2012 SUMMER VACATION PART 2: Sequoia National Park and the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the Gillies!

Well, it has taken me far longer than I hoped to write this post... It is a lovely overcast day in LA and Blue is taking a nap. I thought that I would go ahead and seize the moment!

We are officially past the half way mark for this semester. It is hard to believe! Izak is working harder than hard and Blue and I are trying to keep up! In all this craziness, the Lord continually proves to be faithful. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I would have grown to know Him like I have over the last while without the mounting stress and discomfort. 

I was just reflecting on after Blue's birth, where I was at the hospital alone (Izak had gone home to grab a shower and some fresh clothes) and Blue managed a 'wonderfully meconium-like' poop (those unsure of the term and brave enough to investigate ... click on this wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meconium). Surprised by the fact that I was in fact responsible for diaper changes as a new mom, I managed to get the extremely pliable poop EVERYwhere! When a nurse finally burst into the room, I admitted defeat and melted into tears. I felt sooo alone. Where was our family? Our closest friends? (A sad reality- our loved ones would have LOVED to be there but it just was not possible with the distance etc.) The truth is that He was there. So close by and in reflection, it eases my apprehension about what may lie ahead because I know that His nearness is sufficient. He is enough- more than enough. It reminds me of that precious truth from Psalm 121:5, "The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand." 

All that to say, I have experienced His grace and would not trade it for anything. His beauty astounds me- even during the times that are not easy and this semester is another tough semester which simply brings us to our knees again in dependence of the One who is able to sustain us!

Now, let us reflect on part 2 of our wonderful vacation! I want to share some snip bits of our time in the Sequoia National Park and some pics that we have from when we visited the Gillies!

Here are some of us enjoying the beauty of Sequoia National Park:

Blue on his daddy's shoulders! He LOVES it up there:

 Join us on the Sherman Tree trail: (with some brightly clad monks!) Plus, everyone kept commenting on our sturdy our little Blue looked- not sure if it had to do with my huffing and puffing on the inclines, but everyone appeared to be impressed with how solid our little guy was! hehe)

This is us on top of Moro Rock: (Quite a climb to the top!)

 These are some of us at the Crescent Meadows:

 And some of the beauty surrounding us as we drove around the park:

We had such a wonderful time with the Gillies again! Blue was absolutely mesmerized with Mary and it made for successful car trips since he just stared and contemplated! So sweet.

We went to check out Mavericks one day: We spotted these little pink sea holly flowers - I had them in my wedding bouquet - only they were a grey-blue! :)

 And... Mavericks- unfortunately not sporting the waves we would have liked to see!

 Just to prove that it was indeed Mavericks!

And finally, we had an incredible time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Click here to check out their site: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/ My favourites were the LARGE variety of seahorse and also this incredible tank, which has several FLOORS so that you can spectate the aquatic life at the various levels! I really enjoyed the huge lazy sea turtles!

 Varieties of seahorse:

 These seahorses look like plants! Amazing!

Well, I am sure that you can see that we had a wonderful time away and I think that I will make Izak look at these pictures to remind him of the break with how busy things have been! We hope that you will leave a comment or send an email and let us know how you have been!

Lots of love!
Your LA Bakkes'