the memories

Gloria sent this awesome photo from New Year's Eve 2006.  She and Aaron hosted a murder mystery party that had a 1920s gangster theme.   If I remember correctly Neil might have ended up being the bad guy....and Rob was the detective.  I remember my introduction to Num-Nums which are small pieces of smokies wrapped up in crescent roll pastry and baked.  I believe that I ate many, many, many of these delicacies.  Oh right and we drank alot of martinis.  Vanessa was pregnant and drove us all home.  Jonathon was in the trunk.  Good times.  Ah, yes the life before children.

helping out

Our garden and yard is doing well. The garden is mostly done, and Neil has started some winter vegetables like broccoli and chard. Jake loves to help water things, and as you see, he is very helpful with the hose.

Publish Post

happy birthday daddy

Neil's birthday! The big 42. Apparently you become even wiser and better at everything the instant you turn 42. I think, for sure you become even more handsome :)

Jake made Daddy a birthday card, and painted him a special rock as a pressie.

homemade pasta

Neil has been making alot of homemade pasta lately, and it has been a delicious treat. Make dough, cover it in oil and let it sit for 1 hour. Roll out with rolling pin, and let the sheet dry on a rack for 30 minutes. Then roll up the sheet, and cut across the sheet, and unroll the spiraled sheet to make the pasta pieces. Jake helps.

cuppies

We had a fantastic evening with Riki, James and Miss Ainsley enjoying their gorgeous deck on an awesome summer night! Jake had a blast playing with his friend. Riki got these little cupcakes as a special treat for them.
Jake as you can see jumped right in. He kept repeating "Cuppy. Cuppy. Cuppy." I think he likes cupcakes.
Miss Ainsley is not too sure about hers....

just some photos for nan and poppa

Some updated photos were requested by Nan and Poppa, so here we oblige. Enjoy.

Here is Little Mister showing off his teeth.Here is Little Mister's first ever scraped knee. I'm sure that are more to come.Here is Little Mister drinking his milk from a straw.
Here is Little Mister close up.
And by popular demand are more videos.

Here is Little Mister playing with cars.


Here is Little Mister throwing rocks into the ocean at Beamish's beach. Cameo appearance by Maggie the Dog.

how does your garden grow?

Quite well thank you. After all of Neil's hard work last fall with the digging up of trees, bamboo, sod, installing a 'retaining wall' for bamboo, and working up the patch to become our garden...we finally have something that is full of growth.

It is amazing and delicious. This is the result after some hard hoeing from Neil, and some minor plant stomping from Jake...a well weeded and fruitful garden.

Starting from the far side, there are four rows of raspberries, two rows of onions, rows of lettuce, rows of chard, rows of carrots, three poles of beans (from Poppa) and around the outside are potatoes.

Yum!

mommy's birthday

Today Mommy is 41 years old.  Daddy is kayaking in Washington State, so Jake and Mommy have been spending lots of time together.  

Mommy made a cake to celebrate "Me" and will share it with Vanessa, Rob and Zoe tonight at the special steak and salad birthday dinner.

Happy Birthday.

trip to seattle

We just got back from a 4 day trip to Seattle.  Mommy had some fish business to attend to, so Daddy and Jake accompanied her just for the fun of it.  The two boys had a blast in downtown Seattle, which included clam strips and beer at the Pike Place Market.

update on jake stuff

Just thought that a video of Jake eating yoghurt with a spoon would update everyone on how well Jake is eating.  He is also doing well with talking, running and eating all sorts.

jake is walking all over

All he wants to do is walk. Walk around the house. Walk in the yard. Walk at the grocery store. Walk in the mall. Walk. Walk. Walk. Walk. Walk.

spring is here

This week spring has arrived.  The air is warmer, the days are getting longer.  One afternoon, we headed down to the ocean and since it was a lovely spring day we took the inaugural trip of Jake's little red wagon.  He got the wagon for his first birthday from Nanny and Poppa.

After heading to the store for some chips for the adults, we ventured to the park. Jake took his first solo trip down the slide and loved it.

Happy Spring everyone!

Big island. Big adventure.

We took a huge vacation and headed to the Big Island, Hawaii for two weeks in February. It's a good way to kick the west coast rainy winter blues. The flights were a bit long, and kind of hard to manage, what with the no sleep and all......

But once we got there it was fun, fun, fun.  We went for two weeks and had a fantastic time. Jake was a great guy to travel with, and we had many hikes, and plays at the beach. The first day we woke up in Kona, and enjoyed the coffee and the ocean.

We saw lava landscapesa 50 year old lava-filled in crater
an active volcano

a lava tube that you could walk through
and the remains of trees that had been encased in flowing lava

waterfalls
black lava sand beaches
luscious valleys
and remote beaches

sunny rocky beaches

sunny sandy beaches
green turtles!!!!
fish, fish, fish
the southern most point in the United States
ancient Hawaiian temples and restored villages

tikis

and palm trees.

We snorkelled

we ate fresh hawaiian fruit and vegetables, like purple sweet potatoes

drank fruity drinks with umbrellas

we played in the sand

we played in the surf

did alot of driving around 

and eating on the road

we went on many hikes

and we had a great family vacation.