The Sanders Family Blog

Family Photo Shoot

2010-12-22T21:44:00.001-08:00

I love taking pictures of my two guys, but I was dying to have some family pictures and some shots of me and Carter. My wonderful husband came with us to the park so that we could get some pictures. They came out great! I am so glad that we didn't pay anyone else to take pictures of us! All we need is the tripod!!

From Family Photo Shoot

Wanna-be photographer

2010-12-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

We had a Christmas party at our house a few weeks ago and before people arrived I decided to take some pictures of the table. I love playing around with different angles - usually my target is Carter, but this time I aimed at the table, with Carter in the other arm, of course!

From December

Picture with Santa

2010-12-22T21:23:00.000-08:00

We took Carter to get a picture with Santa. We didn't have to wait in line very long - about 15 minutes, but that was just long enough for Carter to hit nap time. He was not very happy when we handed him over to Santa, but after a few minutes he calmed down and we got a picture!

From December

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

From December

December fun!

2010-12-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

The past couple years we have gone up to Apple Hill and cut down our Christmas tree, but this year we just went to a Christmas tree lot, but we got the most beautiful tree! Carter was snuggled up for our fun outing.

From December

The tree was so big that Patrick had to cut the sides of the trunk to get it to fit in our tree stand!

From December

My two guys!

From December

How cute is this little face!

From December

And I couldn't resist a little Christmas fun!! Merry Christmas!

From December

Family Fun

2010-12-13T08:01:00.001-08:00

I love taking pictures of our little guy! He is so cute and I love to capture how much he is growing and changing. He loves to smile at us, but refuses to smile once the camera is out! So we haven't captured one of his big smiles, but hopefully I will soon!

Carter loves his daddy!

From November

Almost got the whole smile!

From November

His favorite toys right now are this activity mat and the bouncy chair.

From November

I get to practice my photography skills with our little man....

From November

November fun

2010-12-13T07:48:00.000-08:00

In November we started to venture out with our little guy. Our first trip was up to Apple Hill. It was a beautiful day, we got some apples, walked around and of course, enjoyed an apple donut - my favorite! Carter slept through the whole trip! He didn't wake up until we got back home.

From November

We also took Carter to his first football game. Vista made the playoffs and we went to the game, and again he slept through the whole thing! What a champ!

From November

A huge highlight for November was Patrick's volleyball team becoming Section Champions! They got to play at UC Davis against Union Mine and won!!! It was such an honor for Patrick to win. And I am so proud of my hubby! This was the biggest adventure so far for me and Carter, and of course he was dressed appropriately. =) Carter also got to meet his great grandpa for the first time!

From November

We also got to enjoy Thanksgiving at my parents house. We even spent the night there - Carter's first overnight trip! It went well and it was great to visit with family.

From November

Carter's First Halloween

2010-11-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

For Carter's first Halloween, we passed out candy to the neighborhood kids and took some pictures. And of course, put him in some cute little outfits! =) He is getting bigger and bigger. He is starting to make more noises and he stays awake longer. He smiles a lot in his sleep, and even laughs; I can't wait until he smiles at us!

From Halloween

3 Week Old Photo Shoot

2010-10-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't resist taking some pics of my little cutie! Again, I took a ton of pictures, but these are my favorites! He is so darn cute - I know, we're a little biased, but who could disagree with how cute this little face is!

From Carter 3 weeks

2 Week Photo Shoot

2010-10-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get some cute pictures of Carter, but I didn't want to pay a photographer to do it, so we had our own photo shoot. I wanted to get some cute pictures to use for his birth announcement. I took a ton of pictures, and we got some good shots. I think I would have liked to have been a photographer - I get so much pleasure out of getting good photos. For now, I just get to practice taking pictures of my little man! These are some of my favorites...

