Going to South Carolina

So I, know that no one keeps up with this blog much anymore..but I wanted to share something with those of y'all that do read this.
WE ARE GOING TO SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!!!!! Neener neener:)
We leave August 27th and stay through labor day. We are counting down the days:D and if Gwen, Beth or Dorothy is reading this...we love you and can't wait to hang out and have fun! See you soon!


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California, Here I Come!

A few months ago I started daydreaming about making a visit to California to take Maddox to meet his Grandma Crews.  Maddox is the first baby I've had without Mom around, and I knew by the time she got off her mission she would have missed all the adorable baby stuff that happens in the first year.  So after thinking about it and waffling about whether or not it would be appropriate, I finally broached the subject with Ben and then Mom.  The result?  I got to come to California for an early Mother's Day gift!

I flew in Thursday evening to the Long Beach "Airport".  Friday morning before Mom went into the office for a few hours, we climbed part of Mt. Rubideaux.  I must say that I'm enthralled with the idea of getting all the way up sometime - that thing has a castle on top! 

We didn't take a lot of pictures of our weekend, but we did take from pictures from our hike walk at Sycamore Canyon on Saturday.  We were originally going to go to San Diego for some sight-seeing, but had car trouble.   So, we turned back around and went back to Riverside.  Mom decided to find Sycamore Canyon that she has heard about from another missionary couple.  With the help of a nice young man at the health food store, we found it.

Maddox had the best ride ever in the Moby wrap!

A family hiking by took our picture for us.  Riverside is in the background because we weren't that far up the trail yet.

Mom with the mountains in the background; some are even snow-capped.

A better view of the mountains!

And here's the pretty rock I wanted to take a picture of.  These mountains are like nothing I've ever seen before.  They aren't as jagged as the Rockies, yet they aren't covered with trees like the Appalachians.  They are mostly covered in long grass and rocks and you can see every fold of the ground.  They are gorgeous.

On Sunday morning, Maddox woke up with a cold.  He'd been coughing all night and was generally miserable, so I got Elder Parrott (aka Tony Parrott from my ward in Camden, SC) to give him a blessing after church.

His little face is so chapped, but his eyes are so blue...

It's obvious he didn't feel well.

The goofy pic I took with Elder Parrott after church.  He said to give a "thumbs up".  Apparently, my tongue is connected to my thumb.  I can't give a "thumbs up" without sticking it out...

And here's the nicer picture that mom likes best.

Thanks for the great visit, Mom!  We love and miss you!!

I'm on again

It is raining here in Riverside, and I've heard it's the worst storm in 10 years. I don't know that because I don't follow the news. Apparently in the surrounding areas there are possibilities of mud slides where fires raged earlier. I realized this morning why it never seems to rain hard here . . . there is no thundering and lightning. If it's not a thunderstorm, it's not a really bad storm--right?

My purpose tonight is to post pictures, but this will be totally trial and error. We recently visited The Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens near Los Angeles. Here are some pictures:

I didn't know bamboo grew so tall.

These look like stones, but they are living plants.

The stone appearance is for camouflage and safety.

Among the prettiest was the Japanese Garden.

The Rose Garden was past it's peak, but roses in December???