Thursday, May 19, 2011

Phil Turns 22!

This frisbee around his neck was a fun little side-gift from Jeff and me

Phil testing out his new frisbee. (What's that in the background, you say?? That's our attempt at killing the grass for our new garden. It's plastic sheeting, and it's taking longer than I would like...)
Kiff helping Phil test out the frisbee

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Mary's Baby Shower

Last Saturday, I and Mary's two sisters-in-law, Sarah and Jane, threw her a shower for Baby Gray, their new adopted baby-to-be!! I am THRILLED for my little sister. She has wanted to be a mommy for so long and it's finally happening!!! Gray will be born and come home next month! Mary & Rob will be fanTASTic parents and I'm just so happy for them. :)






Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Lotsa Cali Pics

Here's a photo overview of our two-week trip to California! It was a very relaxing trip which began and ended with Jeff's work obligations. Sandwiched between them was five days or so of traveling and visiting and sight-seeing...

Our first vaca spot was Palm Springs, which is in the California desert east of LA. Indian Canyons is outside Palm Springs and was stunningly beautiful.
The desert conditions of the canyon were cut through by a stream and palm trees, creating a uniquely exotic scene.









We left Indian Canyons for a bit to visit Moorten Botanical Garden, which boasted a beautiful collection of different types of cactuses (yes, that is a correct spelling...) :)


Back in Indian Canyons... Here you can see the way the palm trees are clustered around the stream winding its way through the canyon.
The many diagonal rock formations kind of looked to me like God threw them out there like frisbees...
Yes, I'm that strong. :)
Back to LA. Hollywood!

The valley over which the Hollywood sign looks.
Uncle Dave & Aunt Gaby drove halfway down from Sunnyvale to meet us for lunch! We met in Paso Robles, a beautiful and quaint little town. I hadn't seen Aunt Gaby since I was 8 years old!! So it was just lovely to visit and enjoy a meal together. Wish it could have been longer!

That afternoon, heading back to Burbank, we drove out to the coast and down the PCH... and of course we stopped for pics along the way.
This is where all those happy California cows live!


My, but was it breezy and chilly!

Rodeo Drive!! So beautiful. And very high class. They say this is the most expensive shopping street in the world... And no, we didn't see any stars. :(



Then we flew home... back to rainy Virginia. :/ That's okay! Spring is in full swing and I am loving all the new green growth everywhere! I am also eager to begin our garden soon. (After an unsuccessful first attempt at tilling the soil this past weekend, we discovered that it's pretty difficult to get rid of grass..... The garden plot is now covered with plastic to kill the grass which we guess will take a couple weeks. Then we'll till again...) I'm so excited to have my first vegetable garden. Summer, here we come!!