Grandpa Jack's Memorial Service

My grandmother (my Dad's mom) has been fortunate enough to love twice in her life and to marry two wonderful men. After more than 50 years together, my beloved Grandpa passed away about eight years ago. A few years later, Grandmother married a life long friend. Jack Watson had been married to her best friend and college roommate - Katie. They had all kept in touch over the years. When Katie passed away Grandmother started a scolarship in her name at their alma mater - William and Mary. Jack flew out to Texas to thank her personally and a month later they were married.

They enjoyed five wonderful years together. Robbie and I were blessed because Jack lived in LaFayette California - only about a 90 minute drive from where we are in Folsom. So we had the opportunity to get to know Jack a little bit. He was very welcoming and warm and had a lot of great stories about his life.

The memorial service on Friday was beautiful. Each of Jack's four children spoke. One of his grandchildren spoke for the grandkids. A friend of his from Kaiser (where he worked) spoke. A member of his extended family from Virginia spoke. And Dad spoke on behalf of Grandmother. Everyone who spoke painted the picture of a wonderful person - someone who made many friends and all of them good. Someone who raised his kids with concepts like respect, honor, and self-reliance. Someone who was interested in everyone he met. Many happy memories were shared.

It was an honor to know this man and to be a part of a memorial service for him that was truly that - remebering what a long, wonderful, happy life he had and that he shared with everyone he met.

Carson's Baptism

The day after Caitlin's wedding in St. Louis, the family gathered again for Carson's (our new newphe) baptism. The ceremony was held in the afternoon at this incredible Catholic church at SLU (St. Louis University).

Owen was in quite a talkative mood, and so I saw the cermony from a small window in the door from the foyer. :) Carson looked adorable in his white and blue satin outfit and was a very, very good baby. It was especially nice that a family memeber (the son of one of Dottie's cousins) was able to perform the ceremony.


After the ceremony we all gathered at a local park for a BBQ and picnic. The weather started out rainy and turned out gorgeous just in time for the picnic. A fun time had by all, and great food. It was really fun to see all the kids. We got pics of the 3 cousins together (Owen, Collin, and Carson) - all in appropriate baseball outfits. All in all it was a terrific weekend spent with family and surrounded by loved ones.

Caitlin & John's Wedding

Over Memorial Day weekend, our little family traveled to St. Louis for Robbie's cousin Caitlin's wedding. We had a wonderful time! The wedding ceremony was held at a Catholic church. Caitlin looked absolutely gorgeous. And they both looked very happy. Owen is very loud these days, so Robbie and I both saw about half of the ceremony (we took turns watching Owen outside).

The reception was held at this beautiful old Sharaton hotel. Caitlin's parents were very nice and provided babysitting at the hotel in their suite for Owen and one other baby. This was great for both Owen and us. He got to play and roam around the hotel room (after being strapped in cars, planes, or held constantly since our Yosemite trip) and we got a date!


We had a GREAT time at the reception. Wonderful food. Awesome dancing. Robbie and I got some good jitterbugging in. It's been a long time since we've been able to do that. One of the best "best man speaches" I've heard. And just generally enjoying being with family. It was the first time for Robbie's extended family to meet Owen.

Yosemite!!!

Bob and Dottie flew in Thursday night and we took a family vacation to Yosemite National Park over a long weekend. It was GREAT!!!! (Below is a picture of half-dome - one of the more famous mountains in the park.)

This was the first visit to the park for all of us except Robbie who's been a few times. We went at just the right time of year when it's warming up and all the waterfalls are at full flow from the snow melt. Actually, we had unseasonably hot weather (it actually reached triple digits), but we didn't let it slow us down any. (Below is Bob/Dottie and Me/Robbie/Owen) in front of the bottom of Bridalveil Falls.)

Friday we drove in and visited Glacier Point (a little nervewracking for my taste - heights-wise). Gorgeous views of the valley from a lot of different vantage points. Owen enjoyed travelling around in the backpack carrier with Robbie. He also got to experience his first snow - which I can't say he enjoyed all the much (he would not let loose his death-grip on Robbie).

