Tractor Supply Company "field trip"

Didn't want to forget about a funny local "field trip" the kids took with me last month:

January 4th:  "Checked out our local Tractor Supply Co store for the first time today, just for fun. It was great! As much as I love Ridgecrest, I admit it was pretty cool to pretend I was in Idaho or Texas for a little while, instead of California, haha! When we told the sweet older cashier Gloria that it was our first time in the store, she gave us a big smile and said 'I’ve been waiting for ya!' 💗

We’ll be back."

The Cushings get a new front yard!

It's hard to believe that we've lived in this home for close to 8 years.  When I see pictures like this, a rush of memories come back to me.

Has it really been that long?  July 2009

I remember the sound of the water system, the fish and bullfrogs, and kids (ours and others!) climbing all over the rocks.  It was a lot of fun.

But it was also a lot of hard work (and expensive) to keep up.  

Fast forward to this year and the last two months.  During Christmas break Jason tried to take out the rock structure by our front door with an electric jackhammer.  In his words, he called it the "grossest miscalculation of his abilities" in his entire life.  I appreciated him giving it an effort, though!  That tower of rock and cement was built to last through the eternities!!!

Just for kicks, we got bids from two or three landscaping companies in town to get an idea of what it would take to remove it all and start fresh.  Yes, it was going to be very expensive, but also almost half of what we thought it was going to be!  So, we hired Bernie's Landscaping and they got to work.

Seriously got to work.  Bernie shared with us yesterday, as we were talking about this journey over the past few weeks, that they took out and hauled away ONE HUNDRED TONS of rock, concrete, and debris.  That is mind-boggling!  200,000 pounds!

February 2017

And we are very, very happy with the end result:

Now we have a beautiful circular driveway, artificial turf and flagpole, new plants, and a new sprinkler system.  Oh, and a new water heater, but that was a mostly separate issue.  The 42-yr-old water heater had to go.

We are so grateful to Bernie and his crew for their careful attention to detail and efficiency.  It was a HUGE job that we offered up to them, and they did amazing work!!

Worth every penny!!!

The Erskine Fire

Last Thursday, about 30 minutes from our home, a wildfire began in the mountains near Lake Isabella.  We can easily see the smoke above the mountains, and we smell it different times of the day, depending on where the wind is blowing.

After 4 days, the fire has damaged over 36,000 acres, with 150+ structures and homes burned to the ground, only 10% contained as of this morning.  1700 firemen and personnel have been battling it.

One thing about tragedy is that it opens people's hearts.  The day after the fire started, we went around the house and gathered a few supplies to take to a drop-off location--water bottles, hygiene items, clothes, a few gently used blankets, and unused pillows.  It was a token donation, and I hope we'll be able to do more.

The response from our little Ridgecrest community to help Lake Isabella (and other) residents has been astounding.  An account was set up at a local bank, volunteers have loaded several trailers of donations and driven up to the area on their own time and money, people have delivered chili and donuts to the fire personnel, animals have been relocated here in town and at the fairgrounds.  I spoke to a friend this morning who said she had family staying at a local hotel, and there were goats there!  Livestock and other animals have also been rescued from the wildfire.  These are just a few of the stories I've seen.

In the face of so much destruction, it has been very inspiring to see people gather together to help and make a difference!

The other miracle was this:  our good friend Howard Collins has a sister Cindy who lives up where the wildfire is going on, in Mt Mesa.  She works with firefighters and other personnel for her job, so when the fire started, she grabbed a few belongings from her home and spent the next two days working on the fire situation.  We were concerned for her and her home!  Yesterday Sandi sent me a text that Cindy had been able to check her home--"Cindy's house did not burn....thank you for the prayers.  She is busy working and helping others."

For an idea of the devastation, here are a few pictures that have been all over Facebook this weekend:

An amazing petroglyph tour experience

In mid-November, Jason, Wade, and I went on a private petroglyph tour on base.  (Rhiannon was at an all-day band event out of town--we missed her!)  We met at the local movie theater parking lot with some other folks and then, after an extensive discussion of rules and what not to do, traveled on base to Little Petroglyph Canyon.  We had the "primo" experience and went all the way to the end of the canyon--several others with different tour guides just stopped about halfway.  April and Roy were our guides--they were the best!!

