Pool Hopping

Rinconda Wading Pool in Palo Alto with the Arnes' Family
Gotta love silly photo ops!

Check out how many lifeguards are on duty (they had just dropped off a couple buses full of 8 year olds from summer camp.

Hanging with buddies at the Whisman Station Pool

Moss Beach Tide Pools

Karen, Brenda, Alaina, and I headed to Moss Beach as a last hurrah for the girls. Boy I tell ya Mom's of boys are awesome to take to tide pools. Katelyn's favorite was putting her finger inside the anemones (spelling?) and letting the close. Also once they are closed and above the water line you can squish them and they squirt water at ya. Yep we crawled all over the place squirting the anemones. Sarah liked all the rocks and throwing them on the ground. We were at the beach while the sea lions were on the beach with their pups and the park ranger took a group photo. We ended our outing with Nachos and stopped at the flower stands along route 92. What a perfect day.




Yep they were tired after our outing!

Fathers Day Walk at Gamble Garden

Katelyn's amazing sense of fashion, sporting Nate's silly tie, oven mitts, and her "Snow White" church dress...(we made Nate Hawaiian Haystacks for Father's Day Dinner)


What does a Bunny say? Bounce Bounce!!


Garden of Eden Anyone?



Sitting inside the Gazebo and Tree Stump Hut



Getting Drenched in the Frog and Lily Pad Fountain



Sarah Trying to Get Warm

Girls Night Out at Chevy's

Linda LeFevre, Angela Sinsay, Me, Holly Allison

I really think we should have asked for balloon animals!
Thanks ladies for the a la carte dinner, visiting, and scrumptious Fried IceCream!

Happy 7th Anniversary to us!!

This is one of those posts that I wish I had a scanner and could scan on my favorite wedding photo...but alas I will have to settle with a recount of our evening. I sent Nate a love letter with a bed and breakfast getaway. Nate took the girls and I shopping at the mall for a jacket I wanted, dinner, and my favorite Jamba Juice. I thought that was pretty much the end of it but I woke up the next morning to a sweet card Nate had written while I was sleeping. I would share but then Nate would never do it again. Nate babes, I love ya and can't wait for 7 more.

Actually I decided to show you where we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 22, 2002. The Temple is the most revered and sacred place to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Temples are where the covenants that seal families through the eternities are established. Latter-day Saints feel that temples are literally God's house, and are respected as such.

Once a LDS temple is completed and dedicated, only church members who have been interviewed by both their bishop and stake president and hold valid temple recommends may enter. This is done "to sustain the reverent spirit that should prevail in the House of God."

However, after a temple is completed and prior to the dedication the temples are open for the public to view and tour. Since many people I know across the net have not had the opportunity to tour through a Mormon temple and see how beautiful the various rooms inside are, I'm providing a pictorial temple tour. I still highly recommended attending an actual temple tour at a public open house. The pictures are nice, but you miss feeling the spirit that's present there. There are temples planned or under construction at Cebu, Philippines; Gila Valley, Arizona; Phoenix, Arizona; Gilbert, Arizona; Kiev, Ukraine; Manaus, Brazil; Oquirrh Mountain, Utah; Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; San Salvador, El Salvador; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Vancouver, British Columbia; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Calgary Alberta, Canada; Córdoba, Argentina; Rome, Italy; and Trujillo, Peru.

The public open house for the Oquirrh Mountain, Utah Temple will be held Monday, June 1 - Saturday, August 1, 2009. Attendance is free but a ticket is required. You can order tickets by going here: http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1919-1-590-1,00.html

Golden Gate Park

We spent the girls' last Saturday in Golden Gate Park. We took them to the California Academy of Sciences to see the aquariums, swamps, and rainforest exhibits. Well we didn't quite walk through the butterfly atrium because the line was at least an hour long but we looked through the glass...We did however see the craziest looking albino alligator. I tell you he was rather sedate but he looked quite mean. The fish aquariums were a HUGE hit as usual with the girls.



There was a Band Festival going on at the amphitheater so we made the best of the marching beat by chasing the girls around the fountains.


Sarah's Favorite: Peek-a-boo and There she is!!!


Nate decided to let me have a little alone time at the art museum so I went in to the de Young museum (a ticket there is also good for the de Legion museum on the same day, Rodin sculptures, etc.). These were the highlight of my walk through though the King Tut exhibit looks amazing.
De Young Art Museum

Robert Henri, "Lady in Black (Spanish scarf)"

Rembrandt Peale, "George Washington"

Both of these pieces are magnificent in person. Robert Henri follows the Old Masters style of soft edges to bring life into form. Rembrandt Peale uses a very clean and precise ultra detail for realism. These paintings in person took my breath away. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in seeing true masters in portraiture.

VA Dental Picnic and Tribute

I am really proud of how hard Nate has worked this past year. He's stayed long evenings and weekends finishing his notes, lab prep work, presentations and answering pages. I suppose he could have taken it a tad easier considering he has the highest production, but he has always made time for us. I guess that's why he was presented the "Family Practice" plaque. He's really advanced professionally from the residency and we are grateful for our experiences here.

The residents from left to right:
Dr. Sung Cho, Dr. Sharla Aronson, Dr. Heidi Ferre, Dr. Nathan Starley, Dr. Safa Maiwand, Dr. Nancy Lam

Nate receiving his plaque

Nathan's Tribute:

Dr. Nathan "Family Practice" Starley
Presented for successful completion of the one-year General Dentistry Residency at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in June of 2009. Dr. Starley truly excelled as a mature and rock-steady dental practitioner during his year with us. Nathan may have been slow in sharing his dental check-off book with staff, but was never stingy with Stacey's fabulous homemade cookies. Best wishes for you, for your family, and your upcoming dental practice with Dad in Utah.

Katelyn studying the likeness of herself


The Plaques for the residents made by Dr. Deale. He's been making these from dental materials for the past 30 years.

Pretty much everyone that works at the VA dental clinic

Wipes!!!!

The Many Joys of Playing with a Package of Wipes:

Serra Park Splash Pad

Parks with splash pads are AWESOME in the summertime!
Sammy leading the girls into the water

Mudcastles!