Ellen, Austin, Ashley, and Alex joined us for some adventures in July.
After a few quiet days in Paradise...
...we joined Jeff and Joe at Five-Mile on Chico Creek:
A few days later we were on the road to Lake Shasta Caverns...
After a boat trip across the lake, we took a bus up the hill to the caverns...
...where we saw some massive formations like this Flowstone,
along with stalagmites and stalactites...
...including the Stalactite Twins...
...and "Bacon Rind"...
...even a reflection pool:
After checking out another room and more rock formations, we followed the stairs back to the bus stop:
It was so hot, we decided to drive to Burney Falls to enjoy some cool water spray:
We sought even cooler weather in San Francisco for our final July adventure
with sightseeing at the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower...
...a bus ride to Macy's by Union Square with ice cream at Ben and Jerry's...
...and a cable car ride to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square
From San Francisco, the Acevedo family headed back to Ventura after an overnight stop in Aptos.
Then Barbara and I spent the next morning at Mikayla's horse-riding competition in Paradise:
As July ended, Jeff congratulated Maggie and Jason's on their 15th anniversary:
When Jason and Maggie took off to celebrate, Carson and Joe joined us
for some fishing and boating on Paradise Lake:
We celebrated Monica and Mike's 25th Anniversary in August.
After a nostalgic look at memories 25 years ago...
...Kim and Che hosted a family barbecue and pool party at their new home in Chico:
After all the celebrations, we were saddened to hear
that Grandma Mary had passed away.
We still remember her special 90th Birthday Party.
Mary Jean Callahan Patterson LaPlante
March 3, 1922 - July 21, 2017
Thanks for the Memories
Shortly after Grandma Mary's funeral, we found out
that my Aunt Fidelis had passed away. We attended her funeral
in Long Beach, caught up with our cousins, and had lunch with Rachel.
Dad's half-sisters: Marilyn, Marcella, Zita, and Fidelis
with his step mother, Lizzie, in the foreground.
Fidelis and her husband Bob with Dan and Carol,
(Pam and Jean were born later).
Fidelis Irene Foster
April 17, 1922 - July 28, 2017
We attended the funeral of another old friend, Carol Utter, in August.
Carol was part of a Church community group we formed in the 80's.
Carol with Wayne and Judy Greene in 1999
Jennifer along with Wyatt, Helena, Sienna, and Emma flew in from Dallas,
attended Grandma Mary's funeral, then spent about a week in California.
Emma played school in the one room school house in Old Sacramento...
...before joining us on a tour of the Railroad Museum a few block away:
Back in Paradise, Emma tried rowing our fishing boat
before going to Chico to see Jennifer's alma mater, CSU Chico,
and then to San Francisco to catch a plane back to Dallas.
We finished August with a trip to Lassen Volcanic Park, a hike to Echo Lake from Summit Lake,
and a birthday lunch a few days later with Joyce and Mike, and Zoe and Mike in Concord:
