Ethan's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Ethan's first birthday in style with a backyard splash party at Nana and Poppa's house! We were lucky to have Ethan's Aunt Jaime, Aunt Arielle, Bubby, Papi, Grammy, Papa, Great Papa, and Mimi in town to help celebrate. The kids had a blast playing in the big pool, kiddie pool, and with the giant sprayer ball. Ethan was such a trooper, he took a good nap right before everyone showed up at the party and didn't wind down until 9:00 pm! Ethan was in awe of everyone somehow knowing how to sing "Happy Birthday" all at the same time, and of course loved his cake. He probably could have sat in that highchair eating cake all day long! Ethan got so many wonderful presents that he couldn't wait to start playing with.

We are so grateful to Nana and Poppa for opening up their home to such a big party, and for letting the family stay and swim afterwards!

Cousin Draven

While Mommy and Daddy went to San Francisco to celebrate Tracy's 30th Birthday, Ethan got to play with his cousin Draven, Auntie Amy, and Grammy and Poppa. Draven was such a good big cousing and showed Ethan all of the best things to do at Grammy and Poppa's...like turn on the flameless candles, drink from a sippy cup, and navigate under the coffee table! We all wish they got to play together more often!

5 Year Anniversary

It is hard to believe Rich and I have been married for 5 years!! While we were in CA, we drove to Rios-Lovell, the winery that we got married at and had a chat with Mr. Rios himself...turns out he bought the land for only $10,000 in 1976, wow not a bad investment! Anways, things sure have changed for Rich and I since the last time that we stood under that gazebo together. It was fun to be there together with Ethan and celebrate. Cheers to many many more years!

After the winery, we went over to Nana's house for a visit with her and Uncle Gary and Cindy.

Happy Birthday Bubby!

While in California, Ethan, Rich and I were able to celebrate Bubby's Birthday. It is actually the same day as our anniversary, so after our day in Livermore we went back to Mom's house in Boulder Creek and had a delicious dinner followed up by a yummy birthday fruit tart. Ethan was the entertainment of course and even showed off how he can signal a "touchdown" on command...a must if you are Rich's son! It was so special for Ethan to be able to wish his Bubby a Happy Birthday in person!

Road Trip!

On the first week of our summer break from school, Ethan, Daddy, and Mommy all drove to CA to visit our family. We did the whole drive in one day, all 13 hours of it! Ethan was such a good boy, and was especially excited to be facing forward like a big boy in his car seat. He entertained himself playing with toys and reading books, especially his dog book...or as Ethan likes to say, his "Doowg" book. We stopped for a break so we could all get out, stretch our legs, and have some lunch. We all found a nice area with a fountain and flowers to relax in. Ethan was in awe when we arrived in the Santa Cruz mountains and saw the giant redwoods! He just looked up at the monstrous trees with his eyes opened wide for the last 45 minutes of the long drive.