To Read on the Journey

Monday, March 16, 2009

God Spilled His Bucket

yesterday was Michael's 35th birthday. we celebrated his favorite way, soaking up God's beautiful creation.
we took the long way to Yosemite, and drove along Hwy 140. Michael, who works as a Fine Art Digital Print Maker/Photographer, was told that it had been 20 years since the flowers had been this plentiful along Hwy 140.
these pictures (taken with our "little camera," Canon Powershot SD 880 IS) show just how brilliant the colors are!
look at this hill side! Michael commented that "God had spilled his paint bucket" on this hillside.
we continued on to beautiful Yosemite valley. there we rode bikes around the valley floor. as we rode i was reminded of riding bikes there with Michael 15 years ago, eying the families riding together, wondering if that would be our future. i was reminded of Mother's Day 2001, pulling Noah and Emilie around the same trails in the Radio Flyer wagon, wondering when little feet would be able to make the trek themselves. Now the little feet are big enough to ride with us!
it goes too fast.

after a picnic lunch and a bit more riding, we stopped to play in some caves. i don't know who enjoyed it more, the kids or Michael.
unfortunately, there was a sign that cautioned us we were entering a mountain lion habitat. it also gave instructions on what to do if you encounter a "m.l." so, i couldn't enjoy exploring the caves. i had to stand guard. i took two sticks and banged them together, creating a lot of noise, and scaring off the "m.l.'s" ( you might recall that this worked in the movie Parent Trap).

look at this cool heart tree. Yosemite has everything!
finally, for those of you who do not live in Ca. and have not had the opportunity to visit beautiful Yosemite National Park (or for those of you who live here,and have not visited), here is a short video sharing just a bit of the beauty.

11 comments:

Jennifer said...

I don't know, but that looks like a Christmas card pic if I ever saw one...

How beautiful! O happy day.

Linda Z said...

What a fun birthday adventure. I have been noticing the abundance of beautiful wildflowers this year, too. The last time I remember it being like this was 10 years ago when we moved to the central coast. Patrick and Josh stopped and picked some for me yesterday. I love them! I love the poetic phrase... "God spilled His paint bucket"! :) And I love all your cute photos & the old ones with the wagon!! :)

Shirin said...

LOVE that shot of Michael in the crevice of the rocks. Looked like you had a super fun day and lots of memories layered upon lots of good memories. That's rich!

Jessica said...

WOW!! That "spilled paint" picture is amazing! God is so creative...I think we forget that sometimes.

Simply Sara said...

Sounds like you guys had an amazing time :)

I LOVE the shot of Michael and the kids in the cave!...and the ones of God spilling his bucket :)

(Tell Michael his analogy is just genius!)

NerdMom said...

I wondered when you said on facebook about God spilling orange paint. I just assumed that it was orange cones and construction like it is on my side of town. The pictures look beautiful!

Kristen said...

what a wonderful way to spend michaels birthday. it looks absolutely beautiful. i love the heart tree - how cool.

btw- i would be the same way about the mountain lions. when we saw the bears in mt last summer i was a reck. wild animals and i don't go together.

ga said...

thanks for sharing the pics. i miss that orange!!!! and i loved the old school pics.
see you in a month!!!

Alana said...

Those pictures are amazing!

Anonymous said...

Did Michael photoshop that heart into the tree? :-)

Glad you had such a great day together!

Love, Susan

Sarah Markley said...

LOOK AT ALL THE SNOW!! gorgeous.