Needle book

 I needed a place to keep my needles and scissors...so I made a sweet book to keep them in.  Everywhere I go I take my crochet, cross-stitch, hexagons, stitchery...  And I am constantly loosing my supplies, and everyone else is always finding my needles in the least likely places you would think to look.  Not anymore.

 I used thick wool felt for the page inside to hold the needles and elastic in the back to slide the scissors into place.

 The back has a little patchwork.

I am tickled over the little white button on the front that's used to close the book.  Awww and what a sweet hexagon flower on the front.  I just love this little thing.  It's already gotten some use the last couple of days.

George And Abe Sitting In A Tree...

 ...aren't they the cutest couple for this time of year!

 I live in the most wonderful neighborhood.  My kids have so many friends and play all the time.  I have bought so many water balloons and pop its.

I know it's summer but I am enjoying cross-stitching for fall.  Cross-stitching takes forever too.

North Lake Tahoe

 Today was a great day for a drive up to Lake Tahoe.  We live two beautiful hours from North Lake Tahoe. Last Fall we went to South Lake Tahoe so today we wanted to try the north side.

 I like this picture I took.  See Steve out there.  And holy cow look at all the shades of blue in the water.  It was dreamy out there today.

This is Donnor Lake at Donnor Summit...see Ben out there?  He wanted to go walk down farther on his own until his dad reminded him to keep an eye out for bears.

Carmel, Pebble Beach, 17 Mile Drive and Monterey

 We drove down Highway 1...THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE!  You bet we did 17-Mile Drive!!!

 There are 19 pull-offs on 17-Mile Drive.  This is stop #2...we were up in the mountains looking out at the Pacific.

 It was Father's Day and Steve enjoyed his special day at Pebble Beach.  He could not get over the golf course and homes with the view.

 Madi took a ton of pictures with her new IPOD.

 The golf course is on the other side of the street from this....AMAZING!

 The Lone Cypress is stop 17 I think on 17-Mile Drive.

 Carmel-By-The-Sea has to be the most beautiful town in all of America.  It was so breathtaking and fun this is the only picture of the city I took.  

 Took the kids to the Carmel Mission.  We are trying to see how many of the California Missions we can see while living in the state.

 This is Monterey Bay

 Monterey Bay.

 Vista Point along Highway 1.  We were going to drive down to Big Sur but the fog rolled in so we headed back up to Carmel.

I lived in California for 1 year when I was younger.  My dad worked at Ft. Ord which sadly closed.  This is the house I lived in Salinas long ago.  We also drove by my school where I attended the 5th grade.  All these places we just took our kids to my parents had taken me to the same places when I was Madi's age...how cool is that.  I just LOVE California!

America The Beautiful

America is beautiful in so many ways!

Santa Cruz, California...THE BEACH!

 Santa Cruz has the best beach ever!!!  The Boardwalk...it's like having Six Flags right on the beach.

 Madi LOVES her ICEE'S!  There were some soccer games going on on the beach.

 The kids played for hours.

 Ben and Madi enjoy burying their limbs.

 We had to park like a mile away there were so many people.  It was a nice walk up Beach Street and then the famous West Cliff Drive.

 While walking up West Cliff I took this picture of the entire boardwalk and beach and pier...look at the palm trees lining Beach Street and those mountains back there.  This place is just unbelievable!

 This is a picture I took of West Cliff Drive while walking on Beach Street.  Look at those homes...BEAUTIFUL.

While walking to the car we had to walk right on the cliffs.  At this very moment Steve is looking for places to stay so we can go back.  

Santa Cruz...

 ...the pillow.  I have been seeing lots of patchy quilted things out there on the Internet and it got my creative juices flowing.  I am really digging the fabric line Lucy's Crab Shack by Sweetwater.  I stitched Santa Cruz, California on linen and then added it to the Lucy fabric.  The kids really like this pillow for some reason, they fight over it?  Maybe I will make another one...

 Madi on her birthday the other day.

 Ummm Dad you forgot one candle.

I got these candles that the flame was the same color as the candle and for some reason Madi acted like they were going to blow up or something.  She is too funny.  

Point Reyes National Seashore California

 Point Reyes has to be one the most beautiful places in the world.  We lucked out there was no fog...there couldn't be, the wind was blowing at 37+ mph...almost hurricane strength.  The photo on top was taken at South Beach on Point Reyes.  It was breathtaking!

 No playing in the ocean today!!!  They said there was heavy surf...they weren't kidding.  Those waves were HUGE!

 See Ben climbing down?

 Madi was FREEZING when we were walking up on the cliffs.

 We walked the million steps down to the Point Reyes lighthouse.  This is going down as one of our most memorable day trips.  Just look at this.  This is only a few hours from our house.  This is why we wanted so badly to move to California...it's BEAUTIFUL

 The main visitor center at Point Reyes.

 The San Andreas Fault runs right though Point Reyes.  We took a little hike along the fault line.

 See this fence?  This is a landmark along the fault line.  During the big San Francisco earthquake this fence jumped this far from the earthquake.  Crazy!

This is a picture I took out the front window of the van on the drive home.  California is the most beautiful state in the United States Of America!