Minnesota Summer

San Diego

At the end of May we drove to San Diego for a long weekend.  While there we stayed at this really cool Victorian Guesthouse where we got the Gothic Room.  It was so awesome and creepy.  I really felt like I was sleeping in Dracula's lair!  It had beautiful stained glass windows and I even found a bat in one of them!  We toured Stone Brewery, Orfelia Vineyards, went to Balboa Park, to the beach on Coronado Island, walked around the Gas Lamp District, did some fun wine shopping and ate a spectacular dinner in the Italian Quarter where I had one of the best and most unique pizzas I've ever had- a Ligurian Pizza.  This was fresh creamy cow cheese melted between 2 super thin crusts and served with a piece of honey comb on top.  Amazing!

 The whole trip was taken in order to pick up our new Ragdoll kitten who hails from a wonderful breeder in El Cajon which is just outside of San Diego.  When the breeder opened the door she was holding the fuzziest little kitten with a bow tied around his neck.  She gave him to me and he was purring and never stopped purring all the way home.  Once home we set up his camp in our bedroom where he lived for the first few days before meeting Indi.  He immediately found the mirror and freaked himself out.  Oh, how I love the Halloween cat moves!

Visiting Janks and Kino Bay

At the end of February we headed down to Mexico again to see the Janks.  Of course we had our normal tradtions of eating tacos, having our steak dinner, wine shopping and playing spades and we also  went to the beach for the afternoon.  The four of us plus their 2 dogs crammed into Ryan's Jeep Wrangler and drove about an hour or so west to Kino Bay where we laid on the beach, played in the waves, and had a friendly tournament of bocce ball.   It was really windy that day but still lovely to be at the sea.  Kino Bay is not really for tourists so we shared the beach with a only a few locals.   Here are some pics...

Hermosillo Weekend

We recently took a lightning trip down to see the Janks in Hermosilllo before the weather there turns brutal.  It is normal for them to be significantly hotter and more humid than Tucson so we had to go before May.  We took it easy there- just hanging out, eating, playing games, shopping for and drinking wine.  We of course had our traditional meal of steak, potatoes, bread and wine.  We bought amazing Ribeyes from the butcher and Ryan treated us to one of the best wines of Mexico, Chateau Camou, which is a Bordeaux blend.  Espactacular (as Rayn would say)!  We also had breakfast at a really cute little tradtional Mexican restaurant downtown where I had chorizo with eggs, beans and tortillas.  Delisioso!

Ligonier Ministries National Conference 2014

We are back from yet another Ligonier National Conference, my 10th!  I love the conference so much and was so sad when it was over this year.  The conference lectures have just been posted on Ligonier.org for free streaming for a  couple of weeks.  They are all worth listening to but my favorites this year were:

The World the Flesh and the Devil by Voddie Bacham 

Do Not Love the World by Robert Godfrey.

The Q & A sessions were also very good and at times quite lively!  In the first Q&A session RC answered the question I submitted having to do with the view many of my libertarian Christian friends hold, namely that government should not be involved in marriage.  RC had a very strong opinion on this matter.  You can here this question asked and answered at 14:13 minutes into the first Q&A session.

The bookstore was filled with wonderful books again this year and here is what we bought.

The Conference Draws Nigh!

 

It's that time of year again, for the Ligonier Ministries National Conference- yay!

This will be my 10th year going- God is so good!!  Here is this year's speaking schedule- can't wait!

Visiting the Janks

Last weekend we headed south to to see the Janks at their new home in Mexico!

It was the first time since we have driven down there in over five years.  One hour to the border and then three hours south to Hermosillo.  The drive was uneventful and the roads have gotten much better since we last drove there.  The Janks met as at the Hermosillo toll and lead us thru the city to their hacienda.  

We were able to stay over two nights.  We had tons of fun catching up, eating authentic Mexico food (carne asada tacos and burros, Fancy steak, fresh piggy cookies from the local bakery, and Yunuen's homecooking), playing spades, shopping for and drinking Mexican wine, smoking cigars and hookah, checking out the beautiful Mexican casas in their neighborhood while walking the dogs, going to church with them (with crowing roosters) touring the city center and driving up a mountain to overlook the city.  It was a fantastic time and we can't wait to go back and see them again.  Thanks for having us AMIGOS!