Saturday we went to see Bridalveil Falls (pics above) and then we walked up to Lower Yosemite Falls. The water comes down so fast from those waterfalls you get soaked just standing near it. We did the Valley Floor Tour which was in an open air tram (below is a pic of Owen on it with Bob's sunglasses). We saw a climber on El Capitain (it takes good climbers about 3 days to climb - the actually sleep in hamocks off the side of the mountain - crazy!). And we went to the Mariposa redwood grove. Those trees are incredible. The biggest (Grizzly Giant) has a limb that is 7 feet in diameter (bigger than any non-sequoia tree trunk in the park).

Sunday we enjoyed a quite morning sitting on our picnic blanket next to the river. Owen loved playing with the pine needles. And we walked around the visitor's center a bit. In the afternoon we had an incredible brunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel - a gorgeous old hotel right in the vally. And then we hiked up to Vernal Falls.

It was a packed weekend and we saw a lot. Yosemite is amazing and I can't wait to go back. I highly recommend coming out to visit us and we'll take you out there. :) Of course, if you don't camp you have to get reservations a good 9-12 months in advance - so start planning now!

Our 1st Family Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to Mom and Mom, our sisters Amber and Tracy, our grandmothers Grandmother, Nana, and Grandma, and to all our mommy friends!

Owen's school had a tea for all the Mother's on Friday afternoon. I received a gift that Owen "made himself" - a handprint ornament. Very cute. I enjoyed meeting all the other moms in his class, since my interaction with them is usually just saying hello as we drop off/pick up our children. I know the babies better than most of the mothers.

Sunday we went to our good friends the Tribble's baptism of their daughter, Alexandra. She was the star of the show. We also enjoyed a lovely Mother's Day brunch afterwards with the Tribbles and their family. Later in the day Robbie and Owen gave me their gifts. I'm especially excited about the gift certificate at a local framing store. I've been wanting to frame some nice pictures of Owen since he was born!

We hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

JavaOne and Megan Stays Over

So Robbie was out of town all week at a JavaOne convention for work. He was only in the city (aka San Francisco), but it was far enough away that he decided not to commute it. Java coding is new for him and is apparently one of the primary code bases at his new job. He really enjoyed the convention and learned a lot, which is great.

Meanwhile, my levels of fear and paranoia about staying on my own have increased exponentially since having Owen. I just don't sleep when Robbie's gone. So my friend from work, Megan, came over stayed with us all week. She brought her adorable Boston Terrier - Roxy - who held her own with Connor (in fact had him running scared sometimes).

We had a great week taking care of Owen and the dogs, carpooling to work, and hanging out. Turns out Megan is as much of a movie buff as I am (which is rare) and so we watched lots of movies. And I got to sleep the sleep of someone who is not listening with dread to every single sound at night.

Owen is Feeding Himself

Our big boy! Mr. O (or Owey as the daycare workers call him affectionately) is now not only feeding himself his own bottle. He is also picking up food and managing to actually get it into his mouth and eat it. This is a major breakthrough for us. Owen's got those gross motorskills nailed, but fine motorskills take some work. :)

What's cuter is that when he first started trying to feed himself, any time something ended up in his mounth we'd clap for him and make a big deal out of it. So now, every time he feeds himself - which is every couple of seconds now, he claps for himself. Too cute!

House Hunting Continued

We went out again this weekend to look at more houses. The house from my previous post (San Marino Ct.) is still on the short list. But we realized upon seeing it again that there are a few issues (a guest bedroom that barely fits a bed for one) that are lowering it on the list a bit. But still keeping an eye on it.

Two houses have moved ahead of it. One has great open spaces. All the things we were looking for and a good layout. The biggest issue is the price. We think the owners are in la-la land about what they can get for it, and it sounds like they won't be willing to come down much. A lot of people are in that situation in our area. Paid WAY too much for something and are now upsidedown on it. The other is also a great layout and all things we were looking for. Trouble with this one is that it's almost too big for us and the back yard is completely dead.

Both are great houses. I think we'll keep looking a little bit. We're in a position where we can take our time which is great. But these are definite prospects. :)

Update to post 5/13 - we decided to take the actual house information off the blog as we are putting an offer on a house this week and are a little worried that someone could find the blog. Not sure what they'd do with it, but just in case. :) Don't want to jeopardize our chances!