PSS... Comments?

Does anyone even read this?? Just wondering...

P.S. Bunny Ears

The Bunny Ears are available to the next couple who is interested in adding a notch in the pink fuzz!!

Words of WIT

Yes, I know, this is my second blog of the day!! I have to keep up on my thoughts!! I have to admit that I am feeling a little intimidated right now. I just received a blog invite for my dear cousin Kylie. I must say, I really enjoyed reading her blog. She has such a way with her words and wit that truely makes her blog a delight to read. Like a breath of fresh air. So, before you go and read my blog about Easter, you might as well just click on the link to her site and read all about it there.... save your time...hers is definately more interesting!!

(Note to Kylie: I really am not trying to make your head any bigger than it already is, I just want to compliment you on your clever writing skills.)

So, in the future if you ever get bored reading my blog you can either stop reading it or just click on Kylie's. My words may not be as entertaining, but I will continue to post great pictures, so, you might want to keep checking in....

This is a picture of Carson on Grandpa's Tractor. He got to spend a day with Nana and Grandpa at their house in Oakhurst. We even had a "Meal" at the Forks! Yes, we got to enjoy our first Forks burgers of the year. It was fantastic!

Easter

Wow. So much has happened since my last blog. Where do I start...

I first want to thank those of you for your support for my friend Shawna that is fighting cancer. The response to the website has been amazing. For her birthday on Saturday, I presented her a check for $2000, just one week after I created the website. And there is still more being donated every day. Thank you!! Thank you!!

And Easter was wonderful!! Having family here at our home to celebrate really made the holiday special. I have struggled for years trying to enjoy Easter. I compare every year to the years that our family used to celebrate in Livermore. Those are memories that will never be replaced. So, trying to rebuild Easter Holiday traditions has been a struggle. But this year for the first time in a long time, Easter truely felt like a family holiday. And when I have more time remind me to tell you the story behind the Easter Ham! It's a good one!

DISCLAIMER: I slammed my finger in my car door on Wednesday. Yes, slammed the door and the finger was still in the door... stuck! I actually had to open the door to get my finger out. It hurt like a mother trucker!! So, I have no feeling in the tip of my right middle finger (I'll show it to you if you'd like) which makes for difficult typing. Sorry for any mistakes.

Who's your Paddy??

Oh, I forgot to tell you about my wonderful St. Patty's Day. (considering it is MY day and all!) We went to Pangea for a non-Irish-pub evening to avoid the crazies! And without green beer, we still managed to have a great time. Hope you like the pictures.

That is dumb!

Yes, the word of the day is dumb! That is kind of the day I had today. Well, at least it started off that way. I really wanted to get up and go the gym before Steve left for work, but that didn't happen. Steve even set the alarm for me and, well, when the alarm went off at 6:15am and I thought to myself... "Hmmm, I can go to the gym or lay here in bed where it is nice, warm and cozy.... Why would one chose to go to the gym??" However, I did get up later and attempt to run around Deauville Circle (the street around the neighborhood). In an attempt to feel productive, it was miserable and rather DUMB.

Then Maddi came to play with Carson while I attempted to get errands done for Easter. Again, I made the attempt with not much luck. I really tried to get a jump start on the festivies rather than waiting until last minute. It sooo did not work that way. Why buy fresh fruit, veggies, flowers, or carrot cake when Easter is still 4 days away. I will have to wait until Saturday. Bummer. Then I wanted to rent a table for outside. Steve suggested that we buy one until we got to Sam's Club and he said, "why don't we just rent one?" Argh! DUMB!! Then I tried looking for some Easter decorations because I have NONE! Couldn't find any of those that I liked either. Frustrating. So, I decided to just give up and go home with a stop at Rite Aid for some Cookie Dough ice cream. They were out of it. So, I left and went home with no ice cream!! Rite Aid was DUMB too!!

There was definately good to my day. I came home, made Chocolate Chip cookies and went to the park to hang out with Shawna and friends. It was fabulous. Shawna looked great! This was our first potluck picnic in the park to be followed by many. We are making it a weekly thing to get together. That definately made my day not so DUMB!

I ♥ Jimmie Johnson

This is a blog rebuttel to Dean's NASCAR blog. I know that Dean really loves NASCAR but not as much as I love Jimmie Johnson. I think Jimmie and I make a darling couple... don't you?

PS... Dean, you need to practice up on your photo editing skills. I personally think my photo is better.

We Love Shawna

I am very proud to launch a new website that I created to help raise money for a friend that is fighting cancer! Just in a couple of hours after forwarding the link, I have had an overwhelming response. I am super excited. If you haven't already, please take the time to check out the site.

http://shawnalynnkilbert.googlepages.com/

Please pray for Shawna!!