We scampered and climbed and had an amazing time, enjoying perfect weather, too.  I was pretty sore the next day (hello, out of shape!), but Jason and Wade were fine.  We agreed that we'd love to do it again sometime and take Rhiannon with us!

Info from the local museum's website:

"In the canyons and plateaus of the Coso Mountains are thousands of images left by the hunter-gatherer people who populated this region in times past. The images, called petroglyphs, are carved into basalt rocks, and range in age from Paleoindian times to the present. This is the largest known concentration of petroglyphs in the western hemisphere and is located on the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake. Public access is permitted to the petroglyphs that are located in lower Renegade Canyon (also known as Little Petroglyph Canyon). Access is limited to tours with Navy-approved guides. People interested in visiting the petroglyphs can take museum-sponsored tours during the Spring and Fall months. Individual dates are announced on the Maturango Museum website."

I had to laugh at the info on Trip Advisor about this experience--it's rated the NUMBER ONE thing to do in Ridgecrest (out of 6 possible things, hahahahaha!)

A really great date night

Jason and I had a great date on Friday night.  Rhiannon was off playing at the high school's Homecoming football game, and Wade was at a friend's house, so we took off on our own.  First we had dinner at China Express--love their dinner buffet!  In the middle of the meal Jason told me to save room for dessert.  I asked him about the frozen yogurt served there at the restaurant, but he had other plans.

After dinner we drove down Ridgecrest Blvd to this place:

This little dive has been around for years and gets steady business.  We love their milkshakes!!

The surprise of the evening was when we headed for home.  I thought we were going to go out in the desert somewhere and do some star gazing.  Jason had an even better idea--he had our comfy camping chair recliners all set out on the porch; we took those out to the backyard and watched the stars from there.

I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

Thanks for a great date, babe--I love you!

A Monday morning at 7:21am

I had to smile at life in the Cushing home this summer morning.

As I type this, Rhiannon is pounding out some beautiful hymns ("Called to Serve" is going on right now--fast!)

Wade jumped on his bike at 7:00am to do his "pick up dog doo" job at the Collins' home.

Jason was up at 5:50am or so and off to work shortly after that.  He goes on business travel for the rest of the work week tomorrow--we will miss him!

The dogs are crashed out on the floor because they just finished a 3-mile walk with me.  It took an hour, but I did it!  (For my mental health, I don't know how much longer I can do these long walks with the dogs--Samson wants to stop and pee on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g and Oscar wants to b-a-r-k at anything with 4 legs...!)

So much for sleeping in and being lazy!  I don't mind, though, because it is getting HOT here in Ridgecrest, highs up to 108 later this week, so getting things done in the morning when it's a tiny bit cooler is smart!!!

Hiking with Dad

Jason has taken both kids on some fun local hikes.  Rhiannon needs to prepare for a tough pioneer trek at the end of July, and Wade and Jason are going to go on their annual backpacking trip that month, too.  

They had gorgeous weather and enjoyed the hike!  The kids enjoyed that "one-on-one" time with their dad, too!

Pictures from Christmas Day

Christmas Day 2014 was relaxing, magical, and very happy.  We slept in our own beds, didn't get up TOO early, were spoiled with wonderful gifts, and had cinnamon rolls for a late breakfast.  It was fun talking to family throughout the day.  We had a really yummy Christmas dinner, too.

A very happy day!

The kids enjoyed their blankets from Santa!

One of Wade's win-win! gifts!

Joyful mess when we finished

VERY happy girl with her "bookies" and new noise-cancelling headphones!

Duck Face and blue scarf

Christmas in a nutshell, haha--happy kids!

Christmas Eve, Ridgecrest style

We love spending time away from home with extended family, making memories with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  But we also admit that there is something magical about spending the holidays at home, too!  That has been especially true for us this year.

