Monday

Carmel-by-the-sea, Monterey, St. George

 It's been a busy few weeks.
We took a trip to see our one, and only Grand, and his parents too, of course...*smile*.
     Our eldest son and his family live in Monterey California.
We took a couple weeks vacation and drove out to see their family and spend Thanksgiving with them.
 We went to Carmel-by-the-sea.
It's a charming and beautiful city. 
White sandy beaches, charming architecture, winding roads, and beautiful sunsets. 
 Our son is attending the Presidio in Monterey, learning his fifth language: Mandarin. 
He took us on a tour of the Presidio. Pretty impressive.
 Three sections of the Berlin Wall are displayed. A historical reminder of hope.
Big Sur Coast.
Amazing beaches, rock formation, sand, and awesome surf.
 Point Sur Lightstation.
 Fort Ord Dunes State Park
One of the prettiest places to watch the sunsets. 
(My sweet family enjoying the last of the daylight, and watching the sunset.) 

 Our eldest son, and our Grand. 
  Our Grand is such a beach baby. He is just 16 months old and most of his life has been living where he can enjoy the sand and surf and beaches.  He spent 5 months enjoying the beaches in Brazil.
Lucky boy!
 We feel so thankful that we were able to spend time with our sweet family and enjoy beautiful weather. 
We soaked up the sun, knowing that soon enough we would be returning to Utah, and snowy mountains.
On our way back home, we stayed in St. George for a few days. 
We are preparing for retirement and doing some preliminary home searching. 
Yes. We want to move to St. George when we retire.
A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we began our time in St. George.

Home again, home again, jiggity~ jig.
Now the Christmas tree is up. Lights in the windows, simmering potpourri and candles make our home smell amazing. 
The snowblower has been working overtime, as we've had snowstorm after snowstorm.
The fire crackles away, and I'm playing Christmas music forcing myself to get into the spirit of Christmas. 
This year has sped by so quickly, and we have been so busy, that it isn't feeling as though it's time for Christmas, so I'm immersing myself in all things Christmas...to convince myself that it is indeed December and time to celebrate the holidays.
~Dinner tonight will be crockpot broccoli~cheese soup, with rosemary~garlic focaccia.
~I'll work on decluttering some more. I've been working on decluttering for weeks now and taking things to the D.I.
~I'll clean and polish the wood floor in the kitchen today.
~Routine cleaning, and puttering around the house.

~Attitude of Gratitude:
~So thankful for safe travels. For time to 'mug' on our Grand.
For conversations and making warm memories with our son and his family.
~Grateful for our Saviors birth.
~Thankful for opportunities to serve.



13 comments:

  1. That sounds (and looks!) like a really fun trip. It would be fun to live near the beach. Such beautiful sunset pictures!

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  2. Wow that is a big and beautiful house!
    Another Wow, 5 languages, that is amazing. I have enough trouble with one. : )
    I've been to St George, a nice place to retire.
    Beautiful skies.

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  3. What a beautiful trip! Glad you got to spend time with them and enjoy that scenery!

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  4. I am so glad you had such a nice time and I am also so glad you took pictures. They are just beautiful pictures!
    I am so glad you are home.

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  5. Beautiful place to visit . . .
    Loved the home picture.
    And seeing, being with your grandson
    must have been wonderful!

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  6. Oh, what stunning views! The picture of your son and grand by the water is just precious! And is that their home?! It's truly amazing!

    Wishing you and yours a most blessed Christmas Season. Hugs!

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  7. Hi Kerin~

    Looks like a great visit with your family - absolutely gorgeous photos!! It's so hard to be away from a cute little Grand, especially during the holidays, thank goodness for modern technology - you can Facetime, or MarcoPolo. My grandkids love MarcoPolo.

    Thank you for your sweet comment on my post. December is such a hard time of year for some of us. But, I just need to remember the reason why we celebrate, and all the wonderful gifts that He has given us. We got a few inches of snow yesterday, so it's feeling a little more like Christmas.

    Bob has been really sick with a bad cold, I'll bet a warm bowl of cheesy broccoli soup would make him feel better!

    I love, St. George, what a great place to retire! We have a few dear friends who go there every year for 3 or 4 months, it sure does help them get through these cold days.

    Have a great week!!

    Hugs and Love,
    Barb

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  8. Kerin, I haven't been to Carmel in so long, but it certainly is a beautiful and fun town to visit. I spent many hours in the parking lot of the Presidio years ago while an old boy friend was in there studying languages! Fun???Merry Christmas..xxoJudy

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  9. Oh yeah...Carmel by the sea, Pebble Beach, Big Sur...now that brings back some good old memories. What a beautiful location, for sure! Thank you for sharing, and for a trip down memory lane for me:) FA LA LA!!!

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  10. Kerin, I love Carmel and Monterey. It has been some time since I've been there but I'll always remember how beautiful it was.

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  11. I am so happy that you were able to make this trip and visit with family. It's so hard when they live so far away. This was a beautiful post, thanks for letting us tag along.

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  12. The sunset photos are spectacular!
    Decluttering is important especially as you have retirement plans. It's never easy to get rid of stuff accumulated over the years, but it's a must do. Good Luck with it!

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I love getting to know you, and having our "chats".
Have a wonderful day.