Study and Fun?? Who knew!

A trip down to visit Jayme and see Lacey and study for the RD exam? Could this all be possible? We did it! We even attended a crazy Love Fest!! (Only lasted ~30 minutes!!)
Lacey was up from LA to visit some Berkeley friends, us, and for Lovefest. (celebrating the love for music)
Jayme and Lacey. When Jayme and I left, we definatley loaded up on the hand sanitizer!! Hehe!

Some fushia on a run that Jayme took me on. We ran up to Coit tower, and along the Embarcadero, and then up some crazy over 500 stairs (walking then!!) through some gardens. Gorgeous!
Walking up from Union Square to her house!A
A silouetted Golden Gate.
Some tourist moments on the pier.
After the lovefest, we needed some mello moments. She had some free wine tasting coupons (nice hookup!) for 5 pours! Whew! We hung out there for awhile, and even studied! (Thanks to IPHONES).

Although there are no pictures of us studying, we got in ~4 hours on Saturday, and most likely another 3 ish on Sunday. That is way more than we had anticipated! We did flash cards with Lacey after some bread-bowl lunch!

Jayme and I studied so much together during undergrad, that we wouldn't have it any other way for our RD exam. So, we have been trying to study together and you guessed it, we are taking it together this week. Please think of us, and send us extra brain cells!

At the end of the rainbow

One of the best things about this time of year is the ever-interesting quandry that nature has! The indecision usually ends up with something gorgeous! This rainbow was right over our street, and couldn't fit into the picture.
It was HUGE!
The other half!
No, not palm springs! This is on our street! Usually these are just ugly trees, but that particular night, Arthur and I felt we lived somewhere tropical and breathtaking. Who needs an island oasis when you have killer sunsets right here!??

Happy 26th, Jay!

Jay and I have been doing pretty good at celebrating our birthdays together. Chris had to work but I didn't let that stop me from a trip up to visit some old cronies! Elly is getting so big. We were playing around, being rolling logs, but she acted like a rolly polly instead.
Great to see Brittany and Lucas, the newlee-weds!
Jason emerged from his cocoon! This hammock/swing was hilarious, Elly was in it for what seemed like all of dinner.
Baby Ashton enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's company. He is growing so big now.
After zucchini sandwiches made by Mat, (YUM!!) we sat around and enjoyed some champagne. We moved inside because the chiminea was not warm enough for all. After a wild and crazy time watching Cinderella, Jay read my tarot cards! That was fun to see what they were all about. They were interesting because they were a positive deck, none of those old school negative ones with random symbols. These just made ya think.... Had a great time seeing you all!

A Random Trip to S.F.

Well, just a few days before this trip was taken, Marsh called me up and asked if I wanted to go to the city to visit Court. I always want to go, but didn't know if I could go. I was off work, so away we went for 2 nights and 3ish days. We enjoyed a dinner at Nicky's place. Thomas had made some carrot ginger soup that was amazing, and Court made her honey mustard garlic dressing for our greens.

We also hiked up Corona heights. It was amazing, and such a perfect day to experience the view of the city! Both the Bay and the Golden Gate bridge were visable from the summit. (It was a pretty decent hike to get that high up in the city!)
Gotta goof, let's say it was the elevation making us silly.
Nope, just us :)!
Some flower stands along the way on the walk home.
Don't these pictures look fake? These Lilies came out really nice.

Out of order, but this was the path part of the way going up to the top of the hike. Lot's o stairs.
More city views. It was really windy up at the top!

That little outline on the right is Court, who beat us up the mount!

I told you it was windy!

Gotta have a little fine and dining in your day. We went to Delfina and enjoyed some shared eats, as well as a complemenary dessert!
In the mission district, there is an alley way where everyone paints their garage doors. They are beautiful paintings, all so realistic.
Take a ride up the escalator!
Here is the alley.

Another nice view just from walking around. Thank you for the hospitality Court. I also scored the bed both nights, thanks mom too!!

Labor Day @ the Leins

We all came together to meet up at the Leins. I am attempting to take less pictures and "just be" but sometimes those moments just come up. I know that I am obsessed with my family, and that the pictures may seem redundant, but that is what I am about. This is Chris's favorite picture of Ava, eating Wynter's homemade strawberrie ice cream.

Austin is now an 8th grader! Wow! When did that happen??
This cucumber is on the patio, in the raised planters for Gramp's veggie garden that Mom, Kim, and Grammy planted for him for Father's day.
Love it! So peaceful. Grammy and I have big plans to spray paint the old swing set. After my RD exam, I will come up, ok?

Campin'

Well you may notice that there are no tents in these pictures! This crew is the campin' crew that originated about 5 years ago (and about 5-6 kids ago between everyone!) As the families keep growing, the amount of goods to haul begins to multiply, and with the amount of new, nursing mommies, a house was voted on for the "camping" experience. Don't worry, many traditions were present, Kim's cheesey taters, blongo, and laughs, but we had an awesome pool, oven-roasted tri-tip, and flushing toilets! Sam, Quentin (Baby Q), and Fethiye
The whole crew (minus Drew, who was hiding at this time). If I counted correctly, 11 adults, 9 kids. That is an impressive ratio! I worked in the morning, and Chris worked at night, so we hung out together for lunchtime. Since the Sandersons live so close to Kaiser, Chris came back over on his break for some dinner.
Lily and Quincy=BFF.
Ed, Michelle, Kim, and Kristen after dinner. Thank you for hosting the shin-dig. What a beautiful home to entertain it! We also played apples to apples--Love it!
Kimbo was a hit in the pool. Look forward to next year and whatever that may bring!

A Girls Night

As per tradition, we try to make it up to moms at least once a year. I think we are doing better than that! It is relaxing, we try to splurge and enjoy each other's company at the same time. We went out walking after dinner, the best time for cougars to be out. We kept watch, and yo-yo the dog came along for a small sacrifice if necessary.
Ava looks happy but her finger has another message?? Notice Wynt has Ava in the carrier now, and Lily later. How do you do it all, Wynt?
The sunsets always get better from the Camino hill.

Elise's tongue was going crazy that day! She must have been teething, or something because, GADZOOKS! She couldn't keep it in her mouth! Such a cutie pie!
Such a smiley and happy little one she is!
The girls watched the old school version of the little mermaid--no sebastion here! We tried editing it a little because it was much scarier than the new counterpart.
The womens relaxing in the family room.
Nothing like enjoying a walk together. We are so blessed to be so close, and to crave each other's energy! That is a pretty amazing thing, if you ask me. Thank you for taking the picture, Wynt! Love you!