It's such a pleasure to photograph family because I love them extra.

When we went to Victoria in January with all of Conor's family, we got everyone together for a family photo shoot. That's a lot of people - 11 adults and 14 children. The oldest of the grandchildren - Dylan - is reporting to the MTC this month! He's serving a 2-year mission in Toronto for our church. We're really proud of him and very excited for his adventure.

Back to the Cranmers... Elizabeth has been such a wonderful sister-in-law to me. She's an excellent friend and a wonderful confidante. We share a lot of similar interests and she's full of knowledge. Sometimes I have to remember I'm not competing with her - I don't know why I get like that. Elizabeth has a beautiful family and it makes my heart ache to live so far away. We love spending time with these cousins!

Funny thing is, I feel like we got into a good groove our last day on our trip. It took us a little while to settle I guess and then we were good. We went for a little walk along a nearby river and the girls spent a good amount of time throwing rocks into the river. I remember doing a lot of that as a kid. It's the simple things right? We found a frog and that was a real thrill! Holly picked him up and he kept jumping out of her hands. We watched him hop his way to the river and then swim and then we left him alone because we did want him to survive the giant children.

This week has been hot, so hot! We're talking highs of 34 degrees CELSIUS! It's insane. Lucky us though, we live near the ocean. So off we went on the hottest day of the week. Santa Cruz was also very hot (it doesn't always work out that way), too hot to just sit on the beach. Fortunately the ocean is frigid and kept us cool. Holly and Greta are so enamored with the ocean. It is so fun to play in the waves with them! It makes me so so happy. We spent a solid 4 hours at the beach before we dragged ourselves home (to our hot house). It's going to be an amazing summer!

A couple notes: Holly is really into making things "stylish," like her food. She initiated a towel modeling show. Greta makes sand angels a lot these days and it's adorable. Love my turkeys.

There was a rec center with an outdoor pool at Sea Ranch. It was cold (the ocean was very close), but it was really fun for Conor to see the girls swim. They've improved so much since he last swam with them. And lucky us, there were hot saunas in the change room!

On a sunnier day in The Sea Ranch, we ventured North to Point Arena where we climbed to the top of the tallest lighthouse on the west coast. The entire time we were there, I was in disbelief. California is stunning! I could hardly believe I was sitting on a picnic blanket with my family with the views surrounding us. What a treat! I'm so grateful to live in CA.