Father's Day

Elise is the hit these days on our blog! Fathers day was a nice celebration, I got to see gramps and also my dad via skype!

I gave gramps a zucchini, and mom and kim gave him some other veggies. Grammy says they are doing well, I have to go check them out for myself!

The 3 girls met at Wynt's for a coordinated Dad call. It worked, and it was great to catch up all together. Wynt fed court and I and we hung out with some other dads too, Dave and Ron. It was a day filled with family, visiting, and Dads! :)

Court's Grad Party

Court finished at CSU San Francisco and has moved up to Sac to be closer to us all! We are very proud of her and excited to see what is her next endeavor. Elise is quite a ham, really liked these shades.

Court and Nick, friends for so long! Great to visit with you! Court made some super yummy sangria with a million ingredients-WORTH it!

Obama, Bryce, and Grammy, an odd yet wonderful combo! For June it was a little chilly, but a dry day regardless. Good times were had: relaxing, good drinks, good company, and of course good food!!

8th Grade Grad

Well it seems like just a year ago I was at Bryce and Michael's graduation from PVS. Oh wait, it was! Unfortunatley for the school district, the number of kids going through the system up here in the hills is dwindling. (actually an added bonus for what could be a really long, hot night!)

Austin was the Valedictorian of his class of 10. Just kidding, the class wasn't that small. We are very proud of you Austin. Can't wait to see what you pursue. His speech was very clever, with some borderline items thrown in there just because you can do that sort of thing when you are done with 8th grade AND the valedictorian. (Not sure if I spelled that one right ;))

(Bryce on Left :)) It was a nice night, with a good turn out. I chatted with some of my old teachers and said a little good bye. Wont be going back there anytime soon... The kids are growing up.

Grad Party

Court's best friend "Pie" graduated from college this year, and had a bash. There was a band, garden tours, and family and friends. Connie and Mom.

Pie, Court, and I, looks like my hair is real long but it's Courts.

Mom and Karen in the kitchen cooking up some good grub.

Brother Michael and Pie, so cute. We used to play school when we were younger. We were all neighbors growing up, just a mile away. It was fun to see them both again as always. Congrats and a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, a live band to boot!

Court and Rob enjoying the musica.

THE Moving Day

Our last pic @ our old street, you can see the address in the back..unintentionally perfect! We had lots of help, ranging from less than 1 to 60. Elly Rain was a super helper.

It was probably the hottest day so far of the year, and we got started around 10. Maybe should have started a little earlier....Here is Mat, Adam, and Chris lifting the heavy stuff.

When we first moved out from our parents house, Jay and I moved in together. We took a picture just like the one below the day we moved in. We re-created the pic pretty well I would say. If I find the original pic I will scan it in.

My girlfriend Genna and her kiddo Kalaya needed to vacate their house for the day so that her husband could sleep. She offered to take a load up to the new place. I think she did know what she was getting herself into, that is a true friend! :)

Well our schedule got a little mixed up. For some reason, I thought it would only take an hour to load up the 3 trucks and 2 trailers, my car, and Gennas car. WHOOPS! It took about 2ish hours. I had given the Bowens a time frame that was totally wrong. They beat us to the house by like an hour and a half....So they went to lunch and were there when the caravan drove up to help receive all the stuff.

Uncle Brian was a great help to the boys who had already been warmed up from the midday sun.

Kim unloaded much of the kitchen with some help from Ashton.

Mat always has some time for goofing with the kiddos.

I think Jay should be having her hand on Genna's belly, nothings in mine except lunch!! :)

Oh Adam, Adam, Adam. He stopped and picked up some sort of beverage on the way from the old casa to the new one. I had to document this cup of his.....

Chris couldn't wait to get his hands on the weed-eaters. Our insurance people were coming out the next day and he really wanted to pass the test.

Arthur didn't seem to have any problems fitting in.

Our neighbor Ron, Dave's dad came over with Kim and brought pizza. I was planning on making semi-homemade pizzas (ok, a little LOCO for moving day, I will admit...), so we welcomed the pizza gesture! Before they got there, Dave assembled our new kitchen table, and the girls enjoyed running around in a pretty empty house. (We deposited most of the boxes in the bedrooms.)

