better late than never, right?

Well, since it's already Hanukkah and Christmas is just around the corner, it's probably a good time (or about time already!!) to post some Thanksgiving photos! Sorry for the delay getting these up!

For Thanksgiving, we went up to Seattle for the week, to spend the holiday with Ellen, Barrie and Paul. Brrrr! It was cold! The sun was hiding until the day we went back home, but we had a great time! Here are some of the highlights:

Barrel tasting at J&M Winery

Haven flirting with the owner of the winery...Oh, dear!

Working with clay at the Seattle Children's Museum

Busy shopping day at the Museum!

Crab Pot Dinner!!

Playing with the dirty ice that the crabs rest in...

...and eating it, too! Ewwwww!

At the touch pool at the Seattle Aquarium

Rocking out to some Wii Rock Band

Helping Gma make cranberry mold

Trying on Aunt Barrie's $1000 shoes...See, Mommie wasn't the only one raiding her closet!

Look at my Turkey Day meal! Yum!

and......they lost :(

Last weekend, we made our way to Stanfurd, in the hopes that the Bruins would dominate the Cardinal, courtesy of Judd's mom and sister (his birthday present from them). (On a side note, I still don't understand how the color "cardinal" and a tree are in any way related, but I guess that's Stanfurd for you -- completely irrelevant.) We even donned our matching UCLA gear, complete with "eyeblack" to fight the glare of the sun (yes, even I, a Cal fan who only roots for UCLA to support my husband - unless they're playing Cal, of course - dressed in the UCLA garb; it was for his birthday, after all). But, it was all to no avail; UCLA didn't win. Final score: the dumb trees - 24, the not-so-mighty-that-day bruins - 16.

Our hopes for a beat-down on the Stanfurd campus crushed, we headed over to Ted and Lesley's house to watch Cal's homecoming game against USC. We were hoping for a Bears victory, but that didn't really pan out, either. Unfortunately, my Bears seemed to be hibernating, allowing those silly Trojans to walk all over them. Final, embarrassing score? 30 to 3. Good thing we have a bye tomorrow; we really need it!

Here are some pics from the UCLA-Stanfurd game:

Tailgate party! PBJs for everyone!

Wow. Just wow. She looks so grown up here!

Walking to the game, from our $10 parking space across the street

Gotta post up in the shade to beat the heat!

The birthday boy with his favorite girls

Mommie and her big girl enjoying the sunshine

Well, fine! If the Bruins can't win, I'll just steal a Stanfurd water or two! Take that, you silly Cardinal!

Gracelyn, napping at Ted & Lesley's -- too exhausted to watch another depressing game!

a nice place to get married

Last weekend, we took a short (too short, if you ask me...and I'm not talking about the rapper) trip up to Groveland for a stay at The Lake House, a not-so-rustic cabin owned by my dad's friend. The cabin is right on the water, so the scenery is absolutely gorgeous -- serene and perfect for a weekend of relaxing in the sun. And that's exactly what we did (along with eating and drinking and watching football and drinking and...did I mention eating?)!

Daddie and Haven enjoying an early morning snack on the deck

Now that's what I call a breakfast! Who needs the Ahwanhee???

Oma and Haven catching some college football...Go Bears!

Check out those flames...

Even Bessie decided to join us!

Someone needs to work on his tan...

And, I'm spent!

P.S. If you're wondering about the title of this post, ask Billy. But don't tell him that I told you to. He'd kill me.

bbqs, sneakers, and more

Here are some pics from our Labor Day weekend trip down south, visiting friends and family in LA.

We BBQed with some UCLA friends:

Haven enjoying the shade with Jinny

They were as excited to see us as we were them!

We went shoe shopping:

Gracelyn posing with the "disposable-trying-on-shoes" socks

At least now we know we won't lose him anywhere...

We visited the campus:

Gracelyn in front of UCLA's library (which is not nearly as impressive or extensive as Cal's, of course)

Daddie and Gracelyn having a moment near the Inverted Fountain

We hung out at Aunt Judy's:

Sometime during the trip, Haven decided that her big sister shouldn't be the only one who gets to push the buttons!

Poolside at Aunt Judy's

We rocked our tiaras:

Our naked little princess

Big sister looks pretty with it, too!

It was a great trip, and we can't wait to do it again!

the party's over

With a dinner & shopping excursion with Judd & the girls on my actual birthday (also, an awesomely historical and memorable and moving inauguration that morning), a birthday party at our house nearly two weeks later, and a family birthday brunch a week after that, I managed to stretch my birthday out to nearly a month long! Go me! :-) Since the parties are all over, I thought I'd post a few pictures from the various festivities. Thanks, everyone, for making my birthday "month" so great!

From the Birthday Party at La Casa de Jacobs:

Let's get this party started!

Dos & Coley O -- senoritas muy caliente!


Hil, Heather & Kel


Booboo & Baby Makenna


Matt entertaining Max & Molly


If you look closely, you can tell that the birthday girl is having a blast!...er, I mean, getting drunk!



From the Family Birthday Brunch:


Gracelyn playing with my old doll, Victoria


Makin' the bacon! Yum!


My grandparents came to celebrate, too!


Haven chuggin' away!


Gracelyn is delighted with these white kid gloves!


Sorry, sweetie, I don't think they'll fit Megan...

judd parties too hard with the kiddies

New Year's Eve found us at the home of Josh & Danielle, where Gracelyn got to play with their twins Taylor & Makayla till the wee hours of the morning (both Haven and Riley passed out early on). We ate gelato, watched a few funny YouTube videos, knocked back a couple of drinks and toasted the New Year at 12:01am. It was great to spend an evening with the Cohens, and Gracelyn had a blast!

Unfortunately, by the time we got back home (to Judd's mom's house), little Juddie wasn't feeling so good. Just before heading to bed myself, I peeked into the bathroom to check on him, only to find him curled up on the bath mat, passed out! I eventually was able to get him up off the floor & into bed, but not before he puked (in the sink, no less)! Apparently, he couldn't hang with the kiddies at their party!

It's always so much fun to play with someone else's toys!

Those chairs are just their size, don't you think?

Enjoying some gelato (I already scarfed mine!)

And then the sugar high...

Very busy driving to very important places

Happy New Year!!!