For one thing, I keep forgetting which day of the week it is, haha!  Now, THAT'S a vacation! :)

Jason has taken the whole two weeks off from work, and we have LOVED that time with him.  Every single day he has worked on painting the kids' rooms (pictures to come!).  He took Wade golfing, we went to see the last Hobbit movie, we've eaten all kinds of good food, and we had a GREAT Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!  It has been heavenly having him home!!!!!

On Christmas Eve we drove around as a family and delivered some last remaining goodie plates to friends and neighbors.  Then Jason had the funny, genius idea to get Chinese take-out for dinner (think "A Christmas Story") and then we drove around looking at Christmas lights.  Our little town of Ridgecrest had some amazing lights--must be all the engineers living here! :)

Here were just a few:

That night the kids got to open the gifts from each other.  Wade was so excited for this!  He helped purchase "RC cola" and a New England Patriots necklace for Rhiannon, and Rhiannon got Wade two books he'd been dying for.  They were happy!

I didn't take too many photos on Christmas Day--suffice it to say that we were spoiled rotten, loved waking up in our own beds, enjoyed talking to extended family on the phone, and had a perfect Christmas Day dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, and other fixin's.

Merry Christmas 2014 in Ridgecrest was a great one!!!

Live Nativity

Another Christmas activity that we enjoyed this year--the live nativity put on by members of our stake at the meetinghouse.  It was open to the public, so people could either drive by or walk up and stay a while.  There was beautiful music playing in the background--the whole scene was very quiet and peaceful!

One of my favorite moments was when "Mary" handed the baby Jesus to one of the three wise men. Mary was played by Leah Lauritzen (recently married--not sure what her married name is!) and the wise man was her dad, David Lauritzen.  It kind of took my breath away for a moment, to imagine what that might be like, if Mary really had passed her baby around for others to hold, for others to cradle the Savior in their arms.

Thank you to those who put this together and to the special people who played parts in the Nativity and stood out in the cold for so long!

Wade's final elementary school Christmas program!

Wade and the rest of his fifth grade group participated in the school's Christmas program.  They always do a unique version of the 12 Days of Christmas, Ridgecrest style.  Enjoy!  Wade was a raven squawking and a desert flower. :)

A little Christmas miracle

This month we got lots of rain, at least, a lot for living in the desert.  I think it rained hard for 3 days and then there were a few days in between where we'd get light sprinkling.  Living in a desert in a drought-stricken state, well, it was a really nice change of pace and an answer to prayer!

One day I was waiting for Rhiannon and Wade to finish with piano lessons, and I looked up at a breath-taking sunset.  The pictures don't quite capture how beautiful it was!

Ridgecrest Christmas Parade

It had been a few years since we'd gone to the city's Children's Christmas Parade, but this year Rhiannon was performing with the Burroughs Band in the parade, so we HAD to go!  The band was the very first group to go by and they were so fast, I didn't get a single picture of them.  Boo!  But they sounded great and Rhiannon said she did a pretty good job keeping up with the marching and staying in sync.

At the end of the parade, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus walked hand in hand and let children come up them to say hello.  It was SO SWEET!

The Christmas Train

The first weekend in December, some friends gave us tickets to go ride the "Christmas Train."  It's an annual Ridgecrest tradition and SOOO fun.  I wish I'd taken better pictures, but just imagine sitting on a little train and riding through so many cute Christmas decorations, lights, and themes.  It was also really fun to run into our old friends the Morrows, who took really good care of us when we first moved to Ridgecrest.  We were semi-newlyweds, far away from extended family, and they reached out to us and other new China Lake employees.  It was great to see them!

Thank you to the Grant family for the tickets, too!

Cruising down Balsam Street

This weekend Ridgecrest hosted the first annual Petroglyph and Heritage Festival.  It was a smash hit--they're estimating over 10,000 people came through all the different events!

It was a busy day for us and so we didn't make it down until the evening, when most of the street vendors were closing up.  Thankfully the USO building was still open, so we checked out their photography contest winners there and just had a good time soaking up the beautiful weather.  Love these guys!