Malibu Graduation and family time.

Thursday we headed south through the San Joaquin Valley and Mojave Desert, timing it just right to check into our Airbnb at our target time of 3pm.

This allowed Cory to not only pick up a wheelchair rental for Kris' mom but also do a bit of food shopping.

Then we headed to Pepperdine campus to meet Anna for the Baccalaureate service.

The time of worship together celebrating the class of 2025 was very meaningful. Then we popped into Anna's apartment before leaving to get some sleep.

Friday we arrived back on campus at 8:30. Kris sat behind Anna as a 'hooder.' The middle section where the graduates sat alternated rows with the person from their life they had chosen to place the hood on them while sitting in the row behind.

The service was very special and we were thankful to attend and celebrate.

Following a short time meeting some of Anna's friends we split up. Eli drove Grandma, Fritz and himself back while we remained with Anna for an afternoon of cleaning and packing!

Saturday morning we headed south to Long Beach where we all enjoyed a whale watching boat ride-to check a box off Grandma's bucket list.

We first saw a 'feeding frenzy' with 200-300 common dolphins and pelicans intermingling. 

Further out to sea we watched additional dolphins and then not just one but two large fin whales! 

We were told it is unusual to see two together.

Then we headed back and a good college friend of Kris' drove up for a nice afternoon of catching up on our lives.

Sunday we visited the church Anna attended her first year followed by getting some tasty fish and chips by the beach.

Then we spent a bit of time on the beach watching a rip-tide rescue, bottle-nose dolphins, and waves.

We toured the Pepperdine Law School building so we can now picture where Anna spent a lot of her time during the last three years.

Headed down Pacific Coast Highway just a little bit to see some of the wildfire damage.

Monday morning Cory, Eli, Anna and I headed out to a storage place to put Anna's stuff that she will not be needing for the next two months while studying for the bar.

After grabbing a quick lunch all 6 six of us headed out to celebrate Fritz finishing 8th grade by having some fun at an arcade called Dave and Busters.

We laughed a lot and had fun trying a lot of games-some of which earned us points to turn in at the end for prizes. 

Kris and Grandma won big at Wheel of Fortune. 

After hours of noise, lights, and games it was remarkably hard to pick what to use our points on but we ended up with: 2 neck pillows, 2 squishy stress pigs, a magnetic iron filings hour glass, a light bulb light, a tiny disco light, an avocado screen cleaner, and candy. 

We ended the night with each of us affirming each of the three 'kids' and then praying for each. 

Early Tuesday morning after dropping Mom and Eli off at LAX airport we loaded Anna's car and ours and parted ways.

Thank you for the prayers. 

Next week we'll finish up here and transition back to Michigan.