Napa Valley

This last weekend I went to Napa Valley to wine taste with some friends from Sacramento. There were 5 girls to be exact. We were celebrating my friend Rene's birthday. It was an absolute wonderful weekend. I left my house at 6:20 am and arrived in Napa at exactly 9:20 am (3 hours!). The other girls had just barely left Sacramento, so I conveniently got to hang out at the outlets in Napa before heading up to Calistoga. We checked into the Roman Spa then headed out for some wine tasting. The weather was incredible! We visited 6, yes SIX wineries that day. Twomey, Frank Family, Markham, Freemark Abbey, Hall and Alpha Omega. Dennis from Frank Family was the most fun and their wines were fabulous.

That night we hung out at the local bar in downtown Calistoga and made some friends with the locals. We were invited to a winery by a particular local boy named Keegan. I was aprehensive to go but Rene insisted, so we made it our first stop on Sunday. At this time our group of five was now 3. Ehler winery was fabulous! A georgous boutique non-profit winery with all proceeds going to cardiovascular research. We received the grand tour. I would highly recommend a visit to this winery if you are ever in the area. Our other stops for the day were at Mumm Napa, and Rombauer. Then a quaint dinner at a little restaurant in downtown Calistoga. That night we stayed at a cottage at Sterling Vineyard that Rene's ex-husband set up for us with one of his wine representatives. Definately a highlight of the trip and it definately pays to know the right people.

The next morning we had coffee with the locals and I got to name my own bag of Coffee to take home. "Steve, Take me to Calistoga or lose me forever. Patty" Then it was home for me with a stop in San Francisco for lunch with Kristi R. Memories to last a lifetime. Anyone intrested in Wine Tasting in Napa let me know, "I'm IN!"

Pancakes vs. NASCAR!

So it has been a few days since my last post. I just put Carson down for a nap and made some incredible pancakes!! Those of you who know my dad know that he makes the absolute BEST homemade buttermilk pancakes. Normally I don't even try to compete, but my mom bought me a package of 10 grain pancake mix. You know, the kind that taste like they are healthy for you!! Well, I made them this morning and added blueberries and apple sauce!! They were fabulous!! But I ruined some of the healthyness by added syrup. Oh, well.


So there are a few things I can Blog about today. One is the fact that I am so thankful for friends and family. Last night a good friend called me at about 9pm crying. Her 11 month old son had a severe case of pneumonia and needed to be rushed to the emergency room. However, they couldn't leave their 3 year old. I was out the door as I was hanging up the phone. It really made me feel good that they felt that they could call me and I was able to help out. They don't have any family in town to rely on in situations like this. I am truely thankful for the opportunity to help. I truely belive that friends are the family that you choose. I am fortunate to have family close and good friends. And luckily the baby was sent home with some antibiotics and looks like he is going to be fine, hopefully in a few days.

And lastly, I know some of you (DEAN) are probably anxious to hear about the NASCAR race in VIVA Las Vegas! It was amazing, to say the least. I really was nervous the whole week prior because I didn't know what to expect. It is such a huge event. We flew into Vegas on Saturday. Sunday morning a friend that works in Vegas picked us up at our hotel (The Rio) and took us to the track. We went early so we could look around and absorb the whole experience. When we got there we walked right up to the live on-air Nascar RaceDay with Kenny Wallace, Jimmy Spencer and John Roberts. It was super cool. If you were watching the Speed channel you probably saw us.

As for the race, our seats were in the top of the last section of the bleachers. They were not real close up but had a great view of the track! As we sat there waiting for the race to start I grew more and more anxious. "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" Wow, super exciting. Then the cars warmed up with some laps around the track then came the green flag. I about cried it was so amazing. You could feel the horsepower in your stomach as they raced around the track. To feel the cars, hear the cars, see the cars, and even smell the cars as they raced around the track for
the first time was truely an experience I will never forget.

The only bad part of the day was that Jimmie Johnson had a really bad race car and didn't do so well. (That is Jimmie right there in this picture. He is the first one right behind the post.) But at least Jimmie finished which is more than we can say for Jeff Gordon (glad he is ok) and Tony Stewart. We came to the conclusion that Tony crashed because he was leaning over to grab a twinkie and his hair got in his face! Bummer! I really don't understand Tony Stewart fans but that is another blog for another day.

So long story short, if you have never been to a NASCAR Race, you really should try it because it is amazing.

Until next time... Go Jimmie Johnson!