{A Great Visit with a Great Friend}

Two weeks ago a very dear friend of ours came for a nice long weekend.

We had such a great time with Selina, we do every time she comes.  She is one of our frequent visitors, usually coming about twice a year.  She likes to escape DC in the winter time!
She arrived on a Friday afternoon, shortly before my lovely shower, so was able to go with me.

...blueberry pie...good enough that we had to lick our plates...

She is such a pleasure to have around because she truly delights in spending time with Chase...she loves to cook and bake, and did that several times for us.  And it is always delicious and healthy.  She enjoys spending time with Chase, playing, reading, talking, walking...it really is a joy to have her around loving our daughter.

...a pink and blue birthday cake for John and me to share...

We always hit up our local thrift store when she comes, she always finds the best things!
We went for a walk on the beach...we enjoyed a day at the spa...

We just overall had a great time and are looking forward to her speedy return!!!

{A Shower for a Baby Boy}

Some of my dear friends from church threw me a baby shower 2 weeks ago.

It was such a lovely evening. 

Lots of dear friends..

Lots of delicious desserts...

Too many sweet gifts...

Some really fun games...

I am so very thankful for our church family here in San Diego.  I truly don't know where I would be without them.  John has been a part of this Body for almost 13 years and I have for nearly 10.  The Lord has blessed us there with many wonderful relationships.  

I could get very nervous thinking about a newborn and a toddler, but John has reminded me that this is a good time to rely on our church family (when our "real" family is not around)  One dear family watched Chase last week so that John and I could go out to celebrate my birthday.  I had to schedule an ultrasound for next week and I was able to have another friend pick Chase up from school and keep her until we could get back across the city.  These are such *big* needs in my life right now.

After this shower, I do feel that this little boy is just about set!!  I need to go through everything again and look at it all and figure out sizing and organize and wash things.  Although, maybe I shouldn't take tags off yet as my Mother-in-Law is convinced that I'm having a girl!!!  It's fun to have a little more color than pink in our house!  And boys clothes have really gotten cuter than I remember.  

*****

We are in the midst of organization hell around here these days.  John worked so hard over the weekend installing a closet organizer in our guest/office/baby room.  We've thrown away TONS of stuff, packed up boxes that will go up in our attic space (just after he and my dad get those stairs installed next weekend!), moved our desktop computer into our room as John gave me a new flatscreen tv for my birthday and then came up with the clever idea of getting a wireless keyboard and mouse (hence this is my first post with this new set up).  We also cleaned out and up our whole garage.  John hung his bike and skateboards, removing all the clutter from the perimeter.  I could just stand in there and stare at it's cleanliness and order.  

I think we just might be ready come mid-March for this little guy.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

{a lovely day spent at the beautiful Rancho Bernardo Inn with a dear friend...thanks to my hubby!!}

{this moment: last week}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

(The day after we returned from GA, we converted her crib to a "big girl bed".  She has done amazingly well.  We thought she'd be up all the time, stalling sleep, but she isn't...for the most part)

{Christmas in Georgia}

We had a great long visit to Georgia for Christmas.

We went to Nannie and Poppie's house and had lots of fun with friends and family.

Here is our annual "we made it to Augusta" photo:

(You can reminisce with last year's pictures here)

We did lots of fun things, such as:

...hanging out with Miss Sue, Kami and Maddie...

...cooking with Nannie...

...fishing with daddy...

...sleeping in a big bed for naps and one overnight...

...here are our annual Christmas Eve photos ...

...and Christmas morning fun...

(this was the remnant of Santa and Rudolph)

...when in GA I must purchase all things UGA...

...here is John's sweet Pop who is 97 years old.  We are always blessed to see him each year.  Chase really enjoyed him and the time he was with us he was not feeling so well, and she was very protective and concerned for him...

...this is Nannie showing her dad the nursery rhyme book that her Nannie had given her when she was 5...she then gifted it to Chase...

...unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Uncle Kagey or much of Nannie or Poppie that day...

...and then we had a whole string of friends that we were so fortunate to see...like...

(and I'm so sorry that I missed a photo of our friends the Nortons that drove all the way to Augusta to see us.  So sorry!  But thank you so much!!!!)

...college buddies Steve (and his wife Linnea) and Paul (and his wife Beth)...

(note: This restaurant is called the Boll Weavel and it is delish and their specialty is huge desserts.  This is the place where I met John's parents for the first time without him.  I was introduced to them by Sue, mentioned previously!!)

(they thought John looked pretty funny with such gray hair)

...and then college buddy Jay and his family...

...and then the Stokes family that we met in San Diego but they now live in Atlanta, but have family in Augusta.  Here is baby Cici that Chase just loved...(and yes she looks like Ace Ventura Pet Detective)

...then we got to have a 24 hour getaway to beautiful Charleston, SC for our anniversary...

...here is the B & B we stayed at...The Palmer House Inn...

...it sat right ON the Battery.  Everyone that walked by took a picture of the house.  It was kind of odd and we couldn't quite figure out why...

...and then we met up with the Bentley's at their lake house for the day and had our annual ride on Lake Oconee...

...we always love spending time with them and catching up with them...

So, there ya go!  It was a wonderful time...very relaxing, lots of reading by the fire, visiting with loved ones, special memories made with Nannie and Poppie.  

Who knows what next Christmas will bring! 

 Except we know that we will be a family of 4!

::9 Wonderful Years::

Yesterday we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary.

We are blessed to still enjoy being with one another and truly love to spend any free time with one another.

For the past 3 years we've been able to have a short 24 hour getaway while being in GA for Christmas vacation.

Those have been so nice since having kids, just to have some quiet time to be together. 

Our wedding day was so much fun.

I had just recently moved to CA, so that week for me was so fun because I had all of my closest friends and family in town to celebrate with us.

We had a New Year's Eve wedding, and haven't had quite that much fun on NYE since!

Yesterday involved waking up hours before the sun and flying across country...a long nap...and a delicious homemade dinner invitation from our sweet friends, the C's.  Concluding with my all time fave dessert: hot fudge sundaes!!  

I look at these pictures and we look sooooo young.  Poor Chase doesn't even recognize her daddy in old pictures with longer, browner hair!!

...and off into the sunset we went...

We've had really good days, really hard days, a lot of fun and laughs, and great adventures.

We hope this is only the beginning of our time together...John's grandparents celebrated like 75 years of marriage!