Sneak Peak

We had an amazing Thanksgiving week!  It started the Friday before at a wedding in San Jose, then we went to Yosemite for four nights, then to Fresno for Thanksgiving.  I have so many pictures to go through and many things to blog about, but today domestic duties call.  Here are a few pictures from last week to tide you over:

Celebrating Forty Years

This weekend Victory Tabernacle celebrated the Fortieth Pastoral Anniversary of Pastor and Sister White.  It was an incredible weekend!  It started with service Friday night, a banquet on Saturday afternoon, and a final service Sunday afternoon.  So many friends and church family members past and present were in attendance.  Our building was packed!

I didn't take a single picture on Friday night.  I got one picture on Saturday with a lifelong friend, Sis. Ruby Wilson.  I was in their wedding 40 years ago and she and her husband are responsible for us meeting!  (You can read all about it here.)

After Sunday's service, our church presented the Whites with their gifts.  Sis. White received a very large check and we were able to buy Pastor White a new car!  This took months of planning and sacrificial giving from our entire church family.  I am so thankful that we were able to do this for them.

Everyone made their way outside, then the Whites were brought out with blindfolds on...

Stunned does not even begin to describe their reaction!

It was such a privilege to honor these two great people!  They are more than deserving of double honor!  We are also thankful that Pastor White got a clean bill of health this past week - that was the icing on the cake for our church!

After the gift presentation, all the ministers and their families were provided with a delicious meal.  My final picture of the day has some amazing women in it:

 

I have known these ladies for many, many years.  Sis. Luke (first one of the left) is who I have known the longest.  She and her husband helped start a church in Clovis way back in the 70s and I attended some of the services there when I was about 12.  Many of the others I have known since I was a teenager - their husbands have preached messages at camps and conventions that remain with me still.  I'm so thankful that our pastor and first lady have such a fine group of friends that bless our church on a regular basis.

 

I have been privileged to call Pastor and Sis. White my pastor and first lady for 30 years.  I really don't have enough words to say just how much they mean to me.  I am completely blessed and so very grateful.

A Day of Bliss

I was up super early Saturday morning and headed to Tantalus. This 10 mile loop never gets easier, but I am getting faster!  I actually had a personal best on the 4.4 mile climb and my third best on the entire route.  It was completely dry with very little wind.

 

While I was running, Les was pedaling his way to the North Shore.  I got cleaned up and drove over to meet him.  We had a wonderful lunch at Cholo’s Mexican restaurant and followed that up with Chocolate Mint gelato from Il Gelato that tasted just like a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie.

We then headed to Kaiaka Bay Beach park.  The last time we had been there was November 9, 2019!  Definitely way too long!  There were quite a few families there, but we found our own spot and spent about three hours relaxing.  One of us relaxed more than the other…

I enjoyed watching a father with his little girl.  She was probably 5 or 6 and she had his full attention.  They played in the water and in the sand.  He had her on a boogie board and she was having a blast.  As they were leaving I told him how much I enjoyed watching them.  He said, “Thank you, she’s my world.”

We had one more stop on our itinerary - Tropical Farms Of Hawaii.  They are the only place where you can buy Pineapple Snow - white chocolate covered macadamia nuts with pineapple flavoring.  We also picked up some Hawaiian coffee and flavored macadamia nuts.

Even the drive back to the condo felt blissful!  It was the perfect Saturday!