San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres at AT&T Park

Patrick and Katie came to visit us for a week. We picked them up from the airport and went to a Giants' baseball game at AT&T Park. The park was so neat because it was right on the Bay. Matt and I had already bought our tickets and sat on the third base side. Patrick and Katie bought their tickets that day and sat in the outfield. The stadium had its own microclimate because we were sweating in our seats by third base, but freezing from the heavy breeze when we sat with Patrick and Katie.

Trinity School

Here is my new school. I worked hard to get my classroom ready for the first day of school. I was so busy that I did not have time to take pictures. Patrick took plenty of pictures for me. Thanks Pat. Here are a few of my classroom and school. I have a gorgeous classroom with great windows, closet space, classroom library, resources and technology. This year we are working on integrating Smart Boards into all aspects of teaching. I love using the Smart Board.

So... I know that it has been a long time since I've updated the blog. I have wanted to show you what our life looks like now, but we have been so busy. We've been settling in and working so things have been crazy. I started work at my new school three weeks ago (the first day of shool was August 28th) and Matt has been working on publishing several manuscripts (his first day at Stanford is Sept. 2nd). Since we have a long weekend (Labor Day) I thought I'd try to update.

Yellowstone National Park

We left Utah and drove to Yellowstone going through Jackson, Wy and seeing the Grand Tetons. These mountains are incredible.


These are elk antlers that we saw driving through Jackson, WY. Jackson is such a cool town and reminded me a little bit of Park City, UT. On the way back from Yellowstone we stopped for lunch at Snake River Brewing Company.


Here is the caravan that we traveled in from Utah. Matt and I rode in Kevin and Valeri's van with Keegan and Finley, while Paul and Marilyn drove in the volvo with Abby (their dog) and all the food.



Here are some pictures that we took of the amazing landscape of Yellowstone.



Petrified tree

We had so much fun camping. Kevin and Valeri planned out all the meals and food we would need. We ate so well - taco soup, one pot chicken, chili, hot dogs, sandwiches, lots of marshmallows, banana boats, hot chocolate and fruit. Thanks guys for all your preparation.
Thanks to Melanie and Steve as well for letting us borrow their sleeping bags, chairs and lantern.



One afternoon we went to the Boiling River to go swimming. The runoff water from Mammoth hot springs flows to create this river. It was felt like a hot tub.


On the way back from the Boiling River our path was blocked by a herd of elk. There were about 30 elk that crossed our path. A few of them actually stopped and grazed keeping us from walking by. It was incredible to be within 10 feet of them.


I love this picture of Kevin and Finley. On the way back from hiking Mammoth hot springs Finley fell asleep on Kevin's shoulders tired from all the walking. Mind you she is only 3.

This waterfall is in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and is called Lower falls. To get to it we had to climb 327 stairs. On the way down we saw an amazing rainbow. The waterfall is twice as long as Niagra Falls and was very impressive.

Here we are after having hiked 654 stairs in all. It was well worth it.

Here is Old Faithful. It is not the largest gyser in Yellowstone, but is the most popular because it is so faithful in going off every 90 min. We were not so lucky to see the largest gyser go off. It goes off every 12 years or so. It is quite impressive though.

Recycling Bins!!

Californians are quite serious about recycling. We are getting used to recycling and needed a few bins to help with the organization. We found some after asking a few friends at Ikea. This is actually found in the children's section meant to hold toys or something, but it is quite perfect. Got to love Ikea!

We did some organizing today and put books on all the book shelves. Here are the finished pictures.

Half Moon Bay, CA

Matt and I went to Half Moon Bay to explore the Pacific Ocean. Half Moon Bay is famous for having some of the largest waves in the world. Each year they host a big wave riding surf competition at Maverick's break. We drove over the mountains to get there. As we drove we entered the fog. The mountains keep the fog from coming into the area where we live. There are no mountains to keep the fog from coming into San Francisco. It was amazing to drive into the clouds.



We shared a cobb salad at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. Matt LOVED the beer, of course. He enjoyed their double I.P.A., while I had a hot chocolate. We sat outside, but since it was cloudy the weather was chilly. It was kind of funny to be sitting outside by the ocean in a fleece and sweatshirt in the summer in CA. A little different than a summer in Gainesville. :) After dinner we took our drinks and sat around the fire.

Florida to California

It's official, we are now California residents. This morning Matt and I spent over three hours at the DMV changing our licenses and registering our car. I thought these pictures captured our car - Italian sticker and bike rack. We love our good old Camry.

Menlo Park, CA

After a week long trip across the country we finally arrived at our new home in California. We are thankful to all of you who prayed for us as we journeyed across the country. God was protecting us the whole trip.

We had a 26' truck and towed our car behind it. We were as long as a semi. It was very different to be a "truck." We had to follow all the trucker rules including diesel gas, stopping at the weigh stations, staying to the right of the highway in the slow lane and paying attention to the height of bridges. The truck was not the most comfortable thing to ride in, but we survived! Matt drove the whole way since the seat could not be moved forward at all and my feet did not reach the pedals.

We drove a day and a half, then stayed with Matt's brother and family for 2 days in Frisco, TX. We drove a half a day and stayed with Sean and Laura Cunningham in Lubbock, TX. The final two days of driving were 15 hours each.

Once we arrived in Menlo Park we could not wait to get rid of the trailer and eventually the truck. We ate dinner the first night in our new town at PF Changs to celebrate our arrival!!

Thanks to our great Family Group friends packing the truck was not hard at all. Unpacking was a different story!! Matt and I unloaded the truck by ourselves and it took about 10 hours. We were so sore and stumbled into bed that night, but we were motivated to get rid of the truck.

Menlo Park is such a great town!!! Our apartment is very close to everything we need. We are 2 blocks away from the downtown area and close to 2 grocery stores so we've been walking most places around town. Stanford is 0.8 miles away and the school I will be teaching at is 2.5 miles away. We'll be biking to work everyday. The weather is fantastic and we leave the windows open since there is no humidity!

Moving in this time was a little more challenging than moving into our condo in Gainesville since it is much smaller. After unpacking everything, we had to repack about 10 boxes and put them in a storage unit to make everything fit. It is definately harder to downsize. Our apartment is very cozy now.

Here is our courtyard.

Hallway as you walk in.