November

ROCK SOLID! This was the theme for our ward youth conference this year. We took the youth of our ward to the Santa Cruz Beach for a day of fun & then to Big Basin Redwoods State Park for a hike & fireside before heading home. I love this photo of some of our young men contemplating the waves - hopefully appreciating its power. It's easy to feel insignificant in today's world & wondering where we fit in to the plan...we pray for them to have the strength they need to navigate this life. I have great hope for our youth & their ability to stand firm against the waves that may crash in on them throughout their life because they know they have a firm foundation in our ROCK - our Savior Jesus Christ!

"Bishop" gave the youth a little nature walk & pointed out some of the magnificent Redwoods in Big Basin...

We ended with some great talks by our youth leaders & gave each youth a rock with this reminder...Helamen 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the ^arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your ^bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. 

A Sweet Moment - It's fun for me to see that Ben is really tender with Ryan. She is so sweet & on one of our visits, took a moment to share a treat with her dad...

Oh DEER...it's Fall! It's not unusual to see a few deer here & there that come & go on our property. One morning I looked out to see this buck on the lawn, surrounded by his harem & my beautiful fall color trees! We don't see many mature bucks come down the mountain this low, mostly females & small deer.

Villa Florentina - Our friends own this Bed & Breakfast/Wedding Venue across the River from us here in Coloma. It's a beautiful Italian Villa surrounded by a working olive vineyard. He invites the neighbors every fall to help harvest the olives & I got to join in on the fun this year! Later, they gave us some olive oil as a thank you for helping! 

We were given these rakes to rake the olives onto the nets on the ground. When the tree was stripped of the olives (or the nets were full), they were taken to these vats that would later be pressed into this year's crop of olive oil...

Hangtown Tree Lighting - I've always wanted to participate in our local tree lighting ceremony in Placerville. We love this cute little pioneer town & many of the festivals & community things they hold there. They block off main street & the crowds just take over! We enjoyed the evening with our good friends, Carol & James Dayley. I scored these great light-up christmas lights to add to the festivities...

...and they came in handy for our Relief Society Christmas dinner! We had a Crazy Christmas Sweater Celebration - "May All Your Sweaters Be Crazy & Bright!" Let the holidays begin!