(s)he waved at us!

Pete and I went in for my "pregnancy confirmation" appointment today. Little "blueberry" was quite active for our glimpse into it's private little world. It seemed to stop its swirling around just long enough to lift an arm and wave it vigorously at us (I'm sure it knew who was looking through the ultrasound wand inserted oh so close to his comfy home.) Here is the pic we got to take home... sadly much blurrier than the rest of the ultra sound :(

From Snooling

my husband is the best ever!

Pete got home from NYC this morning. He brought me a piece of one of my favorite memories of New York: Levain Bakery. How thoughtful!

Star Struck Weekend

Pete and I went down to LA with our good friends Nate and Lindsay this weekend. We had a lovely time together. The main event of the weekend was a fundraising dinner for Act One. The evening took place at Burbanks lovely union station. Pete and I couldn't resist taking a few photos.

From Snooling

From Snooling

going into the wine making business

okay, we're not hoping to make a profit here, but it will be nice to drink some stuff we had a hand in, and the calculated cost per bottle is not bad either ;)

Pete and Bernard went a-picking yesterday afternoon.








Then we all gathered a the Bell's to see the results.

thinking lately

Pete and I have been scouring Zip Reality these days... looking at houses we definitely couldn't afford a year ago. When I'm not looking for a new (bigger) house to move into, I'm thinking about what I'd like to do with ours, from smallish (new door) to extravagant (complete re-model). I think I"m thinking about it so much it's even become a source of discontent, when I totally should be soooo overwhelmed with gratefulness for all that I have. I was completely convicted when I read a friend's blog who is living in Africa as a missionary. Reality Check! Definitely worth a read:

http://gilandamy.blogspot.com/2008/09/living-with-but-not-in-poverty.html

all we ever do is eat....

I've just started thin within and am ashamed to say that the only non-vacation pictures I have to post from this summer are of, you guessed it, me over-eating. The irony! Well at least I enjoyed it.
Here I am with Pete at The Left Bank for his birthday.

From Snooling

And then a few days later I was out again, this time with girlfriends. So hungry we were eating with our hands (Ethiopian style).

From Snooling

This is what we had... it was yummy!

From Snooling

Alert, Alert

Two new posts over at Handel Travels :)

What have we been up to??

July was a busy month... we were away on a Missions trip with our church to Moldova. Read all about it on Handel Travels if you please. I will be publishing the trip chronologically in "serial" fashion. Translation: I'm way too busy to sit down and do it all at once... piecemeal will have to do.

Our last tactile cry...

Pete had to exercise his freedom for the very last time this evening (okay he's been using a ear piece for over a year now and we took these pictures while his car was parked... but we had to record the momentous moment nonetheless.)

Shown up by a 2 year old...

If only I was this good:

I'm failing as a blogger!

Here is my latest attempt at recompense... the mongo update, with extra pictures for penance.

Oh, this one is even an excuse too! I've (with my amazing Mom's help) have embarked on a "scan in the family pictures" project. This is one of my favorites... and one of the oldest we have. It's of my grandparents on their farm in North Dakota. They look really in love! My favorite part is that grandma is sitting on my grandpa's lap and look where his right hand is... nothing old fashioned about that :) My grandfather died of a heart attack before my mother was born (grandma was 7 mo. pregnant), this pictures presents a man that I'm proud is in my family!

My 5 Aspects bible study has (weep, weep) come to a close for the summer. It was a great year... and we hope to have a few group reunions next year. On the 5-Aspects note, Barbara Mouser is doing a one day seminar this coming weekend in Los Gatos. It's not to late to Sign Up!

Another house concert in SF. We had the privilege of going with the Adam & Sarah this time. We stopped for (east) German cuisine on our way up. Walzwerk is worth checking out.

We had a great Saturday with the Chad & Allie a a few weekends ago, after an ol'bester (okay obester...) wine bottling morning we took a romp on the beach. hehe I see a theme of marital bliss emerging.

In other news. Pete wore one of these at WWDC this year....


