Our trip to Sacramento, plus a fun video

The day after we got to Sacramento, Elizabeth and Lexi came over to visit us.

We walked over to Hagan Park and looked at the, like, three animals in the petting zoo.

...and went on the swings...

...and played on the playground equipment.

Here's a really cute one of Jamie and his Uncle Rob.

Jamie apparently got hungry on the way to the Jelly Belly Factory.

I really like this one of us. (We don't have many pictures of all three of us.)

On the Saturday before we left, we went with my whole family to the Folsom Zoo--a small wildlife reserve, if you want to get technical.

When we were trying to get a glimpse of the bears, we rested on and off on the benches by the display. This peacock was a really friendly guy who hung around and wasn't afraid to get close, looking for food handouts.

And, finally, playing with a bowl.

We sure had a good time in California, and we were really sad to leave. We're looking forward to going back at Christmas.

Credit for nearly every single one of these photos goes to my brother, Rob. I'm pretty lazy about taking pictures, so instead of us each taking our own and then exchanging like we usually do, I asked him if we could just copy the ones he took.

By the way, Rob, we finally bought an external hard drive with a TERABITE (that's 1000 gigs, for those who don't know--like me before Jason told me) of storage. You proud?

Another story I forgot to mention: the Sunday before we left (Aug. 15), we went to Rob's stake conference, because Elder L. Tom Perry, one of the twelve apostles of our church, was going to be there. We arrived about an hour early, and Elder Perry was actually standing right there in the foyer! (Boy, is that man TALL!) He went into a meeting, though.

Then, when I was taking a turn letting Jamie wander while we waited for the meeting to begin, he wandered out to the foyer. (I promise, it was his choice--but I didn't mind!) While we were there, Elder Perry came out of the meeting he'd been in, and I got to shake his hand! But more importantly, he gave Jamie a pat, said, "What a wonderful youngster!" and asked him if he had his mission papers in yet. :)

It was such a treat getting to be in the same room as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. I could just feel his goodness; it was sort of like sitting next to a fireplace in winter--a cozy, warm, happy glow. :)

I actually did know that Elder Perry is 6'3" and had just forgotten--below is how I found out!