place will be somewhere they will pick together while in Italy.
After the ceremony, we were escorted to a tasting room of the Columbia Winery, and treated to wine and appetizers. This is a picture of me and my brother…
…along with my beautiful mama…
Even though the blessing of Facebook helps us to stay in touch, it was wonderful to get to catch up in person with family and friends…
My cousin’s cousins, Erin and Katie…
Long held family friend, Justin, and my lovely cousin in law, Anne…
My Auntie DeeDee (R) and her college days friend, Lynne…
I love her hair…
Me and my fabulous father. Hey Dad…maybe you should go back to school and get a degree in accounting or something, so you can wear suits everyday!! or just stay retired…..
From the tasting room, we were escorted into the reception room for dinner and dancing. This is a great shot of my Dad escorting my mom into the reception room. Made us kids smile 🙂
My Dad and my Grandpa, and some random people fighting over who gets the last piece of pizza…;)
The menu was fun and casual, and yummy. For the appetizers, plates of mini corn dogs with dipping sauce, and little pastry cups of mac and cheese were passed around. For our sit down dinner, we had a nice green salad, bread sticks, and three different flatbread pizzas. Instead of a traditional cake, they had about four different kinds of cupcakes.
My Grandpa and his girlfriend, and friend Jeanette, of, wow, ummm, around 68 years?!
Wonderful family friends, Steve and Margaret
I love this shot of my Stepmom, Julee. Isn’t she gorgeous?!
Me and my mom
I love this series of shots, even though they are blurry. If you know my family, you know we dance…we dance, dance, dance, dance, dance…many of my earliest memories revolve around pushing the living room furniture after a holiday dinner and dancing to Kool and the Gang, Stevie Wonder, Chicago, and Michael Jackson…grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, cousins…
Here we are, cutting up the dance floor to “Play That Funky Music White Boy…”
Too bad this is blurry….brother and sister boogie down…
One very fun, unique thing they added to the reception: they had a type of photo booth. Guests lined up and donned props and hammed it up! They are uploaded to a site where guests can download them at home. They can also be printed at the event…
One last thing…the toasts that were given by the Best Man and Matron of Honor were incredible. They had us laughing and crying right alongside them. Their stories about Robyn and Dan were touching and entertaining. They both set the bar super high for all future wedding toasts…
Dan and Robyn…we love you and are thrilled for you and pray a lifetime love, joy, and peace…
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
When I need clothes or shoes, my ideal first stop is my mom’s closet. On my last visit with her, I inherited 9 pairs of new shoes. It was hard for her to part with them, but they have found a good home 🙂 (She can no longer wear them since her stroke.) I joke that I will set up a shel in our guest room and place the shoes on it when she comes to visit…
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
…HAS NO TEETH!
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
Dado and Dada flew into Sacramento and drove to San Francisco to visit family for a few days. Then, they stayed with family somewhere south of the Bay area for a few more days. The final few days of their trip was spent with us!
Walking the golf course at sunset…
We spent the afternoon walking through Nevada City. This gold country town has many lovely Victorian homes…
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
Oh, dear river….how we love you!! Spending our days tubing, swimming, skipping rocks, jumping from rock walls, lounging, napping, dreaming, sharing, bliss…
Bev and ‘R’ coming down a little rapid. ‘R’ wasn’t to sure about that…
Spending time in Worship…
Close up of my cuties…
Each campsite had electricity, and Bev draped Christmas lights on all of our tents. It created a lovely, festive atmosphere…
Let the regatta begin! One of the Bradley traditions is to make watercraft out of containers, take them up river, then set them free. We held a few races, with a few people at the finish line to record the winners! It was a bunch of fun. Here is the boy’s creation. They christened it, ‘Aardshnark’, the fictional color that David made up and says whenever asked what his favorite color is…
‘E’ caught a water snake!!”
Siblings ‘M’ and ‘E’, jumping off the rock wall!
Walking into town for the evening ice cream treat…
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
The Bradley have have had a tradition for the past 20-something years, camping at the River Rest Resort, in the teeny, tiny town of Washington, CA. (pop. 99)…they were gracious to invite our family, and two other families (also friends of ours), to join them.
Located on the most beautiful river I have ever seen, this spot is incredible! The river by the campsite has a deep pool that we could jump from the rocks into. And, I could not believe this…the water was actually warm enough to spend the whole day in! It was also the cleanest, clearest, best-smelling water ever. Simply awesome.
David, Eric, and Reb
When the Bradley’s camp, THEY CAMP! Check out this outdoor kitchen, including a running sink! I could live here…
Stephanie and Lori 🙂
‘E’ and Bev, modeling river attire, matching T’s…
The two older teen boys, ‘R’ and ‘M’, dove for crawdads. They caught a bunch of them, and boiled them up. Typically, I am not a fan of crawdads. They always tasted musty to me. These were delicious. Must be because the river is so clean…
There is a carved out tree that looks like a throne. The boys are taking turns kneeling before each other….
Game Table…
The first night was clear and cold. ‘A’ had actually scrunched himself into a little ball, half on and half off the mattress…
We all piled into Reb’s van and drove down a winding, one lane road. He took us to an abandoned gild mining shaft. To get there, we had to hike in about a quarter mile, and there was one area where the trail was non-existent. We had to scale along a rock wall. It was harrowing, yet exciting…
Someone with a sense of humor spray painted some rocks gold and had them strewn around the entrance. The boys were thrilled for a few seconds until I had to burst their bubble…
We are walking only in the light of headlamps and flashlights. Trying to capture the quartz veins along the wall…
Heading back to the road. This is not a great picture, but I tried to catch a shot of where we had to scale the rock wall…unfortunately, it is behind that bush. You can see everyone waiting their turn…
I still have a bunch of great shots that I want to post, but this is getting too long, so I am going to end here and start another post, part 2…
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
OK, for the record, I do not adhere to a strict gluten free diet, but I have cut it drastically down, and here’s why…
One day while running, I was exhausted. Surely by now, after running consistently for months, I should be faster, stronger, and have more energy! So why was I still feeling this way? I began to research and eat “clean eating” and threw in “gluten free” as well. I began to implement these modifications into my diet.
Immediately, the first thing I noticed was the absence of cravings. Cravings were something I lived with daily and just thought it was a part of my psychological makeup. They literally disappeared within 24 hours of making the diet change.
Then, after just a few days, I noticed that I had a more balanced energy level. It wasn’t an energy spike, where I was bounding all around. I was just able to make it through the day without feeling like I needed caffeine or to lay down.
The third thing I noticed was a shift in irritability. I spent much of my life in a state of agitation, once again, just surrendering to the misnomer that it was a part of my genetic makeup. I would also attribute it to getting older and dealing with PMS when the agitation was especially high. After my change in diet, I would catch myself in a state of “well being”, and decreased tension.
After a few weeks into my new eating profile, we hosted an Italian potluck with friends. I ate pasta and a dessert that had a crust. The next day, it took everything I could to just get through the day. The exhaustion, irritation, and cravings were back full force. Fortunately, I was back to “well being” within three days.
I have never experienced the stomach issues that many people with gluten sensitivity or allergy experience, but I do believe that these other issues I mentioned are directly related to me eating gluten.
Sep 20th, 2011 by leigharev2