From Carter at 2 Weeks

Carter's Second Week

2010-10-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is already growing! He had his two week check up and now weighs 8 lbs 3.7 oz. He is now starting to hold his head up and is making more sounds. He is feeding well and sleeping great! He usually only wakes up once during the night, which is such a blessing!

From Carter first 2 weeks

We had more visitors this week. Some of my family drove up from Southern California to meet Carter. Here's my grandma with Carter

From Carter first 2 weeks

My aunt Anita with Carter.

From Carter first 2 weeks

And our family of 3!

From Carter first 2 weeks

Carter's First Week

2010-10-22T17:03:00.001-07:00

We came home from the hospital on Sunday. It was so great to be home and out of the hospital... but the fist night home was the longest night!! Sleeping has improved since the first night! We went to the pediatrician on Monday and everything looked good. He had already started to gain some of his weight back. On Wednesday we went to the lactation consultant. It was really neat, because she weighed Carter before his feeding then after, to see how much he gained. Before his feeding he weighed 7 lbs 6 oz (which was amazing that at 5 days old he had already passed his birth weight!). Then after the feeding he weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. So our little man is growing!

We had family visitors this week. It was so great to see the new Grandma's and Grandpa's holding Carter.

From Carter first 2 weeks

We also went for our first walk and Carter's first ride in the stroller. He liked it! And it was so wonderful to be outside!

From Carter first 2 weeks

We are so blessed to have this little guy in our lives!

From Carter first 2 weeks

Carter Michael Sanders is here!

2010-10-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Baby Carter is here! He was born on Friday, October 8th at 5:47 pm, weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz and is 20.5 inches long. He is so cute!

I was induced on Friday, so we went to the hospital at 6 am. I was already having contractions and was 3 cm dilated, and they gave me pitocin. At 9:30 the doctor broke my water and immediately the contractions got much stronger and closer together. At 12:30 I was 6 cm dilated and ready for my epidural! Got the epidural by 1:30 and Wow! What a difference! I was so happy after that. I got to relax a little. They checked me at 3:30 and I was already 9 1/2 cm. They were surprised at how fast I progressed and I was glad! I started pushing at 4:20. Carter was ready to come, but the doctor wasn't in the room yet, so we had to wait through a few contractions before the doctor got there. And Carter came into the world at 5:47 pm. It was such an amazing experience.

We are home adjusting to life with our little guy.

From Drop Box

When we got home we had this amazing announcement in our front yard. It was the greatest thing to come home to... not sure who sent it but love it!!

From Carter

Here's the first video of our little one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnD7od0gbaU&feature=email

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting....

2010-09-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

I have officially started maternity leave and I am loving it! It has been so relaxing and has allowed me to get some stuff together and feel ready for our little arrival. But he still isn't here yet! For some reason, both Patrick and I thought he would come early. Apparently, that is not the plan, seeing as how I am 39 weeks pregnant! But he will come on God's timing, which will be perfect. All we can do now is wait, wait and wait some more...

From Baby

37 weeks pregnant - and it was my last day of work! Wow I look tired! Thank goodness for all the rest I have had!!

From Baby

38 weeks pregnant! Getting closer and much bigger!

Celebrations

2010-09-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

In the past few months we have had the chance to celebrate our 4th anniversary and my birthday!

From Baby

For our anniversary, I surprised Patrick and took him to the Firehouse Restaurant in Old Town Sacramento. It is a really nice restaurant with such a great atmosphere. We had a really nice dinner - we had the chef's tasting menu, so we had appetizers, salad, soup, our main course - fabulous steak, and dessert! It was awesome! (I was 31 weeks prego)

From Colleen's Birthday

For my birthday, Patrick and my family come up and surprise us at church. We then went out to brunch after. The restaurant brought me a candle in a cinnamon roll - yummy!! It was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday!

Vista Volleyball - Ranked #4!!!

