Summer Road-tripping (SD --> CA)

This summer we got the amazing opportunity to spend time with family and friends in California. I hadn't been home (or seen the ocean!) in over two years and was really, really thankful to get a chance to be there.

My parents were coming up on their 50th wedding anniversary and had planned a family camp-out at San Simeon beach. Wonderful!

Jason, the kids & I made the 1,500 mile trek to California; spending a fantastic evening in Utah with friends we knew from when we lived in Vermont. We had not seen them since we left six years ago. Ada was Luke's very first friend as a baby and it was a delight to see them together again, six years later.

We got to spend a week in California together -- spending lots of time with family and making many trips to the beach -- then Jason flew back to S. Dakota to work while the kids and I stayed West for an extended visit. It was really hard/sad to not be able to have Jason stay on with us, but it was incredibly life-giving for me to have an extended time with people and places that I love and I am so grateful for that opportunity.

Views from Day One on the road -- SD-WY-UT

Ada, Luke, Mabel & Abel! 

Day Two on the road -- UT-AZ-NV-CA

Hanging out with Cousin Emma!

First day at the beach in over two years!!!! A chilly day, but a wonderful time with my sister and two of her boys!

Jason's Birthday -- a great day! A kid-free delicious Thai lunch + hike

together at Montana de Oro, then grilled steaks with the family,

complete with my Mom's amazing lemon meringue pie!!

Pictures my Aunt Lori took while we walked the Bob Jones Trail together in Avila Beach.

No trip to CA is really complete without a meal at In-N-Out Burger!

The beginning of the Hazell Family Roundup @ San Simeon Beach.

Everyone together for the first time in almost three years!

Cousin and grandparent time -- around the campsite and at the beach.

A morning of fishing and exploring at W.R. Hearst Memorial Beach. 

Plus a peek at the elephant seal rookery in the off season.

All too soon we were saying goodbye to Jason at the airport. 

Sending the boys {back}packing!

This past weekend was Luke's annual backpacking trip with Jason. They headed out Friday afternoon for a hike and sleepover in the Hills and other than Luke returning home with a raging fever on Saturday afternoon, they seemed to have a great time! Luke's favorite part? Drinking as much pink lemonade as he wanted! And, one-on-one time with his Dad of course. So thankful Jason makes the time to create special memories with our kids.

Starting school

We decided to continue homeschooling this year and had our first day of school last Monday. 

Luke started First Grade and Mabel started Preschool. 

Other than some typical book work, we played with friends at a park and went for a really beautiful hike at Little Elk Creek, collecting leaves and flowers to press.

Celebrating FOUR years with Mabel!

Mabel turned FOUR years old on Thursday! Every year prior to this (even the year she was born!), I have not been ready for the big day. Not sure if September is just a busy month for us or what, but this year seemed to follow the same course ... a very full week, leading to a very, very full day with celebrations lasting well beyond the kids' usual bed time. We just didn't have enough time to squeeze everything into a normal day :)

Mabel continues to fill our days with joy and laughter. We are so blessed by her happy, silly spirit.

Starting the day with a chocolate cupcake before heading to MOPS :)

Her requested dinner of hot dogs and fruit. 

Racing turtles & other things -- In Turtle Lake, North Dakota

Wow, I've had quite the blogging lull!  Since that start of Spring, life has just seemed to be incredibly busy. We had heaps of DIY house projects that we were able to re-start (some of which we even got to finish!!), plus we had two sets of wonderful visitors and even a couple short outings of our own. I'm hoping I may be able to do a few catch-up posts on those; but for now, our most recent getaway --

North Dakota!
Jason grew up visiting his Dad's hometown of Turtle Lake during the summers to see grandparents and participate in the town's Turtle Days festival, which includes a parade, box car derby races and most importantly, the International Turtle Races!!

I think it's been eight years since we last attended Turtle Days. Since we are living less than 6 hours from Turtle Lake, it seemed like the right time to introduce our kids to this part of their family history.

Jason's parents met up with us in Bismarck for the long weekend which was really great and we also got to catch up with some of Jason's other relatives. Bonus!

A big highlight for me on this trip was seeing this beautiful (award winning) barn which belongs to a cousin of Jason's Dad.

The road to ND, flat & straight.

Hotel life -- watching a TV, swimming & waterslides -- thanks to Jarvis & Marilyn for the early birthday present!!

Seeing some of Jason's family -- aunts, uncles, cousins and the kids got to meet their 2nd cousins.

With Mimi & Papa at Turtle Lake's mascot - Rusty!

Parade fun! Two full bags of candy! 

Lower left two pictures taken by S. Werre

Visiting some of the family farms (Jason's Dad was born in the small structure on the far right)

And the kids got to see gravestones for great-grandparents along with great-great grandparents. Pretty neat.

More photos & fun at the cousin's farm.

Luke & Mabel's first visit to a Capitol building. One of the few non-traditional building styles.

Changing jobs ... without moving!

Jason just finished his second week at a new job. He is now a Service Forester for the state of South Dakota! And, the best part? We didn't have to move to a new house, city, state or country to make this happen! Hurray! An added bonus? Jason's new workplace is a mile from our house, so he can ride his bike to work and there is a park nearby that makes it easy for us to meet up as a family for his lunch break. Woo-hoo!

Most of all, we're hoping this position will be a good fit for Jason and his skill set. Although the National Wild Turkey Federation was a good employer and he learned a lot, his position was lacking in what he'd gone back to school to do - Forestry. While there are Forestry jobs across the world, after being here 20 months, the kids and I were just starting to feel settled and have friends, so Jason looked a little locally and came up with nothing. Then he was approached by someone at the State regarding this position and the rest God lined up for us. We are thankful.


First Day of Work --

Spring in South Dakota with Mom & Dad

My parents arrived for a lovely, long visit on Wednesday evening ... the day after we had yet ANOTHER snow storm!! Our first day of fun together looked like this --