The Reason for the Trip

The whole reason we drove 15 hours(both ways)was to visit with Grandma Edith and Grandpa Dale.  Brent grew up living close with his Grandparents.  It meant a lot for him to see them and the place that helped mold and form him into the man he is today.  He loves his Grandma so much that we named our first girl after her.  I am going to be brutally honest here...  It's hard to watch people get old.  Grandma is a tough cookie and I've always admired how well she has taken care of herself.  I watched her choose fruits and veggies over a lot of other foods.  I will always remember her loving apricots.  I was always so impressed when Donna would tell me how far she would walk in the mornings with Mary.  Its was sad to me to see the tole that Parkinson's has finally taken on Grandma.  I'm sure she's still got a lot of life left in her.  But it was hard not to notice.  It's especially hard for me since I have sort of a phobia of old people.  I know, I know, that sounds so ridiculous.  But it's true.  I failed to visit my own Grandma Charlotte because of this fear and I regret it every time I think about it.
We had a lovely time going to church with Grandma and Grandpa and then having dinner in the park.  These photos turned out amazing!  Nature provided the perfect lighting!!

Hannah Edith with Grandma Edith!

I couldn't resist posting this adorable photo!

Moonstone Beach

Of all the beaches I've been to in all of California, northern or southern, Moonstone beach is hands down my favorite!!  It was amazing.  While walking down this stretch of coast line, collecting sand dollars, watching my children revel in their happiness, I was overwhelmed with a quiet reverence for God's creations.  Especially this beach, and fern canyon, and indian beach.  I look at these photos and I'm still in awe of the beauty of humboldt county.

While everyone else was collecting large sand dollars, I found this little gem.  Yup, that's a teeny tiny complete sand dollar.   One of my most favorite things to do in this whole wide world is to walk along the beach, listen to the waves and find treasures that the ocean offers up.  I LOVE the beach.  Sometimes I wish I lived closer to one.

Recipe to Share: Baked Toquitos

I am a Mother on a budget. That means I buy a lot of my groceries on sale. If something isn't on sale, I usually don't buy it. Being a woman that LOVES to cook, it's a little frustrating to not be able to get pantry items to make new recipes. Well, I decided to not let that stop me any longer. There has to be a way to make good delicious recipes on a budget. I achieved that today. My kids were raving about these baked toquitos. 

Items that were on sale: Boneless Pork chops $1.79 lb, corn on the cob, bell peppers and onions. 
Items I had on hand: Seasonings, 1 can whole tomatoes, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, corn tortillas

Toquitos
1. Place entire 2lb  package of pork in crock-pot; season with salt, chili powder, cumin, 1/4 cup of water and crush tomatoes in hands and add juice.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
2. When meat is done, saute diced onions in a medium heat pan in 1 tablespoon butter 
3. Shred pork and add to onions, cook until starts to get a little crispy.
4. Take juice from crock-pot and add to shredded pork.  Cook down until juice is all gone.
5. Add 4oz of cream cheese and mix until all combined.
6. Pre-heat a large griddle, butter both sides of 13-14 corn tortillas and heat till pliable.
7. Add about 2 tablespoon of filling to each corn tortillas and roll up, place on a cookie sheet.
8. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over toquitos.
9.  Place in a 400 pre-heated oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Corn Saute
1. In a medium size saute pan cook finely diced onions and red bell pepper, season with salt and butter
2. Cut the corn off of 4 cobs, 1 tsp of salt and cook together until the corn is tender, add some butter and be amazed at how good it tastes!!

It was so great to put together a meal like this for my family.  It took a few steps to get there, but it was every step. Of course it would have been even better with a green salad, so add that if you have it.  We just finished off our dinner with some cold watermelon.  I asked my daughter to take a test bite and she was shocked at how much it tasted like "real" toquito.  Try them, you'll love them.  If you don't have pork, you could substitute chicken.  

Fern Canyon and Big Tree at Prairie Creek

Our Next adventure was a place called Fern Canyon. A few scenes from one of the Jurassic Park Movies was filmed here. This place was stunning! The day we visited was extremely busy and crowded. I felt a little rushed as I went through and wish I could go again just so I could take my time. Fern Canyon is AMAZING! We had so much fun jumping over streams, clambering over fallen trees, and awing at the beauty of this magnificent Canyon.
The road coming in was not just a little sketchy, but REALLY sketchy.  Especially with the amount of cars trying to get in and out.  It was a tiny dirt road with some cliffs to one side.  If I wasn't worried about tumbling down the side or hitting another car I probably would have enjoyed the scenery a lot more.  I guess our experience just added to the excitement.

Trail heading in

Fern Canyon

Aww, aren't we adorable.

Another view walking into the Canyon.

Watch out:  Entering a Tsunami Hazard Zone!

The Trail wrapped up and around

This is Isabel looking down at the stream below.

Big Tree at Prairie Creek

After Fern Canyon, on our way back south we stopped to see Big Tree.  And it's one gigantic Redwood.

Texture and pattern in one of the fallen trees.

Other Fuzzy trees around Big Tree:

We had two cameras with us this day.  Below are photos I took with the small camera while in Fern Canyon:

I am LUCKY to have him!

LOVE!!