The Flower Girl and the Academy Grad's

This past Friday was my niece Christina's wedding and she asked Simone to be the flower girl.  Simone had an absolute blast and loved every minute of her time as a flower girl.  Starting with the rehearsal on Thursday night she adapted very quickly with her petal tossing task and had made sure to walk slowly and count out her steps carefully.  She had no trouble remembering her steps for the actual wedding and there may have been a tear or two as she walked down the aisle with Cole the ring bearer.  The wedding turned out lovely and Christina and Byron were very happy with how things turned out and really enjoyed their day.  Simone spent the whole reception on the dance floor with all the bridesmaids which was really cute to watch.

The following photos are candids taken before the wedding.  Most were taken by a family friend of Mary's, I wanted to enjoy the day and didn't take one picture if you can believe it.  The official photographer seemed to take a bazillion shots of Simone so I'm really looking forward to seeing those shots too. 

Practicing her pose for the photos to come at the church.  Aunt Christina (Dwyer) did her hair and it looked so cute!  Check out her cute yellow toes too...

Simone and Daddy

Me, Simone and Larry before we left for the church

Simone said she looked like a princess, couldn't agree more.

A princess that really, really, really wanted her own veil.  Christina was a beautiful bride.

Cole the ring bearer

The wedding party, the colors looked so pretty

Love this one

and this one too

Mary and Christina

Larry and Delaine

Christina and Delaine

On Saturday we held a party for Mark Jr. who graduated from his Fire Academy the same night as the wedding.  Since he couldn't be at his ceremony we watched it on video.  A lot of family was still in town so it was a nice way to end the celebratory weekend.  Christina and Byron stopped by for a bit before they left for their honeymoon.  Here are some photos...

Ashley, Katy and Christina

(Ashley was the one that took all the great candids at the wedding)

Christina Dwyer made these super cute cake pops for the party, they were so good!

Joyce (Ashley's mom) and Christina

Mark and Larry manning the BBQ in the rain...

The Academy Grads Mark Jr. and his friend Josh (we love Josh, he's like a member of the family)

Some of Mark's family came out for the wedding and Mark's party, it was so nice to see them

back row L to R Herman (Mark's brother), Mark, Mark Jr.

front row L to R Katy, Herman's wife Julie, Mary, Mark's Dad Warren and Kelly

What a weekend, I recovered on Sunday by spending most of the day on the couch.  It felt like I had been standing up for two straight days between the wedding, party prep and the party.  It was an absolute blast and we had a great time at both events.  I wish Christina could have stayed longer but she will be back soon with the kids for an even longer visit.



One Year Anniversary

I can't believe it, its been 1 year today in our new house...my has time flown by.  I can't believe its been a year since all of this happened.

Thank god for Grandma's that volunteer to come down to help entertain their granddaughters while you move.

 Thank god also for good friends, neighbors and most of all family that helped us move.  And then unpack you the very same day.

Notice how Simone helped too, by mowing the trucks lawn.

We have had the best time this past year, really enjoying being close to family and getting used to our new town.  I still catch myself sometimes as I walk through the new house in disbelief that I actually do live here.  My life in San Leandro seems so far away now.  I do wonder all the time if the people that bought are house are happy, I sure hope so. 

I look forward to watching Simone grow in this house, go through school in this house and make friends in this house. 

I hope all the future years are as happy as this first one has been. 

Where I’ve been…

It’s not like I’ve been traveling the world and living an exotic life, I’ve been home, kind of in a cocoon not really wanting to tell any stories or post any pictures.  Not exactly sure why that is but suffice it to say that I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, keeping me awake at night and making me think.  I have however kept up with taking pictures, some days more than others.

Almost a month ago I flew up to Oregon on this…

Some call it an airplane, I call it a nightmare.  I really, really, really dislike flying on propeller planes but this is what greeted me at the gate in Sacramento.  I did however have a wonderful time while I was there.  I got to hang out with Mom and Gary, watch a Royal Wedding, meet a little girl name Lily, have a 5 hour lunch with an old school friend named Karla, see a show called Wicked (never gets old) and lay around in my jammies.  Sadly the flight home was on the same kind of plane but sharing the first leg with cast members from Wicked made the journey to Portland that much easier, even though the turbulence was horrific.

