California Trip 2009 - Day 4

Sunday July 26, 2009

Doug and Jared left Aptos at 5 AM to take Aunt Kathy to the airport while John and Michelle slept another hour or so. Carol, Michelle and John left Aptos at 7 AM after saying goodbye to Aunt Vicki and Uncle Wally. Doug, Carol and Kathy left a thank-you gift for Uncle Wally and Aunt Vicki which was a gift certificate to their favorite British Pub, just down the hill from their house.

We all headed to Mariposa, California where Doug's cousin Joan and her husband Louie Edwards live on 100 acres that they are in the process of sub-dividing. They have built their dream home with a garage/shop on the first floor (fit with real auto lifts and everything) and their living quarters upstairs. It's a beautiful barn-style home that fits in perfectly with their surroundings.

The first thing we did after we arrived to their home was go on a ride around their property with Louie. Doug and Jared rode in a little pickup, while John rode a 4-wheeler and Michelle and Louie rode in a side-by-side.

This is a picture of John, Jared and Doug on our ride.
We got very dusty and dirty but it was a lot of fun!

After we got back inside and rested for a bit (it was very hot and being out in the sun so long wore us out!) we chatted with Joan and her daughter Samantha. Joan and Sam had to leave at 6 PM tonight to make sure that Sam caught her 6 AM flight out of Oakland and so that Joan would be back in Livermore, where she works, for her work week. Joan spends the week days in Livermore where she words at a laboratory and comes home on the weekend to be with Louie and work on the house.

(Back) Sam and Joan (Daughter, Mother)
(Front) Carol and Doug

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner that Joan prepared for us which was pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw. I'm not usually a fan of slaw, but her was delicious! (which reminds me, I should get that recipe!) We all began winding down after that and were relaxing around the house watching a little t.v. and visiting. John and Joan had a lot to talk about since John is studying science at BYU-Idaho and was very interested in the laboratory where Joan works.

Jared and Louie hanging out in the living area watching t.v.

John and Michelle after dinner

Jared watching t.v.

Joan and Louie's home is beautiful! They have been doing most of, if not all of the work themselves. It's amazing how far everything has come!

This is the kitchen and dining area, the cabinet doors were soon to come!

This is the stained glass above the kitchen sink that Joan made herself!

Joan has her own studio for her projects downstairs where she makes beautiful pieces of art. She has an amazing talent and inspires me to want to get into something like it! We had a wonderful time spending the day with Joan and Louie and they were gracious enough to let us stay with them tonight before our long drive to Anaheim. John and Michelle slept out in their camper (they had a full hook-up RV pad) while Doug and Carol slept in one guest room and Jared slept in the "Blue Room". It has a beautiful Lonestar quilt that belonged to Joan's sister Sally Carpenter on the bed made with amazing blue tones and suits the room perfectly.