He presented a demo on optimizing programs for the iPhone with Apple's new Developer SDK. The presentation he was part of was so big it was in the main conference room (hundreds of people), the same one in which Steve Jobs gave the Keynote! I'm so proud.

Okay so I'm not totally delivering on the picture promise. Seems like we haven't been very autobiographical in the last month + since a substantial post.

And don't expect to much better over the next few months. In July we're spending 3 weeks on a missions trip to Moldova (the poorest country in Europe, located right between Romania and Hungary) . So from now until July 10th we promise only to run around like our heads have been cut off. When we return in (almost) August it will only be to catch our breath before heading out again for the wilds of family reunion in Michigan. We are sooo excited to see Pete's family and hang out on the lake shores!

8 oz. a day keeps Psychosis Away

Visiting Alicia

We went down south to visit Alicia this last weekend...

She has an awesome new place and we had a great time hanging with her family and meeting all her church friends. The only hitch in the weekend was that Pete managed to sprain his ankle scoring the "winning point" in the "ultra competitive" BBQ Ultimate game the very first night we were there. 
Together Pete and Alicia invoked a pox on the ground were the treacherous event occurred. We managed to have a good time despite physical limitations :)

Nothing is going to stop us...

lately

I've just finally sat down and organized the last few month's photographs... here are a few shots we thought we funny:

Too much real estate on the market:

Who says water is water?

Now we all know which way to run...

Should!

I'm desperately trying to pull together a little communion talk for my church's women's retreat. This part got the ax but I had to share it with someone, why not the whole world...

"My husband always tells me not to “should” on myself and while I have not yet found “thou shalt not should on thyself” in my New King James I think that this principle is in keeping with a good understanding of grace, a understanding I find almost as impossible to live as the unattainable standard of perfection I’m “shoulding” over."

Doggie Hotel

We are doggie sitting the cutest dog ever...

Another one arrives this weekend... will post more cute evidence soon.

I love CA in the Spring

This was my lunch today, fresh from the Milk Pail produce/cheese market - the happiest place on earth for tastebuds. We are all so spoiled. 

Dinner With Friends

We had a great dinner at Shabuway in downtown Mountain View with the Bozarths. We finished up with a coffee at Red Rock - which has an awesome 2nd floor now!

Yes, I know I'm backdating but to put any date but the one the picture was taken also seem dishonest and my March posts would be rather scant otherwise...

Spring is coming sooner this year :)

I was just noticing that I need to take a picture of my front yard tree again to see how much it has grown from last year this time. I was amazed, not just at how much bigger it is not but also at how much farther along in "spring" (if you can call it that in Feb!) it is than it was last year... and farther along than the rest of the trees on the block, if I must confess my sapling pride :)



As I was laying sprawled across the sidewalk in order to avoid including the infringing powers lines and encroaching neighboring tree silhouettes, I noticed I was not the only one out with a camera on my block. What a nice way to meet a friend.

Skiing with Friends

We had the privilege of going up to Tahoe for the weekend to ski at Kirkwood, with the 20s group. We had a blast. My shoulder kept me from skiing but I did get through "Amusing Ourselves to Death" :)

Enough with the face masks!

We had a girly night last Saturday to get in touch with our feminine side. Yay facials!

Orange you curious what to do with Orange Pulp??

Pete and I have been juicing the oranges from our tree this year and we've been researching ways to use all the excess plup we are are generating... This is our plan:

DIY Facial Scrub Using Orange Pulp

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We are currently having a ball with the Formica's in NYC. Ru is being much more diligent than I about posting info on our trips, enjoy!

ruimpact.blogspot.com

Catching Up... way up

Skiing in Winter Park was so fun - we're so glad that Amy and Alicia came along with us!

We spent Christmas Day with my Uncle John and Aunt Jan. It was so fun playing games and eating yummy food. We had snow almost all day long - so pretty!

It was so fun to hang out with all the Gibas kids (this is Mackensie and Me)

We had a last minute New Years dinner the night after we got back from Colorado. It was a fabulous time hanging out with friends.

The Sauders spent the night. New Years morning Peter and Doug played praise songs in their PJs.