2010-09-16T07:06:00.001-07:00

I am so proud of my hubby! The Sacramento Bee did a big article on Patrick and Vista Volleyball. I am so proud of what he has accomplished with this team and how humble he is.... he would never ask me to post this so that's exactly why I am! Vista had a big game on Monday night against El Camino and won in 5 games, and now they are ranked #4 in the Sacramento Area!! So cool!!

Here's the link to the article:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/15/3030205/high-school-volleyball-notes-visa.html

Here's the link to the top 20 teams in the Sacramento Area:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/15/3030202/the-bees-volleyball-top-20.html

Northern California Shower

2010-09-14T14:29:00.001-07:00

Our small group girls threw me a baby shower at the end of July. It was so fun to get together to celebrate the coming of our little one! It is so awesome to have such great friends.

From Northern Cali Shower

And of course my mom was there!

From Northern Cali Shower

I love baby elephants, so that was the theme for the shower. There are so many talented girls in our group... one made the cake and it was delicious! And one made the baby elephant banner! Such talent!!

From Northern Cali Shower

The girls did such a great job. We played a couple games and the best was they had recorded Patrick answering questions, so the girls would ask me the question to have me answer it, then ask me if Patrick would get it right. The questions were all about baby stuff, like "What is swaddling?", "What is the APGAR score?", "How many times a day does a newborn need their diaper changed?" The best one was "What is colic?" Patrick answered - where their hair only wants to go one direction. Hilarious!!

Southern California Shower

2010-09-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

At the end of July my family threw me a shower. It was so much fun to see everyone. We had a great time celebrating the newest addition to the family. My mom, aunts and cousins were there as well as my grandmother and some close family friends.

From Southern Cali Shower

Pregnancy Pics

2010-08-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get some pregnancy pictures done - these are a few of my favorite! They were really fun to take and I think it will be nice to be able to remember this special time. We are 30 weeks prego in these pics!

From Pregnancy Pics

Point Reyes - Our last vacation before baby!

2010-08-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Patrick and I decided to take one last vacation before our little one arrives. We went to Point Reyes Station. It is a little north of San Francisco and is famous for its creameries. We got to spend a couple days their enjoying the cool ocean air. It was such a nice break from the heat!

From Point Reyes

The first day we were there, we drove to the ocean. After leaving SLO we both miss the ocean so much, so it was so nice to get to be on the beach with sand between our toes! Even if it was a little cold!! We are 29 weeks prego here - the belly is growing bigger by the week!

From Point Reyes

We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast and got to enjoy the local restaurants. They all have really fresh ingredients, mostly all organic, and the cheese was amazing! Patrick was loving it! Cowgirl Creamery was in the little town and we got to sample some really great cheeses. They were making cheese in the building and while we were there they opened the door to where the cheese was and oh my goodness the smell was terrible! I started gagging! That may be due to prego nose, but the smell was pretty overwhelming. But seeing them make the cheese was pretty cool.

From Point Reyes

The second day we were there we drove down to San Francisco. We thought that we would take the little coastal road down to San Francisco and it was the curviest road that we have ever been on in our lives! Patrick was getting car sick and he was driving! We finally made it out and made our way down to San Fran and had a picnic at the Exploratorium and then did a little shopping.

From Point Reyes

That night we ended up eating at 3 different restaurants! It was so fun. We went to this really nice restaurant where we originally just wanted to look at the menu but before we knew it, they seated us. Then it was really uncomfortable because we didn't want to stay but we didn't feel like we could just leave. The prices were ridiculously high, so we ordered a salad and appetizer and then left. So we were still hungry and went to another restaurant where they had amazing pizza - it was probably the best Margarita pizza I have ever had in my life! Yum!! But they didn't have anything for dessert, so off to another restaurant to satisfy my sweet tooth! We ended the night with great dessert and full tummies!

We had a great time. It was nice to get away and relax! Hopefully we can remember what it felt like when baby comes. =)

Fun at the Pool!

2010-07-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

It is hot! So we decided to escape the heat by going to the pool. These two cuties had a great time splashing around and cooling down.

