California McMillans

LOVE LOVE LOVE that the Oakland Temple is open again.  Danny and I were able to go a couple weeks ago on a Saturday morning and actually be able to a session. I am going to start going on Tuesday mornings again.  So excited.  Shawna and I are going to go on Tuesday mornings and whoever else we talk into going.  The temple seems like an entirely different temple on the inside.  I can't figure out where things used to be and how they changed it.  Shawna got endowed this week and it was magical!  So amazing to see someone embrace the gospel and receive all the blessings that the gospel brings into your life. Humbling and amazing.  It was a magical day.  Going through for the first time is information overload but being able to go through as an escort is such a neat experience because you get to just soak it all in.  The assistant to the matron was such an amazing lady.  Led by the spirit in her council and wisdom.  Magical day!  I came away filled with JOY!  We had a lesson on the dif

We do a co-op with a couple friends on Thursdays.  I am loving it.  We have a preschool that Parker is less than thrilled about but Hanna attends. They do music makers, a little bit of science and social studies.  Read a book, color and do some exploring.  Then they go to the park and play.  We have a middle group (2/3) and older group  (4-6) that does history and science. History is CA history and general history and science is chemistry and not sure what for the olders.  The kids seem to be really into it and having fun.  I lead the california history and it is fun.  Here are some pics.

Clayton, Cindy's dad, had his funeral in San Luis this weekend.  I really wanted to be there to support her so we made  a weekend of it.  I took Scott and Tyler out of school on Friday and we went to San Luis Mission and walked around downtown San Luis.  It was a super cute campus town.  We went to the mission and the little kids aka Parker made it through about 30 minutes.  The older kids listened to the entire tour.  It was really cool to see the mission and learn about the mission system.  After, we went to the beach which is always my happy place.  It was the perfect beach for the kids.  The waves were the perfect size and it was so hot out.  We had a great time. We went to chipotle for dinner and headed to the Santa Margarita KOA to set up camp.  I have never been to a KOA because it is double the price as camping and was never worth it but this weekend was member appreciation week that you get a night free.  I decided showers, real bathrooms and places for kids to play made i

Blake and Kira got their orange belts last week.  They do a ceremony that they get to show off the things they learned, spar with instructors and ceremony to accept the new belt.  Karate has been good for both of them.  It is right across the street so they are able to ride their bikes or scooters and is at the perfect time to get us home in the afternoon and have them go somewhere before dinner.  Blake used to be soooo anxious and now feels totally comfortable and happy.  Not sure if they will stick with it or not but super proud of the discipline and skills they learn from martial arts of respect, self confidence and so much more.

On Tuesday we did school in the morning and then went to the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek.  I tried to get friends to come along since it was a free day but a lot of them are doing a robotics class.  It is a small art room so I thought we would stay about 30 minutes and ended up staying an hour. It was all about inflatable art and really fun.  Hanna liked seeing some inflatables that were floating and would blow up and down.  They were colorful and fun.  They even had an art project for the kids to do that was decorating a balloon.  The best part of homeschooling is being to go out and do fun things with your family.  Afterwards we went to Heather Farms to play.  There were some home school families and some little kids there.  Parker loved going down the hill.  Over and Over and Over again! We had lunch and then headed home to get some presents for Tyler's birthday the following day.  Went to Walmart and Target and headed home for dinner and Karate.  The kids were troopers but