Benji's second birthday

Benji's second birthday 9-11-2012 It doesn't seem possible that our Benji can already be two years old! He has been such a delight! I went to a Womens' Retreat this weekend in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Larry said he looked and looked for me, then was content to curl up on Larry's lap and go to sleep as Larry watched the Giants baseball game. He certainly was glad to see me when I got home and is now curled up on the floor near the bottom of my feet as I sit at the computer. The cool weather was delightful and as we stopped at Casa de FRuita for our usual rest stop, the heat of our valley hit us and it ws 97 degrees when we got home. Here we had to wear jackets there which is near a small community of Ben Lomond and the retreat was at Mt.Cross which is a Christian Conference Center owned by the ELCA and LCMS Lutherans. Another gal from Turlock and I just joined the Board of Directors as they needed some more LCMS board members. We've helped get some grants and did all that sewing to make valances and purchased bed in a bag for 10 rooms which made a giant improvement and much more welcoming atmosphere for retreaters. It was a pleasant experience and the food was outstanding - we had salmon last night, rice, fresh green beans, homemade rolls, salad and chocolate mousse and chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Pumpkin pancakes and sausage and fruit for breakfast! Great cooks! The hike was bit too strenuous but I managed to do it - wouldn't do it again! Over logs, under logs, through logs, all along a creek - very rugged terrain. The gals who did batiking -looked very interesting - I did get a chair massage - which was great after that hike! People were teaching crocheting, knitting - lots of choices.