She's back!

What a whirlwind two months we've had. I finally got most of the photos from our adventures onto my laptop, hence this blog post.

So here's what we've been doing!

Memorial day cookout at the Sanderlin home.



Swimming with Taffy.


We visited our friends for dinner at their beautiful farm, Boxcarr Farm. Alice and the baby goats were a ridiculously cute combo.


In preparation for Suzi and Kyle's wedding we did a lot of celebrating - sharing food and drink with friends. Alice and Rick shared quite a few corn chips on this evening!


Alice was one of several adorable little flower girls at the wedding!!


The next weekend, Alice's uncle Seth and aunt Dawn got married! Here she is at Grandma Carol's house - in a basket.


She got some QT in with lots of relatives, including Grandpa Chip, who drove up from Arkansas for the occasion!


And her wonderful, precious cousin Yossi who is just 6 days her junior. They had so much fun playing together and she was very sad when he had to go home to Texas.


A day or two after the wedding, we flew out to Portland to visit Alice's uncle Park. The time change left us all a little sleepy, but we did all kinds of fun stuff anyway.

Astoria Tower


Oregon Zoo


Jamison Square swimming.


Laurelhurst Park


View of Mt. Hood, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Adams and a very tired baby.


From Portland, we flew back to the east coast to go to the Willis/Weaver family reunion in Mt. Gretna, PA. Alice got to meet her new cousins Mihret and Agegnehu and lots of other relatives!


Our last trip to the Jigger Shop for ice cream!

Happy Birthday Snoopy Lou! (Part Two)

A few pics from A's birthday party!

Helping me get ready.


Playing with Annie.


Making the rounds - definitely a social butterfly!


Hanging with the dads and Betty.


Getting ready for cake.


Making wishes!

Happy Birthday Snoopy Lou! (Part One)

Part One: The Birthday

Alice's birthday was last Wednesday - I can't believe a year has gone by since she was born. We had a low-key day of playing at home and at the museum followed by dinner at home. She got a fancy cupcake but was much more interested in sharing it with everyone else than eating it herself.

Birthday morning - very excited in her birthday tutu and special mama-made A onesie!


Jake got Alice some special birthday books including the renowned "Little Crab".


She was way more into the candle than the cupcake at first.


But then...




The sugar wasn't really doing it for her, so she shared the rest with me...


... and Rusty.


Last, but not least, a little diaper romp on her new froggie chair before bath and bed.


Still to come, the birthday party!

Lost Memories Found

Praise be to whatever magic Wolf Camera possesses that got our photos, which had mysteriously disappeared off of the camera, to resurface. There are definitely some gems - I'm really really happy that we have documentation of our adventure.

Enjoying a lovely and cozy hike in the Headlands.
Alice and Taffy on a tram tour of Angel Island.


Examining the monster-sized succulents near the Conservatory of Flowers with Uncle Park.


Checking out the life aquatic with mama at the California Academy of Sciences.


The ladies chilling out in Suzi and Kyle's backyard in Berkeley.


Gallivanting around SF with Daddy Jake.


Snuggling and savoring some delicious oysters at Fresh Salt in Berkeley.


The hostess with the most-ess - Ellie Mae!


What a fun time we had! This is really just a sampling of the great photos we got there - and some are still MIA, but I'm so thankful we have many to remember this trip.

Mother's Day (and feel better Suzi!!)

Mother's day! It was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l here last Sunday. We had brunch with Grandma Morton and then a jaunt in Duke Gardens and dinner with Taffy and Papa Willis.





And hallelujah - thanks to Wolf Camera, we were able to get our photos back from our trip to San Francisco! Will post some soon. Suzi, hope this makes your tum feel better!

New Kicks

I said I would, so here are some of the cutest pink sneakers and the cutie pie who wears them.