From Fun at the pool

Baby MIchael has arrived

2010-07-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Our friends welcomed their son Michael recently. He is absolutely adorable! Check out that face!

From Baby Michael

Mommy is doing great and looking amazing only a week after delivery!! I hope the same happens for me! =)

From Baby Michael

Just practicing.....

From Baby Michael

4th of July - 27 Weeks Prego!

2010-07-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend! On July 3rd we brought some of our friends dinner and had a great time hanging out with them and their new little baby. On the way we stopped at the Town Center where they were launching fireworks. We had perfect timing... got there 10 minutes before they started, got awesome seats, and had fun watching the fireworks. On the 4th of July, we got to hang out with friends, eat yummy food and launch fireworks in their neighborhood with all the kids. It was such a great weekend!!

From Baby

My baby bump is growing bigger by the week! His kicks are getting stronger and he loves to move around in there. We might have a soccer player on our hands! Its been warm but not too hot, thankfully, so I have had the chance to spend some relaxing days in the pool. Summer is great!

From Baby

June Birthdays

2010-06-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Both my mom and Clint celebrated birthdays this month. We had lots of fun for each of their celebrations!

From Mom's Birthday

From Clint's Birthday

Patrick's First Father's Day

2010-06-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

We got to celebrate Patrick's first Father's Day (although next year will be the official one!). He has been working on his garden and it is growing like crazy. So for his special day we worked in the garden putting up fencing for his tomatoes.

From Father's Day

From Baby

He is growing tomatoes, corn, carrots, lettuce, onions, peppers, basil thyme, squash and melons. We have been eating the lettuce and using the basil so far. Patrick got to cut his first squash yesterday. So we are hoping for lots of yummy treats throughout the summer!

We are now 25 weeks prego! We are moving right along. It has been wonderful weather - not too hot, so I am very thankful! Our little guy is growing each week. We both get to feel him kicking and moving around in there. He is quite active! So we'll see what he is like when he arrives! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. We have 3 more months before we get to meet our little guy. We are so excited!!

From Baby

Clint's Graduation

2010-06-28T15:35:00.001-07:00

From Clint's Graduation

We had a terrific time celebrating Clint's graduation from UC San Diego. We spent the weekend going to 3 different graduation ceremonies. Some were for all graduations and one was for engineers. Clint graduates with a degree in Aerospace Engineering... Pretty impressive!!

From Clint's Graduation

I was 24 weeks prego when we in San Diego! There is no doubt that we are growing a baby now!! =)

From Clint's Graduation

Michelle's Shower

2010-05-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

I helped to throw my friend Michelle a shower. She is expecting twin girls! It was a group effort and Kellie made the cakes - how cute are they! She was inspired by the invitations that Jennifer and I made - Jennifer is the brains behind the operation, I just helped! It was a fun time and Michelle got lots of cute girly things!

21 Weeks Prego!

2010-05-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

We are officially half way there! I can't believe how fast it is going by. I have a little bump that keeps growing bigger each week. I can now feel him moving around and kicking all over the place. We got to do our baby registry at Babies R Us and Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. It is amazing how much stuff this little baby needs! It was pretty overwhelming to begin with, but I have great friends who helped us out to figure out what we really need.

We had an ultrasound and he is measuring perfect - right on schedule. Our due date is September 29th. I couldn't believe how much he moves around in there. While we were getting our ultrasound he was sucking his thumb, he did a few flips and would not stay still. It was amazing. He has grown so much. He now weighs 15 oz. We got to see his arms and legs and his strong heart. I still can't believe that there is this little one inside. God is amazing!

From Baby

This is his profile shot while trying to suck his thumb!

From Baby

This is his face.

