More Holiness Give Me

"More holiness give me, more strivings within. 

More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin. 

More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care. 

More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer. 

More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord. 

More zeal for His glory, more hope in His Word. 

More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief. 

More meekness in trial, more praise for relief. 

More purity give me, more strength to o'ercome, 

More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home. 

More fit for the kingdom, more useful I'd be, 

More blessèd and holy, more, Savior, like Thee."

-Phillip Paul Bliss, 1873

I'm so grateful for the power in music and lyrics. Especially hymns. 

This hymn has brought me extra peace this morning. 

It's going to be a nice day.

You can listen to the history of this hymn here.

Good Girl Gracie

Gracie is Chris' dog.

When we were home we were able to fit in a lot of playing time.

She's a good dog. 

Casa De Fruta

Casa De Fruta is another one of those places you should visit in your lifetime. But beware, you will want to try everything there. I warned you.

Sunset Beach, CA

Talk about a good looking husband. 

On our last day we wanted to boogie board and relax on the beach.

We only lasted about 15 minutes in the water, 10 of those minutes I was only knee deep. I was being a baby. For the rest of our time we slept. It was glorious.

Phil's Fish Market & Eatery

 

Please, if you every visit the central coast of California, have a meal at Phil's Fish.
You will forever be happy if you do.
But really.

Santa Cruz KOA

Last week Chris' family and my family joined together for a camping trip.

We stayed at the Santa Cruz KOA for three days.

During the visit we napped on the beach, ate strawberries with every meal and played at the boardwalk. I'm grateful that our families are close enough to do vacations like this together and things not be weird. It's great. :)

Tacos and photos

This semester I have been relying on easier cameras to capture our daily life. Rather than hauling around my heavy-ish digital camera I've been snapping photos with cheap-lightweight disposable cameras, my fisheye camera and my phone camera. Once the semester eases up, work load-wise, I'm sure I'll get back into taking more "serious" photos. Until then I will have fun with cameras that would probably be destroyed in one drop. 

This photo was taken when we went home to California for spring break.

It wouldn't be a trip home if we didn't eat at a taco truck for multiple meals.  

 Caden, Chris' youngest brother took the next four photos. I like that he chose to take photos of his bedroom, the family dog, the flowers and the front patio. 

I'm a proud sister in law.

Home

Here are a few photos shot around my family's home in California.

I love going home and seeing things how I expect them.

Molly spending her day on the cool hardwood floor.

The piano is still just a little dusty.

Mom's plant collection has doubled.

and Dad has new projects in the works.

I love my family.

 

Our visit to Atwater

Last Saturday Chris and I were shopping at the Family Dollar, there we decided that we would go home pack and start driving home to California. We spent the week in Merced and Atwater with our families(Holla for having both families in the same stake!). One of the days that we were in Atwater we made a trip out to the Schaeffer Bridge. We threw rocks into the water and had a great time. 

 

This is my favorite tree in Atwater.