Our boy Jake has a such a tender heart for animals.
A wonderful trait he inherited from his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather on the Lighten side.
All animal lovers.
Over the years he has had many opportunities to spend time with animals of all shapes and sizes.
He was the first of all our kids to "get his own pet." A beta fish named Peyton (after Peyton Manning).
Some of his greatest sorrows have come from seeing animals in pain.
He pretty much flipped a gasket while watching the Life of Pi - when the hyena kills the gorilla.
Totally lost it.
He just loves animals and hates to see them hurt.
Which is such a great trait - total compassion and love for Heavenly Father's creations.
Well last summer he and his buddy Luke caught a toad.
I can't remember now what they named him, but they were very intent on keeping him and treasuring that little thing forever.
Only problem was they had previously caught another toad that died not too long after that.
Jake was so, so sad.
So I talked to Jake about it, and told him he should let it go back into the wild so that it will live.
Toads aren't meant to be kept in captivity right?
Or at least we didn't want the same thing to happen to this poor little fella as the last one.
After some time he understood it was probably best and we set out on a hill behind our house to let him go.
He was still sad to part with his little scaly friend, but there were a whole lot less tears than watching the other die.
A proud mom moment that day, to watch my son give up something he really wanted to keep for the better of something else.
Since that time Peyton the fish has passed on, and we even got him another one named, Alpha, who also did not make it.
Both times he was super sad. But at least he is learning about loss (albeit in a small way) and dealing with it.
We frequently tell him that our beloved dog, Daisy, will someday die too.
Not sure if knowing will help him when the time comes but at least he knows it will happen.
Hopefully she has another few years, because we will all be super sad when she is gone.
But maybe no one more so than him.
Tender boy.
As we planned our San Fran trip we knew we wanted to drive the coast down to a place called "Big Sur." We thought this was a destination point, but I think it really was the gorgeous section of the coastline we were experiencing.
However, as we traveled along we found out that there was a trail through some redwood forests that if you hiked would take you up to a beautiful overlook of the ocean and to a stunning waterfall that dropped onto the beach and into the ocean.
Trev and I both love to hike and I have always wanted to see the infamous redwoods. The trees wound up not being as big as the ones I have seen in pictures from other areas but these trees were pretty incredible. Super tall, thick, and the smell was incredible.
I spent a lot of time playing with my big camera, and after awhile I told Trev to hike ahead not feeling up to going any further.
While he hiked onward and upward I stayed put and soaked in the sunshine. I also took some time in the quiet of nature to read my scriptures and write in my journal. It is amazing how calm and connected you feel to the divine being in the solace of nature.
Is so peaceful and rejuvenating.
After our little hike we decided to head back to where we would stay that night - in Marina (close to Monterrey).
Our accommodations on this trip were very different from how we have traveled before.
A couple of months ago, Trev heard about this online booking club called AirBnb. It is where people rent out rooms or their entire houses to those traveling. I think it started as a way to earn money for the people renting, but also a great way to save money for the travelers - particularly in expensive places to visit (i.e. Paris, London, New York, etc.).
It has been around for a few years, but we had only heard of it recently. After some serious skepticism on my part, and major vetting for quality and safety on Trev's part - we decided to give it a try.
Our stay in Marina was our first experiences with it. We stayed with an Asian man and his mother at their beautiful little home. We rented a room and bathroom, had Chinese noodles for breakfast the next day, and used their passes to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.
Here are our cute hosts:
Their home was small but immaculately clean and their flowers were just amazing!
Here are just a few samples of their gorgeous garden.
For dinner we went out for some highly acclaimed hole-in-the-wall Mexican; which was a welcomed treat after a long day of traveling and hiking.
And here is the scrumptious breakfast we had at our host home.
I would never have thought of eating a big bowl of noodles in a beef broth for breakfast but oh man was it tasty! We loved every bite and chatting a little bit with our hosts.
They were truly so kind and welcoming. We simply loved staying there. AirBnb success!
After breakfast we headed out to visit the famous Monterrey Bay Aquarium - thanks to our hosts who gave us discounted tickets.
Monterrey is just the cutest little coastal town.
With such interesting people. This man we met was in town for a dog convention. There were about 30 people with these same dogs milling about. My favorite however was seeing one lady pushing her dog in a jogging stroller. I kept thinking...doesn't he WANT to walk? So funny!
The aquarium was simply incredible. We kept thinking how much our kids would just die to be there. What a treat this place was. So many things to do and see. Such incredible sea life.
We seriously spent hours in this place just taking it all in.
Afterwards we were sort of in the mood for some seafood...isn't that interesting? :)
So we found this little place on Trip Advisor.
Once again, thanks to social media we were well taken care of. I had a big bowl of delicious clam chowder and Trev had fish and chips. We were full and happy.
As we headed back to our car I just couldn't pass up taking a few more pictures of the flowers and plants that just seem to grow like weeds in California. Such vibrant colors!
And this was in January people! No fair.
The last place we wanted to stop before heading back up north was Pebble Beach. Trev has always loved golf and this golf course is one of the best in the world. It is nestled along the gorgeous coast. Surrounding it are these multi-million dollar homes that just make your jaw drop and you wonder how on earth anyone could afford them.
What a great day of sightseeing we had in Monterrey. I truly feel that this northern California coastline may just be emblazon into my memory forever. So beautiful and such a slice of heaven. How we loved our two days here. So lovely in so many ways.
The next two days we would be in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.
But before we could leave this stunning place we had to make one last stop...
We needed to grab more oranges. :)
Mmmmm...
On to see BYU play, hike, and sleep in the lap of luxury.
More to come...
