Daren and Hana's Wedding Par-tae

First stop.... The Nut Tree. Soured. Complete trash now. In the space of 2 years it dwindled into a graveyard of odd sculpture. Just goes to show you the value of children in our society.

2nd stop. Yerba Buena Gardens. Bless you San Fran. Quality still.

3rd stop, Downtown Disney. Almost like Disneyland except without the rides.

4th stop. Heaven. One of my favorite places on earth. But the key is that it's the one in San Fran on the roof of Macy's. Such a gorgeous view and just way cool.

We all polished off the snickers cheesecake in less than 1 minute.

5th stop. A random croissant shop in Santa Rosa where we saw my Aunt and cousin Amanda. I pinched her butt and she was very disturbed by it. Go fig.... In a town of at least 300 thousand, we run into my Aunt. I made Joe pose by the greenery. It was 70 degrees. Bless you California. You'll always be the motherland. Why does he always look like a picture frame model?

 6th stop. El Weddingo. It was a lovely ceremony done by a Ukrainian Catholic priest. Very much like a Greek Orthodox ceremony. But what made it was just how happy my cousin was. He was just beaming. It was too stinkin' cute. Lil' cheese boy is married!!!

 Best picture of the night. (above)

Aunt Sheila and Uncle Steve.

7th stop. Lunch with some of our best friends ever.

Why is it that Joe and I look like horrid giant freaks and our friends are skinny and cute? These 2 couples and us used to live in the same apartment complex. Kelly and Fabio, THE Brazilians, and Ethan and MaeKow, THE one's who speak Hmong. We have a little army of children now! It's amazing! It was just like old times and we were all wishing we were closer and still neighbors. Seriously, they are the best! Plus the food was amazing, Ethan is CHEF.

Photo Shoot: What's my motivation? Ballet. Dance, Girl, Dance.

Sleeping Beauties....

I love that even in sleep they have to be touching each other and close. I pray their best friendship will last forever.

Did you know?

So something kind of random about me that you might not know is that I really enjoy the sky. I actually don't like looking down at things and would rather look up. I think it stemmed from a trip to Germany as a teenager and I was riding a bike down this gorgeous dirt road. The trees were in bloom, the air was fresh and it was a moment of perfection.... and then I looked up, and a moment that was perfect was even more so. The sky was huge and instead of feeling lost or small, I felt whole. I felt peace. So often, I love watching the sun set and the "cotton candy" clouds as my daughters and I call them.

Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet....

Again, some things in Reno... there just are no words....

Cousins' Birthday Party and our 1st time Roller Skating!!

Our cousins are really great. They always have super fun birthdays! With the best cake.... yum.

Roller Kingdom in Reno can not be described in words, as so many things in Reno just are not adequately expressed verbally. And then, if you try to get pictures you could possibly get shot.... let's just use these words and attempt the impossible:

flowing hair man with tattooed knuckles and on-oxygen tank man passing out shoes

It was great to have the extra help from Papa seeing as I was super worried about Maria and her nursemaid's elbow, it can dislodge easily and with roller skating all you do is yank on each other's arms to keep from falling. Needless to say, it worked out just fine. The girls didn't really like roller skating but hopefully with time they'll get more confident. We also had a very nice lunch after with Papa, he's always so good about feeding us!!!

Our lil' Sunbeam....

It's like she was born to just be super awesome. I mean really, WOW. There is nothing I can really say that explains just how truly blessed I am.

Maria is in Primary now, and of course, excels. She's a brainy genius.

Mad Science....

We got this awesome toy from Aunty Ram and the girls have been loving it. They build, they create and then they get to see the result and problem solve.... I mean really, it's just an awesome toy.

Thanks Aunty Ram! Way to help us become smarter!

Birds For Kids at Galena

After a quick lunch of pizza....

We headed to Galena for a program for kids about birds. Ah... false advertisement. A lady spoke for 20 minutes and then they got to make bird feeders. Aren't their poses great though... where do they learn these things!! 

It was nice to be outside and get fresh air. We were out in the boonies so we stopped at one of our favorite parks and stomped around in the snow... I seriously have to invest in sleds, it would have been perfect!! 

So pretty and peaceful up there. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I could live out in the forest away from civilization and be OK.