Pinnacles National Monument, March 2010

On the Road again! This time we went around to the East Entrance of Pinnacles National Monument.

Here, someone decides to be dramatic. Do I smell ham? Why the Drama? We are sad that some friends are not with us on this hike! We were told not to have fun on this hike by some friends who could not be with us, so here is everybody trying their best to cope.

Clouds over the Pinnacles on the Moses Springs Trail.

The Bear Gulch Caves are fully open, and if one is brave enough, you can go all the way through the caves. Towards the end, you do have to go on stepping stones through a creek that runs right in the middle of the cave. Water cascades through the caves to form a Creek downstream. here is the first Waterfall.

Further up, the waterfall is captured with a flash.

We then came out of the Cave, and went around to the Resevoir. The kids help to keep the mountain standing up.

Splashing in the Reservoir.

Climbers on the rocks near the Reservoir.

Water level last June was low enough that we sat on this spot and ate chips.

Water from the Reservoir coming down into the Cave.

Another view of the water from the reservoir going down into the Cave.

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

Here is how his day went...


Nicholas wanted a cake. But not just any cake. He wanted one that was themed with Mario Kart Wii. Mom did a pretty good job! The fondant was delicious.

Later on, Mass was said for the intention of another and for Nicholas' Birthday. Another Nicholas gives him a Blessing.

PRESENTS! Legos!

Even more Legos! This apparently was the Lego set that he wanted.

Happy Birthday again, and Many more! We love you very much!

On The Road Again: San Diego, May 2008

Here are some more of our travel photos. In May of 2008, we ventured out to the end of the state, San Diego. They are supposed to have better weather than the Central Coast, but when we wee there, it was no better than Monterey County. It even rained just a bit while we were there. We managed to stay in Oceanside, right next to Camp Pendleton. It was a bit of a drive from San Diego proper, but it was closer to our objective of Legoland, pictures of which will be up shortly.

We got to San Diego the weekend of Pentecost. We went to Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church for Divine Liturgy. This church has to bee seen, and is well worth a visit. The entire Church has Icons covering it, even the ceiling.

The Pastor of Holy Angels is Father Robert Pipta. Here he is processing in right before the Anaphora, the Consecration of the Wine and Bread into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This part of the Divine Liturgy is known as the Cherubikon, the Hymn of the Cherubim. Green is the colour for Pentecost for Eastern Catholics, signifying the newness of the Church at Pentecost.

You don't need to go to the San Diego Zoo to find wildlife. CSU San Diego will do. Or the field surrounding Holy Angels Church. This is right outside the Parish Hall, right underneath the Church.

Nearby is the first Mission in what is now California (In Baja California, there were 23 Missions established by the Jesuits and Dominicans. The Missions in present day California were established by the Franciscans), Mission San Diego. Mass was still going on when we arrived, and there were a lot of people (It was Pentecost, after all). We maaged to get a few pictures, went to the gift shop, and then went to get lunch at a Jack-in-the-Box. As San Diego is the headquarters for Jack-in-the-Box, they are all over the place.

We then headed on over the the very nice Maritime Museum. This is the HMS Suprise, a replica of the HMS Rose. This was built in 1970, and was used in the movie, Maste and Commander. Behind is the Soviet Diesel Electric Submarine, B-39. It more than likely hunted some of the very ships that were ported at the Naval Base in San Diego. The Soviet Boat had a crew of 78, but how they stayed on board without going crazy is amazing. Superior Soviet psychology I guess.

Inside one of the ships.

There were exhibits of many types of boats, including fishing boats. There are many in San Diego of Italian ancestry, and they worked the fishing trade there, and they did in Monterey. On many of their fishing boats, they made altars on which Holy Mass could be celebrated, and niches where statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary would have a place of prominence, and where prayers could be offered to God for protection.

A model of a World War II ship.

Included with the admission we bought, which was really reasonable, was a 15 minute ride around San Diego Bay. Even from a mile away, one could see just how huge the USS Ronald Reagan is. I think the bay cruise was actually more than 15 minutes, as there were not not many people on board.

The inside of an old Ferry Boat.

A view of Coronado Bridge from the boat cruise.

The USS Midway, now a museum on the San Diego Water Front. We did not get a chance to visit here, but we definitely want to go back and visit some more things in San Diego. There is Comic-con, the San Diego Zoo, Mount Palomar, Tijuana near by, and much more.

Hey if any of you Navy people get stationed at San Diego, we are going to visit you so much, you are going to get sick and tired of us. If you are not already.

Well, this is just the Sunday from this trip. The next day we went to Homeschool Days at Legoland. On the way back, we visited some of the Missions.

Those pictures will follow in the next couple of days. Thanks for looking!

You Want it When?

Father Milich had been working for a couple of months to bring a Solemn High Mass (a Mass with three priests) to Mission San Juan, but we didn't know for certain if it was really going to happen until last weekend. The three priests would need matching vestments. They had some gold vestments available at the mission, but the maniples were missing. The maniple is something like a sash which the priest wears over his left arm. It symbolizes how our Lord's hands were bound when he was arrested.


Since I have a sewing machine, and since the more qualified seamstress has recently moved out of state, I was given the honor of making them.






I traced around one of Father's other maniples to make a pattern, and then began cutting the interfacing.




Now for the part of sewing that always scares me the most: cutting into the fabric.





The color of the fabric was a good match for the vestments, but it was very thin and soft. To use the technical term: swishy. So I used the interfacing to help keep its shape, and give the Maniple more weight.

Three Maniples cut out, and two days before the Mass. Plenty of time, right?

A Maniple is supposed to have three crosses, one on each end, and one in the middle. Since I didn't have time to order cross shaped apliques, I used ribbon. Juan picked it out. Worked on this late Saturday night after an afternoon at the beach. There's still time!



Sunday morning and they were finished! Phew! Seen here against one of the vestments used at Mass.