Michelle and her sister in law stopped by, great to see you!

Wynter and Kim finished the kitchen off! Whew!

Oh, these are just some beautiful babes I literally can't get enough of! They were wrastling on the futon.

Elise doing her goofy face.

The zoned out watching a movie faces are so cute.

After they left, Chris and I took their places on the couch! THANK YOU to all who helped! We couldn't have done it without you! We really appreciate all of your time and effort. It was a hot, fun, tiring blast!

Haley's Shower and Wine Tasting

Wynter's long time friend and ex-roomate Haley was getting hitched, so we of course, celebrated accordingly. Wynt and Cindy threw a great brunch and some silly games. To make the day complete, the afternoon turned into the bachelorette party as we went wine tasting up to Amador/Shenandoah Valley. We went to Story where this picture was taken. Not our favorite wines, but the view and people were one of a kind. My personal fave was Stonehouse cellars, where the AC was a nice break from our limo (where the AC did not seem to keep up with the heat....) Also, their 2004 Zinfandel is soooo tasty. Available at nugget or at the winery.

So excited for the big day, Haley. It was a day of fun, but I left the festivities early due to MOVING THE NEXT DAY!!!! Wahoooo!

We did it!

Welp, after all was said and done and signed and cashed, our home recorded on May 8! We picked up some dinner, grabbed some champagne, and sat out on our patio! The silly thing was there wasn't this big key picking up ceremony or anything due to our realtor being out of town. The selling agent hid the key on the property! Guess they do things a little different out in the country?! The main thing was that the key worked and we enjoyed our little slice of heaven!

Mother's Day

Mother's day started out with a trip to Aubin's church. Cuz Erik came too! We had a brunch at Wynt and Dave's and then a spa afternoon for mom. Wynt did mom's nails, and I gave her a massage. She didn't know what we had planned so that made it pretty fun. Afterwards we stopped by our house! (Next posting!)

Chilling on the Aubin's patio.

We appreciate all the Mom's out there, what an amazing commitment and decision to be one!

A quick Post

Well we are all moved in and today we officially got connected to this wonderful thing called the internet. It has been around for oh, maybe 10-12 years. A message to you all: Life went on without it. We even considered not getting it. (Yes, we are spoiled and have it on our phones...) but there is something a little more ergonomic about font that is a little bigger than what eyes can see squinting! So, future blogs to follow including:
Mother's Day
Moving Day
Haley's Wedding and Shower
Sly park afternoon
The Casa
Sometime soon...stay tuned....

Bodega Bay, just for a day

We road tripped out to the ocean for a day and a drive. Of course we stopped in Petaluma at Bella Trattorio, THE best restaurant I have been to lately. Home grown, or at least grown by a local farmer, organic when possible, and only in season ingredients on the menu (Chris kept thinking, "could I just get the B.L.T. without the T???") The thing that I like best about it is that you get to walk through the kitchen on the way to the bathrooms. It is homey, and even though I have been in restaurant kitchens, I feel like it is a glamourous glimpse into the creation of such down-home foods and treats. Of course homemade bread and noodles.
Well we were overthinking the heat a little. From frequenting the place, you would think we would remember to pack/dress fairly warmly. Yet we didn't. We set up our chairs and used the oversized beach towel as a mini snuggy. We played catch, ate some salt-water taffy, and took in the smell of the fresh crisp air.

Up we drove through Occidental and down to Sebastopol. The last time Chris was in Occidental was with Kyle P and his parents. The last time I was there was for Science camp in 6th grade!! I hadn't been to Sebastopol since visiting Kaela with Margaux probably 6 years ago. We got some fro-yo (of course!!) and figured that we were in the wrong business that day. Anyone else ever observe how many people come and go out of fro-yo's? Almost as many as coffee shops.

Peace of mind. Chill-ax. Relax....We had a splendid time driving and were home before dark.

American River Day

What can I think of that I am going to miss the most about this area??? Being 5 minutes from the bike trail and river! That is my hands down answer, no second guesses at all!

We brought cold waters, snacks, and magazines to chill-ax with. We defined the word our last weekend off together.