Flipside's "Mad Hatter's" Tea Party

On Saturday, June 20th, we had a wonderful time with Flipside's first annual tea party!!! Alisha (creative arts pastor at Flipside) headed the whole thing and Pam & I were a couple of the helpers who decorated tables and prepared yummy and petite finger foods.I got the "black" table which looked incredible with all my china. Pam & I had so much fun unpacking it but it was a bit of a challenge trying to find it in our storage shed. Can't wait till it gets to come out for good!!! Aren't the black tea pots cute? Everyone got to take one home!
Pam had the "white" table and her things looked so beautiful and delicate!!!
The "purple" table... I love the purple tea pots!
This is the "red" table and it was decorated adorably with "Mary Engelbreit" china... absolutely adorable!

Deanne, Carrie, and Jane, dressed for the occasion, even with cute hats. They make the "green" table stunning :D

The "yellow" table... decorated with sunflowers...

Alisha's beautiful face... leading the ladies in fun & games!

A glimpse of the room... it was beautiful!!!

Deron's Party

With the garden all decked out and the foods equivalent to a five star caterer, Deron's 21st Birthday Party erupted! The foods and the friends just kept coming!
Dan, Travis and Curtis

Jasen always loves a good eat!

Shellie & Pam working the kitchen

Kristina & Brad

Pam & Shellie tasting the treats!

Shellie & Steve

The fire pit was a real hit!

Matt chatting with Steve

Cambria, Lauren & Kristina

Around the circle of friends.

Ken & Pam watching the Angels beat the Dodgers and happy because of it!Deron opening some of his pressies!

Deron's cake (as per his request) - cheese cake with raspberries crowded in around the edge, topped with rich carmel sauce, Heath bar chunks and drizzled with white chocolate. Then for the daring, topped with hot fudge from the fondue! Tasty!!!

Going "Bang Bang" in the Desert

Friday, June 19, two vehicles were spotted heading out to some remote place in the desert with an arsenal of party poppers. Then in temps that reached the low 100's bang bang's could be heard! Chris, Deron and Prestin stop to pose for this manly shot! Ready, aim, fire! Ken was helping Prestin zero in the scope on his (Ken's) new bull barrel 22.
Deron hitting the mark!

Prestin with the big gun!

Even Steve gave it a pop!

Deron shows what's left of Santa before we demolished him with the shotgun! The bigger holes were made with the other guns at 100 yards. Zeroing in Prestin's gun.

Chris inspecting the 22.

On our way home, Deron experienced the first flat in his truck.

It was a much bigger job than we anticipated!

Deron got a big work out.

Back at home, gun cleaning time!

Deron turns 21

Deron, our eldest male child, has just turned 21. We celebrated his birthday stuff over a few days. Starting with opening his gifts, in a rather laid back manner, literally! Of course Purlie was right in the midst of it! Checking out the new mini!
Jasen & Prestin watch so attentively.Mom & Dad goofing around with Deron

Dad is a bit dyslexic. The fingers were supposed to read 21, not 12. Oops!
Happy Birthday Deron! We are so proud of you!

Early Father's Day

It was just one of those weeks (like way busy). And because it was, we celebrated Father's Day on Tuesday night, which was five days early. We enjoyed BBQ ribs and a whole bunch of other delicacies. Here we are after the fact! Simply happy campers!
Ken opening some of his gifts.
Gene (Pam's dad) opening his pressies.

By the way, Shellie's absence from the above photos is simply because she was taking the pictures.

Cruising the Northwest for 25

Twenty five years ago Shellie & Steve were married in Upland, California. Since then we have been all over this globe. It has been a wild adventure and we are glad to say, our love today is deeper and stronger than it has ever been. We had the blessed opportunity to get away and celebrate the crossing of a quarter of a century together. Originally we had booked a cruise to the Mexican Riviera, but thanks to the Swine Flu our destination was changed to Canada. This was a special treat as Canada has huge significance for us.

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DAY 1

This is the ship we travelled on. The photo was actually taken in Victoria, Canada, but it was a great shot to start this blog. The name of our ship was "Mariner of the Seas".
We were welcomed by all sorts of bizarre and creative things. This is a watermelon artistically carved just for this day!On board at last! Inside the ship!One of the first things we have to do before setting to sea is a drill. Don't we look cute in these bright orange fashion statement life preservers?
DAY 2
June 08, 2009 - Our 25th wedding anniversary!

We spent the day in San Francisco. And we walked from our ship at Fishersman's Wharf to nearly the Golden Gate Bridge. Shellie chatting with our boys.

Shellie loved the poppies!

Alcatraz Island is in the background.This is where we turned around, at Crissy Field.Almost back to our ship.Looking out from our room.

Getting ready for our dinner celebration.

Dinner at Chops Grille. It was amazing. The ship was pulling out from port and we had window seats overlooking San Francisco. The food was incredible, the service was personalised and the company was intimate!

The waiters came out and sang to us and then presented us a tasty treat (a truffle sort of thing).

A kiss in memory of our adventure that began 25 years ago.
DAY 3

A day at sea. We walked around and explored some more. And we did lots of steps! Here we are in the main walk inside the ship.Just one of those funny shots with both of us in it. We were enjoying our anniversary treat from the night before, on our balcony.

One of our favorite spots, on the balcony in the dining room.For the second night in a row the waiters came out and sang "Happy Anniversary" to us! Our anniversary treat.

DAY 4

Cruising into Victoria, Canada. It was here that 26 years ago we connected while on a youth choir tour. Our lives have never been the same!Chilling on the balcony before an amazing day of adventure in Victoria.

Steve standing on a massive hill of logs. These logs were strewn all over the shoreline!

Shellie's favorite bridge at Beacon Hill Park.Steve in front of the government house
Shellie had a great memory of Victoria, but Steve couldn't recall much of it. Oops!Victoria was stunningly beautiful with hanging flowers all over the place! Something Shellie recalled clearly.We actually grabed a drink and some snacks at this "local cafe".Steve enjoying the sundried tomato humus on some nam bread. Sunset in Victoria!
DAY 5

Morning in Seattle, Washington, looking from our balcony.First stop was Pike's Market Place - the flowers were so beautiful!

Several venders selling beautiful flowers for very little!

We walked a lot. And did you know that Seattle is quite hilly?
And we climbed heaps of stairs. Here is Shellie at the top of the Harbor Stairs.

One thing we noticed about Seattle was just how very noisy it was - from cars, trains and machinery! But it was also quite clean and pretty because of all the rain it gets. we had a lovely day here. That's gum art in the background, literally a whole wall in an alley underneath Pike's Place Market was covered with this artistic design. Us and Shellie's new flowers!
Shellie's flowers with our little ship in the background
Back in our room!DAY 6
Shellie's flowers looking even better. Elephant towel art

At the back of the ship while we were doing some laps around the lower deck.
Shellie enjoying the ambiance of our balcony.
Our second formal. Dino towel art waiting for us after our meal! DAY 7

Chilling out on the top deck. Shellie enjoying reading on the top deck.
One of many whales that put on a show for us!The top deck, with multiple pools.

ShellieOur last evening approaches...We were so blessed to be able to get away from our daily responsibilities of caring for grandma and just for a week not to think about it! Thank you Lord, and everyone else who helped make this trip possible!