Fun at Oma's house

It's always a fun time when the family gets together at Oma's house. Karla and Zack came down Memorial Day weekend so Oma had the entire family over to celebrate. (It was also nice to take a break from moving!).

Andrew had so much fun he wore himself out!

Moving Day!

Saturday was moving day! We are so excited about our new house and we are even more excited about all of the space that comes with it. We are adding 1 extra bedroom, 1 extra bathroom, an indoor laundry room an an additional 1,000 square feet of space!! Andrew is having so much fun running around and scaring away the monsters. (He thinks there are monsters in the closet but he isn't scared of them so it's ok!). We couldn't have done this without the support of our amazing family and friends. A HUGE thank you to (in no particular order) to my mom and dad, Oma, Scott, Michelle, Trevor, Jen, Zip and Zoe for helping move all of our stuff and get the house ready. I had no clue how much we had until we had to move it all!! Thanks also to Jane for watching Grevin that day. Brian and I really appreciate you all volunteering to give up your Saturday and help us out.

Andrew making sure we don't forget his toys!

It took three guys (and a few not to nice words!) to move the gun case up to the office!

Jen and Zoe helping out

Zip moving the important packages!

Trevor was great at helping unpack boxes :)

It takes lots of muscle to move!

We even had special guest come out from Texas to help!

3 years old!

Dear Andrew,

How can time being going by so fast? It seems like just such a short time ago you were a little infant, depending on mommy and daddy for everything. Now you are quite the little boy. You have grown up so much over the last year and mommy has a hard time keeping up!

You have an amazing personality. You're friendly, happy and easy going. It makes taking you around so easy and everyone you meet quickly becomes your friend. Your friends at Gina's daycare are excited to see you everyday when you show up and you run off to go play without a care. We still meet with your friends from playgroup too and you are forming a nice friendship with them. The biggest change this year is how close you and Grevin have become. I think you think he is your brother (which is ok with me!) because he is the only kid you will fight with. You ask to see him everyday so mommy makes a point make sure we have our weekly dinners with him.

Your imagination has grown so much over the last year. The last month you are convinced you are a dog. You crawl around the house, bark and have started to lick me! I draw the line at letting you eat off the floor!! You are the cutest little dog and it makes me laugh each time you "transform." You like to make spiders crawl all over mommy by taking your hands and crawling them up my arms and legs. You also have acquired a love for monsters. You aren't scared of them but you are convinced they are everywhere. You can scare them away yourself by saying "boo"!

Your favorite game right now is hide and go seek. You have a little bit to learn though because when we tell you to go hide, you run away and then yell "I'm over here!" When we come to find you, you jump out to scare us. This is your favorite part of the game.

You are very good at playing by yourself but you still love to read books and play with mommy and daddy. Currently you are still into airplanes and trains and driving/flying them around the house. your favorite movie is still Cars.

We are so blessed to have you in our lives and be surrounded by your innocence and smile every day. You continue to amaze me with your funny jokes, stories and facial expressions. As I write this you are laying in bed, singing a song and laughing to yourself. This brings a smile to my face every night.

Thank you Andrew for being such an amazing boy. You will always be mommy's little boy no matter how old you get!

Love,
Mommy

Happy Birthday Andrew!

As I write this, Andrew is passed out in his room from a full day of partying! He had a great birthday party filled with fun, family, friends and of course a bounce house. My mom and Paige supplied all of the party decorations and they got lots of comments all day long. I think they could go into business together. :)

Thank you to all of our friends and family who made this day so special for Andrew. He's been looking forward to his Lightning Mc"Clean" party for a long time. (Andrew can't say Mc"Queen!") He had a smile on his face all day long!!

Zoe enjoyed the party too!

Andrew couldn't take his eyes off the cake!

Grandmas and Grandpas

Maddie and Andrew

Gpa teaching Andrew to golf. Notice the ball is about to hit the camera!!

Trevor loved the bounce house too!

A little spicey....

When was the first time you tried hot sauce?!

After that bite he asked for more!

Make-A-Wish 2011

If you could wish for anything....what would it be? At Make-A-Wish, they ask this question to children every year and their answers sound something like this:

"I wish to be...."
"I wish to meet...."
"I wish to see...."
"I wish to go...."

My job is fun. Every day I get to go to work in one of the most beautiful places in the world, I pour wine for people on vacation, I walk through a gorgeous vineyard and every night I get to kiss my happy, healthy child good night. This weekend, Make-A-Wish gave me the privilege of making a difference. They allowed us all to take a step back and look at the world through their eyes. They allowed us to help a child who has leukemia and wants to meet Obama. They allowed us to help a child who is suffering from kidney failure go to Hawaii. They allowed us to help a child who can not help themselves. I am honored that we are the host of this amazing event and and proud to be able to make a difference even if it is only for one day.

The event starts early in the week with a crew of people descending on the winery hoisting tents, constructing stages, setting tables and overall transforming the winery. The end result however, is breathtaking. The fun begins on Friday night with a Sponsor's Dinner. 120 people arrive in their dressy best to sit back, relax and enjoy the calm before the storm. On Saturday morning, bright and early the croquet team hits the courts for the North American Croquet Open (think golf but it's croquet!). 650 guests attend all dressed in white (croquet colors) to walk through the grand tasting of food and wine, look at silent auction lots and enjoy a great lunch during the live auction. The day raises more than $700,000 for the organization and there is not a dry eye in the crowd when they have one of the children come out and tell you their story. They encourage you to bid often and big high which is what we all do!

Thanks again to the Make-A-Wish organization for such an amazing event. It is one I look forward to every year!

Friday Night Sponsor's Dinner

Sabrina and I
Sabrina is the Event Director for Make-A-Wish. She's the brains behind this entire event!

We had croquet balls for dessert! Yummy.

On Saturday it was time to get out the white clothes and enjoy the day.

As you can see, we take wine tasting VERY seriously!!

This was the Sonoma-Cutrer tent. We had 70 people at the event!

Celebrating the close of the auction with a conga line!!

This one bottle of wine is valued at more than $700! I got to pour it and of course taste a little during the high bidders cocktail hour. :)

Chocolate Mousse frozed in hydrogen. It was Fantastic!!

Derby Day 2011

I LOVE the Kentucky Derby! I've never been and I still don't quite understand how it all works (except that a bunch of horses run like the wind for the finish line). But once a year the winery hosts their annual Derby Day party with Meals on Wheels. It's a great event that helps our seniors in Sonoma County. This year they added a hat fashion show and your truly got talked into participating. During the day I had to wear the boring white hat but once the fashion show started, I got to sport my fancy fashionable hat! It was a great event and they ended up raising around $120,000 for a great cause.

Brian and I with our winemaker, Mick.

One of our tables for the event.

I'm still not sure how I got talked into this but it ended up being lots of fun!!

I was trying to hard not to laugh or fall down!!

Some of our group with the Bugle guy