Jason needed to go into Sebastopol for a work meeting on Friday and so the kids and I tagged along with him. I was shocked to discover several cities in that area that I've never been! I've lived here so long and kind of figured I'd been to most of the cities/areas within several 100 miles from us. Sebastopol and Santa Rosa are very close together, so while Jason was in his meeting (which lasted all day) the kids and I went off and explored the area.

We had a blast in Downtown Santa Rosa! Its a beautiful town, gorgeously landscaped and has architecture that's just breathtaking. I've never seen so many brick and stone buildings that are each so different looking! We went to the mall first and got Rachel's ear re-pierced. She lost an earring several weeks ago and (sadly) I've not had time to get the earring replaced and so the hole was pretty much closed up. She was such a brave girl! I know its not terribly painful, but still... I expected her to freak out  little. We bought a completely new set of earrings; cute little pink flowers with a little green jewel in the center. Super cute.

After the mall we took the jogger and explored more of the Downtown. We probably walked 4 miles, but it was such a new place, with lots of things to see, so the time went flying by. Since I knew we would be there for most of the day, I planned to have the kids take naps in the car, but I realized I forgot my book. So I went to Barnes and Nobles and bought, what will probably end up being one of my all time favorite non-fiction books ever. I bought the book Mistaken Identity and it is one of the most well written books I've read. Brings so much glory to God and is such a tender journey through the tragic circumstances in two family's lives; seeing how God took what could have been (to many people) something horrible and impossible to get through and used it for the good in their lives and for many others. Such a good book, I highly recommend it.

Rachel fell asleep on our walk and so when we got back to the van I laid the back seats down and turned it into a bed for them. Within about 30 minutes they were both out cold and slept 2 hours, so I got some good reading time in. After their naps we had a yummy lunch/early dinner and then ventured back into Sebastopol and did some more exploring before picking Jason up from work. The day was a bit long and tiring, but we had so much fun! I loved the drive up there. Sonoma especially looks like a beautiful place. I'd love to explore that area next time we're up there.

I can't believe a new week is here already. Seems like the days are just flying by. We heard a wonderful sermon this morning, from one of my favorite books in the Bible; 1 Timothy. This post is long enough, so I won't go on and on about it, but I'll just say it was fabulous. Such a good reminder to me of God's amazing grace and His far reaching forgiveness. Awesome sermon. Our church website (www.calvarytruth.org) has it available to listen to online, if you want to spend 45 profitable minutes this week.