From Baby

And there is no doubt that we are having a boy!! =)

From Baby

16 Weeks - Its a BOY!!

2010-05-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

We are now 16 weeks pregnant and made an appointment at an ultrasound place to find out if we were having a boy or girl! We couldn't wait until our scheduled doctor visit at 20 weeks to find out!! The entire day I was so nervous and anxious. Patrick and I drove to the place and I could barely focus. We ended up having to wait about half an hour before they saw us. And I don't know if I have ever been that nervous in my entire life! But once we got to see our little guy moving around and see how much he had grown it was priceless. They were 100% positive that it is a boy. We couldn't be happier!!!

From Baby

April Fools

2010-04-02T15:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Patrick gets a phone call, and all I heard was "wow, really, are you sure, ok, well I'll tell her." So of course I asked who it was, Patrick said it was my doctor and she had some news for us. My heart started racing thinking of all sorts of things (I had just had my blood work done, did they find something, etc) and Patrick says "She looked at our sonogram again and saw that we are really having twins!"

Of course I freak out, saying "are you serious???" over and over again. By this time I am standing on the couch looking at Patrick. And Patrick has the best poker face ever. Then says "April Fools!"

He totally got me!!

Big News . . .

2010-04-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

The big news is that we are expecting our first baby!! Currently we are 14 weeks preggo. Our due date is Sept. 29th. I had a lot of morning sickness during the first trimester but thank goodness that is now over. I am feeling good and have a little belly. We are so excited!! We should find out if we are having a boy or a girl in a few weeks. We can't wait!

The sonogram is from our nine week appointment. Our little one looks like a little bean, but is growing and has a strong heart beat.

From Baby

Hooray for a new oven!!

2010-04-02T15:28:00.001-07:00

Our oven was original to the house, so it had seen better days. Only one of the ovens worked and not all the time. So it was time for a new one. Patrick decided that he should paint the cabinets at the same time, since they were going to have to cut the cabinets to make room for the new one. After months of ordering and reordering ovens - a long story, we finally got our new oven and microwave installed!! Yeah!!

Check out the before and after pics - what a difference!

From Kitchen

Caitlin's Shower for baby Dean

2010-04-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

My girlfriends and I threw a baby shower for Caitlin. We had a Saturday morning brunch. It was so much fun and all the girls in our small group pitched in to help. Caitlin got all sorts of great things for baby Dean!

Past Christmas'

2010-01-05T10:42:00.000-08:00

I got some old photos from Patrick's family and my family of Christmas pictures. It is so fun to look back at the memories. Merry Christmas!

Snow in December!

2009-12-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Yeah for snow!! It snowed today, probably about 3 to 5 inches at our house! There was enough snow that I got a snow day and got to stay home! Sadly, Patrick had to go to work. It snowed a little last year (just a dusting) in El Dorado Hills, but not at our house. We were so excited to have snow, Patrick woke up at 5 am just to see it.

This is our street and house!

From Snow in December

And us playing in the snow!

From Snow in December

New Orleans Summer 2009

2009-12-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

We spent some time with our church working in New Orleans. We had a good time serving and working on people's houses. There is so much damage still left. There are many abandoned buildings, people are living in buildings that are not safe because they have no where else to go.

From New Orleans

We worked on a few different projects while we were there. The first place we worked was Ms. Barbara's house. We put up ins insulation and dry wall on the back side of her home. It was unbelievably hot and humid. Over 100 degrees with humidity!! And the place where we were staying didn't have air conditioning. Surprisingly, you get used to it after a while. On Ms. Barbara's street three people had been murdered the week before we got there. We got to talk with a guy next door one day and he told us about the neighborhood.

From New Orleans

I worked at a house where a family had rebuilt it completely themselves and they were currently living in a FMA trailer in their front yard. We helped them finish the kitchen, grout the bathroom, install wood floors, paint, and anything else we could do. They showed us their pictures from Hurricane Katrina. They had a house that floated from two blocks away in their backyard. They said that when they came back to their house there were vehicles on tops of roofs, they actually watched one roll off their neighbors garage. It is crazy to think that this happened in our country.

