Happy, Happy Birthday...

Dear Jonas,


Today you are 2 years old. We can't believe that it's only been 2 years.


The day your were born, you changed everything. And, we could never be more thankful! You are so sweet. You love to help...mowing, sweeping, dusting, doing things yourself. You give lots of hugs and kisses.


You are such a joy and a delight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JONAS!

We love you to the moon and back,
Mommy and Daddy

the City of Angels

These are just a few of the hundreds of pictures from the LA leg of our California tour...

Click on the images to see the pictures a little larger.

Taking off! The picture is pretty dark, but you can see that Jonas is already eating his snacks...before we were even in the air.

We went to the beach in Santa Monica, and Jonas LOVED it!

the best part? throwing rocks into the ocean. that ended when he decided to try one.

We went to this cool, interactive Noah's ark exhibit. My child found a mop. You can see that he did everything with that mop in hand.

After we made sure the ark was clean, we saw the rainbow.

Jonas waiting for the train to start at this park we visited.


Then, it was off to Hollywood. Of course we ate at McD's ON Hollywood Blvd.

I am not sure what I expected, but I think my expectations were higher than what we experienced on Hollywood Blvd. It was just a really crowded street with stars on the sidewalks and some famous buildings. These are a few stars that we saw. I'm not sure why I took a picture of Tom Cruise's star - I don't even like him.

I am still not sure what the criteria is for getting a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, but I am drawing a blank on the Hollywood celeb factor on this one. He is an amazing man, though. (click on pic to enlarge)

Rodeo drive. I tried to park and shop, but we couldn't find a parking spot and it was getting late. Maybe that was a good thing.

Jonas had a run-in with some milk and his car seat got the brunt. It was actually pretty traumatic because we were stuck in traffic when he started throwing up. I was finally able to get over and off the freeway to clean him up some. Needless to say, we ended up at the Coin Laundry. BTW, LA traffic is even worse than people say!

Paul was finally on vacation with us, and we headed out to San Francisco!

this and that

The wind is blowing so fiercely here that I keep getting startled thinking someone is trying to knock the door down. I really hope my flowers survive!

Speaking of flowers, I finally got my pots in good shape and flowers planted in them. They look so great with a fresh coat of black paint and some really bright reds, pinks, and purples in them.

We are currently working on putting in a flower bed the will line the very front of our house. I have all the flowers and plants purchased. Now, I need some Paul-power to help dig the grass out and fill in more dirt. It is hard to imagine what it will look like once everything is mature, but I think it will be beautiful. We've chosen some Red Oleanders, Feather Grass, Cosmos, Lily of the Nile, Hydrangea, and 2 more I can't remember right now.

Jonas will be 2 in 10 days. Tear.

Paul and I attended a marriage conference the other weekend. It was so great. It's called A Weekend to Remember...look it up and go - if you're married :)

I have 3 avocados that need to be used. Even though we had Mexican food last night, I'm seeing guac involved in our dinner tonight.

I am about to plant an herb garden in our backyard. I am going to start with basil, cilantro, and mint....

Mojito mint to be exact. This was part of my Mother's day present. Paul knows me well. I also got a Harry Connick Jr. album. Paul knows me real well!

Life has felt really busy. Wait, strike that. It has been really busy! And, I have been really tired. I am really hoping that this week will lend itself to playing catch-up. Expect more blog posts!