New Jersey Trip, Part 2

Now that all of the fun of traveling, birthdays, and Christmas has come and gone, I can finally share some more from the events these past 2 weeks.  

When we were in New Jersey, Mom Mom and Pop Pop couldn't wait for Kalea to open her Christmas presents since we wouldn't be able to stay through the Holiday.  They really enjoyed her opening her presents, especially Pop Pop.

The weekend we were there, we had a little birthday party for our little one year old and I snapped this picture while we were opening her presents.  I should have taken one looking into the other room to see the rest of the family, but instead I just have this one.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to see lots of family all at once.  Thanks everyone for making it out and helping us celebrate Kalea's first birthday!

Kalea took a little bit of time until she dug into her slice of cake, and she really loved it!

While in New Jersey, we were able to have a little play-date with Pat's childhood friend and there little 15 month old, Zoey.  

We met up with Kalea's Great Aunt and Uncle for some lunch one afternoon.

She loved looking at all of the ornaments each night with Mom mom and Pop pop.

One of Kalea's many presents from her loving Grandparents.  This was one of her Birthday gifts.

Luckily, the rain we had the last couple days of our trip cleared up in time for us to head to Storybook Land and check out all of the lights and see Santa.  Mom Mom really wanted to do this while we were out there, so luckily we were able to do that.  We were also lucky that not only were we rain free, but it was in the high40's/low 50's for the night so not too cold for the middle of December.

We took a ride on the train and Kalea loved it!

We changed her into her warmer Winnie the Pooh outfit.

And we ended the night on the Carousel.

She really liked the ride and all of the lights.

The morning we were leaving, we had some time to head over to Aunt Mare's house to visit before we had to leave.  We got to meet the newest cousin, Juliana.  She is about 3.5 weeks old here.  

Her big brother Trevor is 3 and trying to sneak another scone.  

Pat's cousin Dave and Kalea crawling around.

Aunt Mare enjoying some baby Kalea time!

We had such a wonderful time visiting friends and family.  The time flies by so fast and we never get to see everyone we want to see.  I didn't have any pictures, but Pat got to go to the Eagles game with his two best friends (even though they stink this year, they had fun), and we met up with our friend, Amanda, at her work.  We also spent a lot of time with the family next door.

Hopefully next time we come out, we will be able to meet up with some of those we missed seeing this last time.  Until next year!  

Santa! & Friends, Traveling to NJ

It is amazing to think that it is already 2 weeks into December and we are already visiting friends and family in New Jersey.  It has been a crazy year, to say the least and that trend is going to continue right up through the New Year.  We have enjoyed a Christmas Cookie Party, a work Christmas Dinner at Donovan's (yum!), and just last weekend, Kalea got to meet Santa for the first time.  

We decided to see Santa while he was making an appearance in Temecula, and there was quite a wait.  We arrived to a pretty good sized line and were informed that Santa would be taking a 15 minute  break soon.  We had about an hour to hang out in line so Kalea decided to take a nice nap on Daddy's shoulder.

She was so tired but was quite a trooper once it was her turn to sit on the lap of the Jolly Old Elf.  She was quite fascinated with his fluffy cuff and big white beard.

The photographer was able to get 7 pictures and this last one she actually smiled for the camera (a tough thing to capture form our little one!).   Shortly after this picture, she had reached her limit and began to cry, so Daddy swooped in and saved her.  She loved visiting Santa and I hope she enjoys seeing him every year.

After Santa, we met my parents at a great winery and had some lunch.  It was such a great meal I forgot to take some pictures!  Sorry Mom and Dad!  I need to get better at taking pictures on normal outings!

The next day we made plans to meet by best friends, Andrea in Old Town Temecula.  We have both been very busy and it has been difficult to meet up recently.  This was a great opportunity to just hang out with her and catch up before the Holidays.  

I haven't gotten a picture with her and Kalea since last Christmas when Kalea was 3 days old!

It was a crazy few days getting everything ready at work for a vacation back East.  Hopefully they are surviving without me!

We decided to take an early flight to help with Kalea traveling since she is a morning person.  We were allowed to board just after First Class so we had some time to hang out while the huge plane was being boarded.  She was already interested in the screens in the back of the seat and looking outside the window.

She also grabbed the flight safety card all on her own and began "reading" it.  I promise she did this all on her own and was really interested in it.  It kept her occupied for a good 10 minutes.

After this cute moment we had a looooong day of plane problems.  After sitting on the plane for 2.5 hours, they decided they needed to de-plane and jack the plane up to check on mechanical problems.  We ended up getting food voucheers and a different flight that arrived 3 hours after our original arrival time.  To top it off, our bags didn't make it and we had a small snafu with our rental car (this one worked in our favor since we ended up with a better car!).  Luckily, we all ended up home safe and sound and our luggage arrived the next day.

The first full day of our trip, Pop Pop was very anxious for Kalea to open some of her Christmas gifts since we aren't staying through the holiday.  He wants her to have an opportunity to play with them while visiting, so he helped her along a bit in opening the gifts.