From New Orleans

We also worked at the Big house, which was purchased for $12,000. I got to use a nail gun, which was quite an experience! We also passed out fliers for a free barbecue we were having in the part to the neighborhood around the Big House. It was a pretty eye opening experience when some of the neighbors said they wouldn't go to the park "because people get shot at that park." Also has we were walking around the neighborhood cars would come rolling up behind us and the windows were so black that you couldn't see anything inside the car. Drive by shootings crossed my mind.

From New Orleans

The outreach was successful. We played with the kids with footballs, water balloons, and face paint. They loved playing with us and having our full attention. We gave out drinks, chips, hot dogs and chili. People who came were very thankful. As we were leaving (before it got dark) there were more and more people showing up. It made us trust the Lord a lot!

From New Orleans

While we were in New Orleans, we got to see a lot of great things, we took a walking tour of the French Quarter and learned a ton from our guide. We were there the week before July 4th, so there were lots of people in town.

From New Orleans

We learned so much! We can't wait to go back next year.

Thanksgiving in Hawaii

2009-12-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time spending 5 nights in Hawaii. We stayed on the Big Island at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. It was awesome!! Our resort was right on the beach. So our biggest decision was laying by the beach or by the pool. We ate fabulous food and enjoyed the time to rest and relax.

Santa Barbara

2009-06-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

We took a weekend to go visit our friends Erin and Erik in Santa Barbara. It was so great to see them and their son Josiah! He is so cute! The weather was cool, but it was nice to get away from all our heat. Erin and Erik leave a couple blocks from the beach. We had a great time walking to the beach and hanging out.

Summer is here!

2009-05-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Patrick and I are both officially out for the summer! We are so excited to be done with school and we are looking forward to the summer months. I started off my vacation hanging out with friends and enjoying the summer weather!

I went swimming with my friends Kelly and Becky and Becky's son Cooper. It was his first time in the pool and he had so much fun splashing around and kicking his little legs. He is so cute! Check out that little face!!!

Shamrock

2009-05-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

I give two versions of a test to my statistics class and somewhere on the test it says to draw something next to their name so that I can tell what version of the test they had. So in March around St. Patrick's Day my statistics class took a test, so one version had to draw a pot of gold by their name; the other version had to draw a shamrock next to their name. Patrick told me that not everyone would know what a shamrock was, but I didn't believe him, I thought that everyone would know what a shamrock is. So as students turn in their tests, some of them had these rocks by their name with "shamrock?" written at the top. Once everyone turned in the test I asked one of them what a shamrock is and they didn't know, so we all got a good laugh out of it!

Valentine's Day in the Snow

2009-05-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

For Valentine's Day, I surprised Patrick and took him to South Lake Tahoe. We stayed in our favorite bed and breakfast. It was snowing and beautiful. We went to a nice dinner at a great Italian restaurant. The next day we went snow mobiling. It was so fun! We took a bus to the location where we got on snow mobiles. We were in a group of 5 other snow mobiles. We got to share one and we took turns driving. It was so beautiful going through the trees on the trails. We followed the guide and they took us all over the mountain. At the top, we stopped and had hot chocolate. It started snowing and it was perfect!

When we left on Sunday, so did everyone else. It took us over six hours to get home, when normally it takes about an hour. So we inched our way out of South Lake Tahoe and back home. It was a great weekend filled with fun memories!

View all

Get your own

Manhattan Beach in January

2009-05-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

We went to our friend, Braidy's wedding in January down in Manhattan Beach. It was so wonderful to be in warm weather in the middle of January. We had fun going to the beach in the morning and watching some beach volleyball. Then we went back and got ready and went to the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding on a bluff over looking the beach. They had perfect weather and the bride and groom looked great!!

