Aloha and Happy Birthday Allison!

Who knew it would be so hard to find a 2 hour chunk of time for Allison's 7th Birthday? Although Friday is her actual birthday, there were too many schedule conflicts to make it happen. Their early release from school today was the perfect time to get her girlfriends together for a tropical afternoon. They started by making these cute lei necklaces out of yarn, pieces of straws and cardstock flowers (thank you Chessa for letting me borrow the Cricut!).

Grace, Karis, Olivia and Allison

Reanna, Abby, Marley and Lorien

Posing with their fun new necklaces

Then it was time for snacks and smoothies. Matt made the smoothies and topped them high with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Allison isn't a big fan of store bought cakes, so she specifically requested Funfetti cupcakes. With 7 candles lit, we sang "Happy Birthday" to her and added cupcakes to our snacks.

We played a few rounds of Hot Potato with a beach ball (wow, these girls are competitive!) and cheered on all of the winners. Allison wanted the game to end after round 1 because she was ready to open presents.

Present time-look at all of the posers!

Allison loved all of her gifts. She couldn't wait to open this toddler doll from Karis.
She is so happy to have such thoughtful friends.

Taylor invited her friend, Lauren, to join in the fun. They helped us with the party and also played along.

The girls worked hard on these cute beach scenes. They were all so creative.

Goodie bags filled with tropical Skittles, gum, fruit punch, a lei, tattoos and a beach ball.

We actually had a beautiful day, perfect for swimming, but that is always so hard to predict. It would have added the final touch on Allison's tropical party, but everyone had a great time anyway. Maybe we will try that next year. Happy "early" Birthday Allison. We love you and can't wait to celebrate again on Friday!

Petco Park with Papa

My Dad flew down for the weekend to visit and watch a little soccer. Unfortunately, the girls played at the same time (at different fields), so he watched Taylor's practice on Friday and went to Allison's game on Saturday. He was able to see Taylor play in Palm Desert a few months ago, so it seemed only fair. He also spent some time yesterday afternoon helping Allison do a little research for her school animal project. They found all kinds of interesting info on the desert tortoise. Now, she just has to write the report.
Today, we took him down to Petco Park for our 2nd Padres game of the season. It was a beautiful day for a ballgame between the Padres and the Pirates, although the Pads couldn't pull out a win.

We had 2 seats in the wheelchair accessible section and 3 seats right below. Allison enjoyed the view from up here and liked watching the game from the wheelchair. She and Taylor took turns sitting with Papa throughout the game.

View from our seats-not bad!

I never thought we would see Papa sporting a Padres hat, but he needed Taylor's to protect his face from the sun. Allison was happy when Daddy returned from the gift shop with an early birthday present, her very own Padres hat. She may have a shirt to match already wrapped up! We hope to make it to a lot more games this season.

Blue Bombers Photo Shoot

The Blue Bombers voted against a 7:00 am wake up call for our team photos a few weeks ago and instead decided to do our own picture day at a more reasonable hour before our game yesterday. We all met at the Skate Park and created our own photo studio, minus the crowded parking lot, busy check-in table, fancy tarps, mass chaos and team banner. I'll also have to go without the fancy photo button (who uses that thing anyway?), but I think we got the same effect....

Silly faces, just for fun!

Green Acres Horse Ranch

Taylor's troop took a field trip to Green Acres Horse Ranch yesterday after school. We were there in the fall with Allison's troop, but this tour was more geared to 4th and 5th graders. The girls earned their Horse Care badge. Margaret, the owner, taught them about feeding, grooming, and riding the horses. The ranch houses almost 150 horses and we learned that it takes quite a team of care givers to make everything run smoothly. Who knew that there are Horse Dentistry schools and dentists that only work on horses? We assumed they were just veterinarians. This cute horse is Scooter. We learned that last week he nearly died because he cut open the roof of his mouth and cut an artery. Luckily, a rancher saw the pools of blood in his stall and saw blood coming from his mouth during feeding time. They were able to call the vet, lay the horse down in the grass and stitch up the wound. He would have certainly bled to death without such a quick response. The girls were touched by his story.

We hope to head back to the ranch to ride the horses. Girl Scouts has strict rules against riding, so we will likely have to do it on our own.

Some Down Time

After a busy weekend and some late nights, we were excited to have a little down time on Saturday. Our initial plan was to head to San Francisco, but after 3 late nights in a row, we opted for a lounging day around the house. We slept in and then had a little visit with Sarah and Molly at the park across the street from my parent's house. The girls love walking across the bridge, playing in the creek and playing at the playground. It is such a great open area and green belt.

As late afternoon approached, the family started arriving from all of their tourist outings. Some went to the Giants game, the embarcadero and Muir Woods. It was a beautiful day for sightseeing and everyone took advantage. They were all ready for some pizza and some down time.

