December 11th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

I went for a walk with my brother at Lake Chabot today.  It’s so BEAUTIFUL there right now.  The leaves are brilliantly yellow.  It occurred to me as we were walking that I will be 30 in a few more months and my brother is already 26.  Where is the time going?  I seem to always think of my brother as being 20, but somehow another 6 years have gone by. This wasn’t really part of the photo shoot- but I just had to take a picture because if you’ll look closely at my brother’s sideburn- yes that’s what I said, sideburn, you’ll notice it’s red.  His hair changes color at that point to a brilliant red, so if he ever grew a beard we’d have a redheaded, I mean redbearded irish ruffian on our hands.  Just kidding about the ruffian part of course.

December 7th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

Wow- it’s obvious I have been totally brainwashed by the idea that weddings are all about the bride because I didn’t get even one picture of the groom!  How terrible, after all it takes two to pay for a wedding!  The “girls” were privileged enough to get a sneak peak of Shael before the ceremony began.  Our very own Bibi Elyse was responsible for making the wedding jewelry- gorgeous isn’t it?It was at a vineyard in Livermore called Casa Real- all of it was just so beautiful- the banquet hall was ENORMOUS and yet the materials used to make the room created a cozy atmosphere somehow still. I missed out on tasting this cake…poor Nolan was just so wiped out that we finally left early so he could get some sleep.  He’s just not a kid who can sleep anywhere and everywhere. Only 3 more weeks!  Yikes! “I want YOU to hold me mommy….”

December 7th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

Hike stats:  We climbed 1800 feet in 6 miles to Eagle Peak at 2369′ in Mt. Diablo State Park.  1800′ elevation gain and 6 miles means it was GRUELING for me.  But I was pretty proud to reach the top.  My legs were screaming the entire last 1/2 of the hike up.  Nolan was with Grandma and Papou which was good this particular day since it was a longer hike and quite cold.

Pros to hiking with my hunny:

1. I didn’t have to carry him on my back. (Good thing- he weighs a good deal more than Nolan’s 20 lbs.)

2. He’s fun to be with

3. He can speak and we can have an adult conversation.

4. He carries all our stuff on his back.

5. He can help me down the steep mountain in the dark with one headlamp.

Cons:

1. He chooses hikes that are 3x harder than I normally choose for my fitness level (but for him it’s a piece of cake).

2. He chooses hikes that are 3x harder than I normally choose for my fitness level. Lol.  It’s funny now that I’m no longer limping.In all seriousness now, I love hiking with Nolan and I love hiking with Ben and if I could hike with both more often I’d be in heaven.  They’re my two favorite men after all!