Another California Trip in '06

Back in June, Nate and I drove down to Fresno, CA, to spend the weekend with his extended family on his mom's side. Grandma and Grandpa Moser had had their 50th wedding anniversary back in September 2005, but family couldn't coordinate to celebrate with them until the summer time. Keith and Georgia flew out from Louisville, KY, with their son Nick (Amy stayed back in TN), Rick, Karen, and Stephen drove down together for a week-long trip, Nate and I drove down for the weekend, and Ricky drove down for a day. Raymond, Tami, Stuart, and Mallory all live in Clovis, so we met up with them a few times.

(In case you're not overly familiar with Nate's family layout, Ernest and LaVene Moser are parents to Karen, Keith, and Raymond.)

It was a record-breaking heat wave that weekend! One day reached 110 degrees...We were so lucky to have air conditioning! Especially on the drive. Nate's mom let us borrow her car for the trip.

Here's Nate talking to his dad on the phone. Rick was telling Nate that we couldn't go straight to his grandparents' house; instead, we had to take the car to the carwash first, then we would be welcome to go over. Nate's not happy in this picture.



We found out later that the family was trying to detain us so they could find a banner that said happy anniversary. They wanted to congratulate us on our upcoming 1 year anniversary. Rick told Nate this that night, but Nate didn't tell me until the drive home, after I had given Rick a hard time about being picky with his cars...Isn't that lovely?! At least we can laugh about it now:)

One of the days we were in California, we drove out Aunt Wilma's house (Grandma's sister). She lives out in the boonies, not exactly sure where. We spent a great deal of time shooting pellets, oh-so-fun! She had two little dogs, Toby (the blonde) and a stray who had no name. She was a sweet girl, though!



Here are some pictures of the family shooting pellet guns. It was stinkin' hot outside, but not so unbearable we couldn't have a good time!









We had a BBQ to celebrate the grandparents, which was hosted by Ray and Tami. Karen has some family photos...which I will be stealing from her soon:) They were good pics!

On Sunday, the Keith Mosers took off in the early, early morning for the airport, and Rick and Karen hit the road sometime around 8:30am. Ricky, Stephen, Nate, and I joined Grandma and Grandpa for Sunday services with their Church of Christ family. After church, Grandma and Grandpa took us kids out for lunch at Macaroni Grill and then we parted ways.

Nate and I followed Ricky and Stephen for awhile as we headed North; we made a stop at the In 'n' Out Burger in Redding and then drove on toward Weed, CA. On the way, we all stopped by Lake Shasta and played around on the shore for a little bit. It was so beautiful...and very, very full!

Rick and Karen had gotten a room at the Comfort Inn in Weed; Rick had a horrible migrane, so they needed to take some time to rest. Nate and I elected to stay overnight with them in Weed, and then we drove the last few hours of the trip home on Monday. Here's a picture of Mt. Shasta, right outside our bedroom window...



All in all, it was a great trip, which we will be making again in December. Wahoo!