Fro-Yo to Celebrate the First Sign of Spring

Now that the weather is more spring-like than ever, it's the perfct time to take the kids to get Fro-Yo for a nice refreshing after-school treat!

Matthew & Anna

Joe's cousin Matthew invited us to his wedding in Palo Alto. We (I) was slightly intimidated by the duration of the car ride- 8 hours to Southern Oregon followed by 6 more hours to San Jose and another 5 hours to Anaheim (how could we resist ththe temptation to spend time in the Happiest Place on Earth?).  

It ended up not being as bad as I had imagined. The boys were sufficiently entertained by the movies we had downloaded to the iPad.  It was certainly a fortunate coincidence that Big Hero 6 had been released in time to add that to the boys' options. 

We took the opportunity to meet up with Julie- a friend from middle school. We worked together in high school for student council planning various events. I had last seen her at a wedding in Hillsboro and had the pleasure of meeting her husband Richard and oldest child, Devin.  She now has a daughter named Kaylee and it was so nice to see how much Devin had grown. It was a very nice reunion!

Here we are at the wedding. We sat with the bride's sister and her family.   Hannah and her husband turned out to be lovely conversationists. We learned about her husband's career from enlisted soldier in the army to Dentist reservist.  Hannah went to the University of the Pacific and earned a degree in Pharmacy. It's interesting because I've never actually known anyone who loves being a pharmacist. They all remark that the money is good, but that it isn't hugely satisfying. Her two boys, Caleb and Gideon got along famously with Joseph and Jacob. They spent the evening playing hide and seek and running around the beautiful estate. 

Happy Birthday!

This was a pretty big year for me as I turned 35 years old. Joe made sure that it was a special one. He arranged for child care over the weekend and planed a fun stay in Seattle. 

This is our view from the suite at the Fairmont Olympic in the heart of the city. 

The hotel was conveniently located right across the street from Louis Vuitton where I dropped off my Tivoli for repair. Joe said, "Now you don't have a purse; what are you going to put your things in?  Looks like we have to get you a new one." He let me choose any purse I wanted. That was so much fun!

I ended up with the Neverful bag and I love it! 

Joe then took me shopping at all my favorite stores and never ONCE made a peep about how long we stayed in each store.  When we were done shopping, we went to dinner and got sushi during Happy Hour (half off). When we returned home the next day, I was completely relaxed and blissful. I'm so fortunate to have such a thoughtful husband, two healthy and happy boys, a fulfilling career, a comfortable home and friends I love. 

Great Wolf Lodge

This holiday season, with the heavy focus on the kitchen renovation, Joe and I felt as though we needed to take some time off to spend away from the dust and power tools taking over our home. 

It was such a nice break away from the chaos at home. When we returned home, we were refreshed and ready to continue our work. 

Christmas in 2014

Here is one of our more creative Elf on a Shelf findings.  Spider-Man came from Leyna at Lina's Christmas party this year.  Jacob doesn't like Spider-Man, but Leyna was adamant that he should have this for Christmas.  It turns out that Tiny and he got along famously!

Here are the boys on Christmas Eve, fresh from bathtime and ready to dream of Sugarplums and Candy Canes.

I've always heard about Leavenworth at Christmas and since I had visited during the summer while at a retreat for work, I thought this was the year we would experience the magic of the Tree Lighting ceremony.