Later that night, Mom Mom was showing Kalea the Christmas decorations in the house.

And later that night Kalea was out cold in her arms with the long travel day finally catching up to her.  (She slept over 12 hours last night!)

We can't wait to see what else this trip brings!

My Baby Brother Got Married!

My brother recently got married in Las Vegas.   We had such a good time getting ready for all of the festivities, from the shower to the bachelorette party.  It was also a great time to catch up with some family we haven't seen in quite a long time.  

Here is the beautiful bride-to-be with her Dad during the rehearsal.

Practicing walking down the aisle, you know, because it is so difficult =)  

By brother and Kristin with Kalea

The day-of the wedding turned out to be the best weather we could possibly expect for Las Vegas.  Thank goodness too since the ceremony was outside.  It was a gorgeous day!

Here is my brother sporting the gift Kristin gave him on their wedding day.

Here is Kristin prepping for the wedding.  The wedding site had an absolutely gorgeous and huge bride prep room. We had 6 make-up/hair stations, 2 couches, a wrap-around mirror and tons of space to spread out.  

The mother of the bride trying to get Kalea to sleep while cousin Aydan gives her a hug.  

Aydan was the flower girl and Kalea the "honorary" flower girl.  It was so funny to watch Aydan do her flower girl "thing" down the aisle.  Her mom told her just before she went outside to "throw the petals on the ground."  So of course without much practice before-hand, she went a few steps outside, wen to the left a bit, and threw all of the petals just outside the door.  It was so funny.  

She also was quite a crack-up during the ceremony.  She apparently wasn't heard by the audience, but the entire bridal party could hear her.  She said loudly that she was hungry, decided she needed to leave the altar and go to her grandparents - walking on the train of the dress along the way, and proclaimed about the priest at the end of the ceremony that "he is a witch!"  It was so hard to not laugh out loud.  Pat and I caught each others eye when that happened and it made it even more difficult.

Sara doing my make-up with a view of all the stations going back.  My hair did not turn out how I wanted it to.  I was going for a partially messy side up do, and instead she made it look like I had Princess Leia buns on the side of my head.  Oh well.  It looked good from the front at least.

Kalea all ready for the wedding and trying to take a nap.  I love her pouffy dress!

Sara getting ready.  She is next to get married, only 9 weeks to go! 

Relaxing in the room before the "dressing" begins

Kristin with her mom, sister Ashley, and Ashley's son Josh.

Our cousin Jacque getting Aydan ready.

I went downstairs to check on my wonderful husband with Kalea all dressed up.  Here are the dads with their babies.  They are teh niece and nephew for the bride and groom.  Kalea was not happy at this time, she had not taken much of a nap that day.

Snuggling with her Daddy.  Sometimes that is all a girl needs.

Here is one my cousin took on her phone when we were almost ready to begin.

So I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony (obviously since I was in it) and not many during the reception.  I was having too much fun between my bridal party duties, dancing, and catching up with friends and family.  Kalea had a great time too.  She was eventually able to fall asleep during the reception.  She was out cold and partied out.

I don't even know where this picture came from , but at least I have a shot of my brother all dressed up with my new sister.  Love them!!!

When we were getting ready to leave, we finally had a chance to take a few shots with MomMom and PopPop since they were visiting from New Jersey.  Kalea was very alert and awake after her long nap during the reception.

Starting to get a little tired laying on PopPop

And finally a nice group shot of the three of them.  

Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law!  We were so glad we were able to be a part of your special day!

Family trip to Napa

The day after Father's Day in Napa, the boys went for a gold outing.  Us girls decided to do some wine tasting on our own.  Our first stop was the winery where my dad bought some special sparkling wine for our wedding toast.  Here is the front of the winery, Domaine Carneros.

My mom and Kalea waiting for us to walk up the stairs (they were dropped off before we parked.

Kalea wanted to gnaw on the glass as we were passing it around.  

A group shot of the girls

We had a wonderful picnic lunch later that day at Rutherford Hill Winery.  We had delicious salmon in addition to lots of other spreads for our lunch.  So delicious.

The view during our picnic.

The following day we went to a great winery where the owner shipped tons of authentic medieval stones from castles.  We went on a great tour and it was a nice change from the normal wine tastings.

Pat next to the "iron maiden" on the left.

Their wine cave that took almost 2 years to build!  

Pat and I during the tasting

After the castle, we went for our last picnic and I took a few pictures of Kalea.  I love this one.

Daddy and daughter taking it all in.

The last night we were in Napa, Pat and I went on a date to Santa Rosa.  Pat has been wanting to try a Guy Fieri restaurant for awhile now so we took the opportunity to try out "Tex Wasabi's."  We tried one of the "gringo sushi" appetizers which had pulled pork and french fries in it.  It was one of the weirdest things I have eaten in terms of taste expectations.  It was really good, but it completely messed with your head on what you were expecting it to taste like.

Pat in front of the restaurant when we were leaving.

We had a wonderful first family vacation.  Looking forward to many more!