On the way to pick up the girls at Skylake, we decided to spend the day in Yosemite. Sam had never been. We bouldered a bit under Yosemite Falls, then went and did the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls. The trail was more up than Elizabeth and I remembered, but Sam was a trooper and led us up and down.
This year was Margaret’s turn to go to England with her GrandMa Susan. She took LOTS of pictures.
Katy got back from her trip with the Yonenaga’s to Japan. It sounds like it was better than we could have imagined. She got to spend some time in Tokyo as well as various other places. She got to experience lots of real Japanese culture with Jenna and her extended family. She dressed up as a Maiko (with the white face and everything). She got to stay in authentic Japanese hotels and homes. She ended up in Iwakuni where her Papa Jesse was stationed 40 years ago. Here are his pictures. I know that Katy saw some of the same things on her trip.
UPDATE: More pictures are here.
Susan, Margaret, Sam, and I (and the dogs) hiked up to and beyond the f tree. It was absolutely gorgeous above 8000 feet at the end of our canyon. I felt like singing “The Hills are Alive” the whole time I was up there.
While Katy was in Kyoto, she and Jenna got dressed up like Maikos. Elizabeth and I saw the pictures and didn’t realize it was Katy and Jenna.
We finally all (except Katy) made it back to Tahoe for the first time in a very long time. After the first night, we thought we might have to go back down because Elizabeth’s feet up to her knees were swollen. Fortunately, a walk through Page Meadows fixed that. The dogs had a good time as well. Margaret took all of the pictures. This may be the best one.
Katy and Margaret had their end of the year piano recital. Luckily, we went to the wrong church the week before and then finally to the right church when we figured out that we were a week early. We knew where and when this time.
Katy had her 8th grade graduation. She managed to be “Principal’s Scholar” because she got all A’s in all 12 quarters of middle school. She was one of about 35 in her grade to get it. We are very proud of her. She worked hard for this. There are also a few pictures from a few days ago when Katy went to the 8th grade dance.
We went to school today to see Margaret as part of the 4th grade wax museum. Each student was someone famous. When you pressed their “red dot” they would tell you about who they were and what they did when they were alive. Margaret was Eleanor Roosevelt.
Susan has been taking one child at a time to see the opera in San Jose over the last few months. It is a big day out with the opera and supper at a fancy restaurant and all. Well, she decided to take all 3 of them to see Carmen. They all had a great time and when they got home, Elizabeth was here to meet them as a surprise.
