baby shower #1

last weekend dennis and i drove to CA for back to back showers for our baby on the way. the first shower was hosted by my mom; my sister, laura; my sister-in-law, anita, my aunt betty, my cousin linda, my step-mother- in-law, glenda and my dear friend, nicole. forty-two wonderful ladies came to the event to shower me, dennis and our baby boy with much love and many wonderful and useful gifts. the shower was held at the altadena country club...the weather was beautiful, the room looked amazing... overall a perfect start for the incredible journey we are embarking upon.

this is what the tables looked like. my father-in-law, dayvid
and stepmother-in-law, glenda, made the boats that held the flowers
as well as the table number signs and favors. they did an outstanding job,
i loved all of it!

nicole's mother-in-law, margie, made the adorable and delicious cake!

and nicole made this darling "diaper cake!"
i have such creative family and friends.

my wonderful hostesses...thank you!

my sister laura and me

my sister aimee and me

WOW! would you look at all those gifts! i have very generous
friends and family members!

just a sampling of the many amazing gifts we received.

my talented girlfriend, corine made these adorable onsies
for the baby...too cute!

new year's day—rose parade

my sister laura and my brother-in-law mark have really good friends who live at the end of the parade route. and every year, a group of their friends mark off "their spot" and head down around 10am, since that's the time the parade gets to that area. they are very organized and bring everything from coffee to bloody mary's to bagels and donuts for during the parade. and then afterwards, their friends host a delicious bbq at their home. i was very happy to be included in this yearly tradition...it was a great time and it was REALLY neat to see the floats and bands, etc. up close and personal!

my nephew david and his friend trey

my sister laura and me (just about everyone was wearing USC garb
for the big game later that day...not me! i was cheering "go penn!")

my niece mari looking pretty sassy with her juice drink

my nephew and the other kids were having a great time "high-fiving"
all the bands that were coming by...their favorite, of course,
was the U$C marching band.

new year's eve

dennis went back to AZ on dec. 27 (someone has to work...thanks my love!) but i stayed in CA thru the new year. on NYE, i went to laura and mark's and spent a fun night with them and their friends carol, jeff and their daughter hannah. we ate, drank and were generally silly! fun time...

miss mari had her own plans that night, but i snapped
a photo of her before she left us for the evening.

david feeling the baby move...

laura and carol

carol, hannah and jeff

happy new year...2009, here we come!!

christmas in CA

it's hard to believe another christmas has come and gone. we had a wonderful time in CA with my family and dennis' family. from burbank airport, dennis and i went directly to my sister and brother-in-law's home on christmas eve. unfortunately, i have no photos from that night b/c my luggage didn't make it on our flight (we were, however, able to get it on the way to westlake later that night...yay!), but we had a wonderful time and the food was excellent, thanks laura! ** i now have a couple of photos from xmas eve that my sister sent me...enjoy!



on christmas day we awoke at my parents home to a leisurely day filled with food, fun and gift opening.



from there, dennis and i went to his dad and glenda's to open more gifts and enjoy the company of family.

and from there, we went to dayvid and glenda's good friend ann's house for a delicious christmas dinner.
all in all, a wonderful christmas celebration spent with family and friends and great food...as it should be!