New Year's Eve Gangster Syle

2009-01-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

We got to ring in the New Year at our friends house, Stacie and Mitchell. They planned a murder mystery dinner. We were all dressed up in 20's costumes. Patrick played the mayor and I was the mayor's wife. We all had roles to play. One of the characters was "murdered" at the party and then we had to figure out who was the "murderer." It was great fun! And check out every one's costumes - it was awesome! We had a great dinner and dessert, we got to spend time with friends, and there was even some swing dancing. Happy New Year!

Fun in the snow!

2009-01-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

We went skiing in North Lake Tahoe at Squaw Valley with Colleen's parents and brothers. We had the best weather! We were afraid it was going to snow all day, but we ended up with blue skies! I got some great pictures from the top of the mountain, where you can see Lake Tahoe. We had a fun time skiing and playing in the snow. It was a great day!

Christmas

2009-01-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas, Nanny (Colleen's grandmother), aunt Anita and cousins came to visit our house. We had a good time having brunch, taking pictures and playing a fun game of twister! We also hosted Christmas Eve at our house. We had both Patrick's parents and Colleen's parents and brothers over for dinner. It was fun to have both families together to enjoy the holiday.

Changing Colors

2009-01-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

We have these beautiful trees in front of our house that changed colors the week before Christmas. I love living in Northern California and experiencing all four seasons!

Apple Hill

2008-12-03T20:46:00.001-08:00

I know it has been a long time since our last post.... but we've been busy painting our entire house, putting in new carpet, moving, and trying to get the house together. Now that moving is over, there should be more blogs in the future!

At the beginning of November,Patrick and I went up to Apple Hill. Apple Hill is a fun area near us that has lots of apple farms with yummy things to eat. So we decided to take my brothers, Caleb and Clint, up to Apple Hill to help us cut down a Christmas tree from one of the Christmas tree farms. After hiking around for a while, we finally spotted the perfect tree! Patrick cut it down and Clint helped him carry it out to the truck. We were hoping for a tree that was around 10 feet tall, but the tree ended up being more around 14 feet tall! Luckily it fit in our new living room. Patrick loves having such a big tree in the house. This weekend we will get to decorate the house for Christmas!!

We Bought a House!!

2008-08-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

After over a year of looking for a house in El Dorado Hills, we bought a house! Escrow should close August 15th. The house is a bank owned home that needs some TLC. We will be painting the inside ourselves and putting in new carpet. So if anyone wants to help paint, feel free to join us!! It is a large house with plenty of room for us to grow into. We are hoping that we won't have to move again for a very long time. The house is in an established neighborhood of El Dorado Hills, it is on a 1/3 of an acre and has established oak trees in the backyard. The house has 5 bedrooms, so if anyone wants to come visit you are always welcome!!

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are so excited to get established in Northern California. The house is about two minutes from my school and about 10 minutes from Patrick's school. So it's pretty much the perfect location for us.

Two Years

2008-08-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

On 8/6 we celebrated our two year anniversary. Patrick planned the whole thing and surprised me with a trip to Napa Valley. He didn't tell me where we were going until we pulled onto the highway for Napa Valley/Sonoma. He then told me that we were going to be spending the night in Calistoga. We checked into our hotel and then went and drove around. The vineyards were so beautiful! I loved it! We went out to a nice dinner in St. Helena where Patrick said he had the best pizza in his entire life - that is quite a compliment coming from him! Patrick then told me that early the next morning we would be going for a ride in a hot air balloon! I was so excited!!

We had to meet at 5:30 am to go up in the hot air balloon, so it was an early morning, but worth it. We met at a restaurant then they drove us to the launch site. There were a total of 3 balloons and each one held 10-12 people. We had so much fun. You just feel like you are floating. The pilot actually took us down to this little stream and barely touched the basket in the water and took us up again.