I hit the ground running when I got home to put the finishing touches on the Lingerie Shower for my niece Christina.  Mark Junior’s girlfriend Megan made the cute cupcakes and Christina sent the adorable Lingerie cookies out from Virginia Beach, they were a huge hit.

Her friends were a lot of fun but had to be kicked out at 11:00pm; I was pooped and can’t party like a 20 year old anymore.

Then it was Mother’s Day, which seemed to come out of nowhere.  I thought for sure I had another week but it came without warning at Simone’s school when we were presented with these little treasures

That day we had brunch at the Virgin Sturgeon and I took a much needed nap after

I’ve spent time marveling at the wardrobe changes my little Vanna White has been putting together these days, there are at least three a day sometimes many, many more.  We have tried to stay on top of the messy room but most days I just let it take over and close the door.  This one certainly isn’t the craziest we’ve seen but the reindeer socks and boots add a nice touch.  When I ask her why she wants to change her clothes so much I get “because I want too.”  I guess that’s a good enough reason when you’re 3.4 years old

We’ve all been enjoying our time with ‘the iPad’.  Whether it’s playing Dora the Explorer games, or watching videos on Live Leak, everyone seems entertained...

I’ve spent some time struggling with the fact that my little girl who used to take up this much space on the couch next to me...

Now takes up this much...

Space that she would sweetly refer to as her “bot” because she couldn’t say the ‘sp’ sound.  Space that has sadly and very clearly become her “spot.”  When I remind her that she used to call it a “bot” I’m scolded and told “Momma, it’s not a bot it’s a spot” usually with some sort of frown and hand gestures thrown in to emphasize that I have clearly lost it if I think it’s called a “bot”.   It’s made me reflect on all the other cute expressions that she used to say when she was learning to talk that she doesn’t say anymore and how I want to document that on a page for her scrapbook.  More to follow for sure.

We’ve spent time marveling at how good she has become at puzzles and how she wants to do them all the time…reminding me that I need to pick up some new ones for her.  The dollar spot at Target is where I’ve picked up the small, easier ones that she has.  This jumbo USA puzzle was purchased at Home Goods.  I’m still kicking myself for not getting the others that they had.

Lastly, the biggest and most amazing time sucker of them all has been this humongous hole we have in our backyard. 

It’s been a blast watching the process and see our backyard dreams slowing come to life.  We’ve been at a bit of a standstill since the concrete went in but hope that things pick up soon.  Most certainly there will be more to follow on this as well.

So long for now, let’s hope it’s not 3 weeks from now.



Cream Cheese Pound Cake

So I have another recipe to share with you, I found this online recently, it was a link posted on Pinterest for Cream Cheese Pound Cake.  Apparently it was first published in Southern Living Magazine in November of 2001.

It looked and sounded amazing, I've never heard of a pound cake with cream cheese in it before.  I made it last Monday and it was amazing.  The batter itself is quite dense, I guess that's why they call it pound cake.  It takes 1 hour and 50 minutes to cook.  Larry thought I was crazy to cook it that long but that's what the recipe said.  I did test it about 1 hour 20 minutes in just to make sure it was in fact still uncooked and sure enough, my tester came out anything but clean.  After I let it cool and removed it from the pan, the whole top edge crumbled off, just like the blog poster wrote in her critique of the recipe.  It did not however, stop us from eating it.  This cake reminded me of what a Sara Lee Pound cake used to be when I was a kid, yummy, buttery and oh so delicious.

I think this cake has so many possibilities; Larry thought it would be great for Strawberry Shortcake, I thought it would be perfect to cut up and use for Chocolate Fondue or you could also drizzle a multitude of yummy things on top of it.  I do however, feel it is just fine the way it is, simple perfection.

Try it, I think you will love it.