Bike ride

We went for a bike ride today and the weather was gorgeous -- a bit nippy but billowy clouds, blue skies and lots of trees fully in bloom.

Ellen is with the Lord

What a sad day. Ellen Hale passed away. We have such warm memories of eating over at Ellens, or playing games, or planning an event. She was certainly a partner in the ministry and faithfully served the Lord all of these years. She has left her mark on each of the members of our family and will be missed.

My birthday at the Grandview Restaurant

I had a wonderful birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed going to Bijan's for coffee with my work group and enjoyed the cards and email greetings from friends. I left work early on Friday so that we could join Jeff, Wendy, Micah and Ashley for a birthday dinner at the Grandview. The waitress was awesome, the food was good and the view amazing.(Click on the title of this post to see some beautiful sunset photos on the Grandview website.) I loved seeing the hills at this time of year when they are so green and all of the trees are in bloom -- it's really beautiful. We saw lots of deer. The Santa Clara Valley is beautiful at sunset then as it gets dark the valley is once again tranformed into a sea of twinkling lights as night sets in. We had a wonderful dinner at a beautiful place. Then we went over to Jeff and Wendy's for cookies and ice cream. Wendy made some amazing chocolate chip with a little oatmeal cookies--a variation on Grandma Cece's recipe (that she'll become famous for with her grandchildren) that were fabulous....even though I'm dieting they were totally worth the calories. A great birthday.

Family Photos

Our last photos of Dad -- He passed away in January and we went to Seattle in February for a small, family graveside service.
Dad - July 2007

Kevin and Jeff
Shawn, Ellen and my mom
Like Grandma, like Grand daughter
Mom and Dad's headstone
Shawn, David and Ellen

Family Photos

Sarah, Brennan and Ashley

Micah
Luann and Micah playing "stinky toes"
Mom and Luann
Ashley

Jeff, Wendy and Micah

Conference at Menlo Park Presbyterian

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference at Menlo Park Presbyterian on conversational evangelism. I'd love to have a booth at the mall and call it "Listening Post" and let people come and share their stories about God and just listen to them. It's funny that people want to talk about their spiritual journeys but they're afraid to talk to Christians for fear we'll try to force them to believe in God. We've really got to learn how to listen and ask questions and help people in ways that they feel are helpful.