Camping @ Mt. Diablo

Dad, Court, Erik, Chris, and I meandered to Mt. Diablo for a night of campin.
We hiked up to the top of the mountain where you can in theory see 35/48 counties in California.
The watch-tower at the top!
We were all obsessed with sunflower seeds, the whole trip! Chris is a perfect model for that!

At the top of another mountain!
Goofin' with a view!
Dorks!
Lovers!
A beautiful view from our campground.

Erik--super camper!
There was a family of racoons who found their way into our campsite. There was one that looked a little questionable. We zoomed in on or cameras and saw that she had some swollen nipples and a large belly!!!
They played around like cats and dogs! So cute but a little wierd in the daylight.
Running through our camp!
Hiking up and up, a wonderful trip was had.

Hanging with Dad

Dad came up for the night to stay at Wynt and Dave's. He has been making more of an appearance lately since he is headed to Iraq in a couple of months. Elise sure is growing like a weed!
Lily and Ava, all clean and cute and cuddly after their bath! Court and Robert came over that night and we played "Dad wins". (That is what he calls it!) We played hearts, and Dad shot the moon twice. That son of a gun!!
Dad and I went on a GREAT ride up Green Valley (emphasize UP!). We both ended up bailing, can you believe it??? Dad's was a bit harder than mine, and he even shed blood. But, after a hot shower and some of Wynter's home-made cinnimon buns, we were all okay and ready for.... a nap!

Winding Down!

The internship has been completed!! 1525 hours of service...and DONE!Some of the crew gathered at Zocalo to celebrate finishing all of the hours, paperwork, work, and whew!!!!!!Just checking out some new shades. The face comes with the glasses, I swear!After dinner, we said goodbye to Jill and Katie, who were driving back to the bay.And we went out to celebrate some more at Tapa the World.

We got to meet Sadies fiancee Michael, and Jamie's Eric came up as well!

So happy to be done with this chapter of my life. Also, very thankful to have a job at Mercy San Juan as a...Dietitian!! WahoOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

James Taylor Revisited in Berkeley!

Jaclyn and I couldn't get enought of James, and planned to be his groupees for the weekend. Jaclyn, Susie (jaclyn's cousin) and I in front of Venus Cafe for dinner. We had grass seat tickets at the Greek Theatre.

A wonderful time was had, and he even played a different line up which included my favorite song for the third encore: "Close your eyes, you can close your eyes, it's all right. I don't know no love songs, and I can't sing the blues anymore. But I can sing this song. And you can sing this song when I'm gone."

James Taylor Weekend

We headed up to Lake Tahoe to see... Who else? James Taylor!
A gorgeous day on the beach where the nicest people were enjoying the moments. We forgot sunscreen and multiple people shared with us! Also, a nice man came over and loaned us an umbrella! Too nice!
Some down time in the arcade.
Our seats were great, 1st row in the second section.
The view from the stage was great! No, James didn't make eye contact this time during the performance, but he was great! He was with his band of legends, his band members from the years past. Sounded great, and really got jiggy with it in the end, playing In the midnight hour...and knock knock knock on wood covers.

Welcome, Ashton Grover!

My best girl went into labor, had a baby, and went home the same day. She is a major trooper! I went over to see them, at two weeks old! He just relaxed and seemed very laid back! Lookin' good. Elly (3 years) seemed to be adjusting well, she just wanted to comment about who she thought that Ashton looked like!
See you soon, I know how fast they change!!

A Day with Grammy and Gramps

I headed up the hill to visit Grammy and Gramps. Gram and I went to Bella Verona for a quick lunch. Thanks for the lunch and introducing me to a new restaurant! Then I taught Gram how to check her voicemail on her cell phone. He inbox had been full for over a year! She was getting a kick out of the messages, she even had called herself once!
Gramps was such a cutie, eating his lunch. I brought an apple pie from Whole Foods up, and he ate 3 pieces of it. (Not as good as his apple pie, we decided!)
Then, Gram and I walked their yard like we always do, and I took over 30 pictures of their beautiful flowers, trees, plants, and fruit.
Pears, apricots, peaches, plums, apples, cherries, walnuts, grapes, asparagas, tomatoes.....
A great lunch and company. I am going up again next week!

4th of July

We had a girls night at Michelle's House. She had a spread of good eats from trader's, and we brought some additional goodies. We made some homemade ice cream that satisfied our sweet tooth. Off to the rodeo grounds to watch some fireworks. Cruising in the convertible was a bonus!
We waited for the fireworks to start. The sun set and we waited. Then 9pm came and we thought they would start. Then 10pm came and they finally started! In the meantime, we experiemented with my timer on my camera.

Afterwards, we went back to Michelle's and scrapbooked, chatted, and went to bed in the wee hours. Girl nights should happen more often so that we can actually sleep too!!

Hanging with the Girls

Well Ava sure is catching up with Lily these days. Wynter decided to enroll the older two in swim lessons this summer for 2 weeks. My sister is pretty amazing, because she had to get into the water with Ava. So, Lily would be on the sidelines, and hopefully Elise would be sleeping in her seat. When I heard of this organized chaos, I helped her one day. Of course, everyone did as they were expeted to do, since I was there for backup!
Ava was a little hesitant to join in the fun of swim lessons, but she gave it some effort with just a few "I dont want to's!"
Back at the house, Elise was laughing it up!
Oh, how kids are easily entertained!

Brewfest in Placerville

Ok, so I am not the biggest drinker, but this event was a blast. I had never been before, and also thought that Lacey should experience some small-town clean fun. We went with Margaux, Jake, and her family. It was a fun night. You pay up front and then get a tasting glass, and walk into up to 40 stores to taste beer. I didn't plan on it being a high school reunion, but I saw quite a few people from back in the day.
It was a nice girls night, and great to just walk around and not worry about driving. Also noticed that the old dive bar was now an ice cream parlor that smelled like amazing home made waffle cones!

Party @ Patty's

Chris's co-worker Patty has one party a year. As luck would have it, she decided to throw Chris and Jenn a Congrats party due to finishing Nursing school. It was a warm night, but there was plenty of cool refreshments to go around. Jenn is in purple. 95% of the attendants were nurses!
Chris and Dee.
The women attempt a group shot.
Patty cooked up some amazing grilled corn, and some tri-tip that was killer. It was so awesome to have a party to celebrate being done. Chris had taken his test at this point, but the results were unknown.

In an ER with close to 80 employees, Jenn is quite a popular name. So, this Jenn goes by Jenta (aka Gentamyacin, a medication). Thank you patty and Stu, you were great hosts!