They took us back to the restaurant and served us bruch. After that we went to the Napa Valley farmers market where we got to taste the best fruit. It is all organic and yummy!! It was amazing and truly a memorable anniversary. I have the best husband in the world!! =)

South Lake Tahoe Backpacking

2008-08-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Colleen and I wanted to get away for a few days beofre going back to school. We decided to go backpacking in an area just south of Lake Tahoe. Living in Folsom, the area was only 90 minutes away which made it an easy drive.

We were a bit concerned that there would be a lot of smoke in the air from all of the California wildfires. Descending down the grade into the Lake Tahoe area from highway 50, there was a visible haze over the lake. It was a 5 minute drive south on Highway 89 to the the trail.

After beginning our journey from the trailhead, there was a half-mile climb to reach Big Meadow. At the meadow we were excited to see smoke free blue skies as we hiked further south.

After a good 3 mile trek, we arrived at our destination for the evening, Round Lake. We walked around the lake for quite some time trying to find a good campsite. I think Colleen was ready to kill me after we passed ten perfectly good campsites and had to do some boulder hopping to reach the inviting area on the southwest side of the lake. The campsite did give us a nice view of the unique "dardanelle" rock formations surrounding the lake.

Colleen and I had a wonderful time at Round Lake and we hiked out after only one night. We hope to go back to the area on a longer trip to visit some of the other lakes in the area (Dardanelles Lake, Meiss Lake, Showers Lake). Next time I'll be sure to bring a fishing pole as we watched a father and son catch a nice brook trout on a fly rod.

Nanny's Surprise Birthday!

2008-07-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, my family (Colleen's) threw Nanny, my grandmother, a surprise birthday party. She was definitely surprised and a little shocked that she didn't know there was a party planned in her honor. It was a festive evening filled with fun, laughter, dancing and of course, singing!

Cruise to Mexico

2008-07-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

We went on a cruise to Mexico in June. We had a great time on the boat and in Cabo San Lucas. When we were in Cabo, we rented a car with another couple and had quite an adventure. We went to a glass-blowing factory and a great beach. It was a little scary driving around in Mexico but we made it back to the boat safely! It was a great time to rest and relax, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Weekend in San Diego

2008-06-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've been down in San Diego since last Sunday attending an intense training program for the Aerospace Engineering course I will teach in the fall. The training itself has been extremely enjoyable as the curriculum has been extremely hands-on. We've had a chance to build many projects (rockets, gliders, etc.) and have been able to use a windtunnel to test the aerodynamics of some of our designs. On Wednesday, we were even able to take a field trip to the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park.

Two full weeks apart from Colleen would have been next to impossible. Colleen graciously offered to drive down to San Diego to spend the weekend with me. We were able to get a nice hotel in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego and take in what the city had to offer.

On Saturday morning we left the hotel for Balboa Park, the home of the San Diego Zoo and countless museums. Our first big stop were the Botanical Gardens. Due to the temperate climate in San Diege, they are able to grow just about anything. The gardens were filled with an array of flowers, particularly orchids. We spent about 30 minutes here just taking pictures of the beautiful flowers. Colleen's pictures all turned out beautifully while mine were mostly out of focus. :)

We spent most of Saturday at the Zoo where we were able to see some amazing animals up-close. The Pandas and the Polar Bears were my favorite, but the Austrailian animals were quite fun too. They had a great variety of Kangaroos, Koalas, and Wallabies.

Sunday was another day of adventure at Sea World. Colleen absolutely loved the dolphins and we spent most of the day watching the trainers work with them. The dolphins seemed to be having so much fun playing and seem naturally friendly and curious towards people. Sea World wouldn't be complete without seeing Shamu, so we watched the Orcas before we left the park. They've definitely geared the entire park for kids so we'll have to make a return trip when we have children of our own.

It was hard to see Colleen leave tonight. I've got one more week of training and will fly back to Sacramento on Friday. I'm used to being able to spend every minute together with Colleen. During a trip like this it makes me realize how much I enjoy being around her. I can't help but smile as I look forward to the future.