Indulging in the best of California

This weekend we breathed a sigh of relief to be home in our own house, cooking in our kitchen, sleeping in our bed and indulging in all the things we love about California.

Meilani spent the day in her bathing suit. On Saturday, Grandma Chris brought us lunch and we all enjoyed our warm-as-bath-water pool. Our friend, Rob Foshee, has been cleaning our pool and keeping it sparkling while we were in Virginia. August is the best time for enjoying it.

We really missed our grill when we were in Virginia. We never realized how much we used the grill (summer & winter) until we had to do without one for seven weeks. Saturday night we decided to have both sets of parents over for a summer meal on the patio.

Mom and Dad Lazo brought some steaks. Mom Karlyn made her famous Armenian pilaf. We grilled corn and red peppers and made a green salad with strawberries, almonds and a balsamic vinaigerette. Dorina used fresh peaches and blueberries from a friend's garden to make peach-blueberry cobbler. This was California cuisine at its best. We felt like we were in Sunset magazine.

Mom and Dad Lazo brought us gifts from their life-changing mission trip to Rwanda - a scarf and purse for Dorina, a mini purse and apron for Meilani and a hand-carved wooden turtle for Ericlee. They also brought a hand-dyed table cloth and napkins for the whole family. The work of the Rwandan women is absolutely beautiful and adds to our world-themed house decorations.

On Sunday, we were thrilled to be back at our home church at The Bridge for some rockin' worship and a great message by Pastor Scott. Of course, it's always good to experience new churches and explore other cities but it sure makes coming home that much sweeter!