We also took some time out to celebrate my Aunt Kathy's birthday. I think we had 37 family members to sing Happy Birthday. It was so great to all be together again. It had been 2 years since we had this many of us in one spot. There aren't any more family weddings planned, so we may have to work hard to plan the next reunion.

Chris and Aimee's Big Day 4/17/09

The wedding day was finally here and the weather couldn't have been better, everyone got ready with little issue and the limo arrived on time to take all of the ladies to the winery. Chris and the groomsmen were already there waiting for our arrival. Chris and Aimee had a private moment in the limo to see each other for the 1st time and then we hurried to get pictures done before guests began arriving.

Could they be any cuter?


Zach looked so handsome.

The bridal party at the Palm Event Center

What a beautiful bride!

Our latest family photo

Our side of the family

The ceremony was held in the Barrel Room. The lights were dimmed and tea lights flickered along the barrels. It was gorgeous! The girls dropped petals down the aisle and Allison got quite a laugh when she turned her basket upside down and dumped her remaining flowers right up front! No traditional wedding music for this couple. The groomsmen walked in to the Beach Boys, the girls walked in to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and Aimee walked in to Lionel Richie. I think we all walked out to "Forever in Blue Jeans" by Neil Diamond. It was really unique!

Everyone is in place for the bride to walk down

{You may kiss the bride}

After a few quick photos in the Barrel Room, we all mingled during the cocktail hour. There were families from out of town that I hadn't seen since our wedding, so it was certainly nice to visit. Our friend Rob was the DJ and it was soon time for the bridal party introductions and the reception to begin. Taylor and Allison danced to "I Like to Move It" from Madagascar as they walked out and got the party started.

The dinner was amazing (salad, wine-glazed tri-tip, halibut, mashed potatoes and green beans). I know that was very important to Chris and Aimee. They also worked very hard preparing for their 1st dance and it truly paid off. There was a lot of eating, mingling, toasting, and dancing and we all had a very memorable evening.

The oldest and youngest cousins, me and Lucas

and our Cousin Keri


Trying to convince my cousin Anna to move to California

{Allison joins the crew from Iowa in the "Taking Care of Business" dance}

{The "tie-on-the-head" tradition started at our wedding almost 12 years ago}

The night finally got the best of Taylor at about 11:45

We stayed for Kolby's serenade(a surprise to Chris from Aimee), bubble blowing and the last dance and saw the happy couple off. Congratulations Aimee and Chris!

Rehearsal Dinner

We all met for the rehearsal at the Palm Event Center at Mitchell Katz Winery. We did a few quick trial runs, stressed about how slow we would have to walk down the aisle and realized that Taylor and Allison were quite comfortable in their role as flower girls (this would be their 4th wedding!). {I can't believe Chris is getting married!}

{Aimee's Mom, Joanne with my Mom}

{Darrin, "Red", Dave, Nick, Chris and Kolby}

{Cousins}

Chris, Aimee and my parents had certainly done their research on places to hold the Rehearsal Dinner. They picked Terra Mia Ristorante Italiano in Livermore and it was perfect. It was the best Italian meal I think I have ever eaten. I got the Pollo Saltimbocca and Matt had the Ossobuco and we are now hunting for recipes to try them at home. Thank you to them for a wonderful evening.

{Chris and Aimee}

After a lovely dinner and time to visit, the bride and groom thanked everyone, passed out some very thoughtful gifts and Chris brought most of the room to tears as he welcomed Zach into his family. He and Zach have formed quite a bond over these last few years.

{An emotional moment for Chris and Zach}

The evening continued as we met the extended families and friends back at the Marriott hotel for drinks and desserts. It was nice catching up with my friend Brent (we have been friends since grade school) and hearing the latest stories from my cousins. Matt and I both laughed as we looked around the room and saw all of them drinking at the bar. In the 19 years we have been together, we have seen them all grow up so fast. It is so much fun to get together with all of them.

{Darrin, Brent, Engelbert and Matt at the Marriott}

{My cousins Matt, Thomas and Ryan}

{One last hug with their single uncle!}

Pre-Wedding Activities

We arrived in Danville Wednesday night and were welcomed by a house full of relatives. I think we had 5 uncles, 1 aunt, 12 cousins and all of their families come to town from all over the country. It was quite a family reunion. We chatted over a pasta dinner and enjoyed catching up and sharing stories.

{Taylor couldn't wait to meet little Jack}

{Taylor is happy to have Zach as her new cousin}

Thursday morning, the wedding party and family met at Campo di Bocce for a little Bocce ball and lunch. I love any competition so this was a lot of fun. It was nice meeting Aimee's friends and family and getting to know the other ladies in the bridal party. The kids had fun running around the courts and playing with the youngest kids in our extended family. We wrapped up at 1:00 so we could all have some time to get ready for the rehearsal.

{Taylor and Allison had fun meeting Sydney. She lives in Florida.}

{Cheryl, Melissa, Aimee and Kristen}

{My Aunt Pam with her daughter-in-law and grandson, Bridget and Jack}

{Focusing on the game}