Checkered Board Cake

I let Luca get a little too close to the cake and he actually got a little lick.

For my birthday my mom made me (from scratch) a checkered board cake. This is my favorite cake and my mom makes the best cake. We had some with my family and then I took the rest of it home. I shared a little with Rich, but ate most of it myself. I love cake and I have a hard time sharing when it is so delicious and my birthday...sorry family.

McKinley Park

Last Saturday we decided to bug bomb our bedroom one last time to make sure the bed bugs are completely gone before we move back into it. This meant we had to leave the house for 3 hours with Luca. It's not hard to find something to do for 3 hours, but it is a little harder when we have to have our dog with us. We came up with a great plan to go to McKinley Park in Sacramento and then to a cool yogurt shop that has an outside doggie water bowl area and tables.

We went to McKinley Park to see the rose garden and feed the ducks. When we got there it was pretty crowded and as we headed toward the rose garden we realized it was being set-up for a wedding. We were a little disappointed not to be able to walk through the roses, so we headed over to the pond. Unfortunately I forgot the bread to feed the ducks, so we just walked around and let Luca sniff everything. Luca didn't seem to be bothered by the ducks, but he did try to chase a squirrel up a tree.

After the park we went to the yogurt shop, but when we got there they were repainting the outside and there was nowhere to go with Luca. Again we were disappointed and frustrated because most of our plans were not working out. Since we couldn't go home for a while we decided to get a hamburger and go to a more local park and hang out for a while.

Even though our day didn't work out according to our plan it was still nice and we enjoyed being together. We are also happy our room is bug free and we will be moving back in this week...YEAH!

Monterey Trip

Fisherman's Wharf Rich eating his traditional clam chowder in a bread bowl.

While on the pier a pelican landed right behind us. I was able to get close enough to get some great photos. I was so excited because I love pelicans, but have never been able to get that close.

Pacific Grove Natural History MuseumMe sitting a top of humpback whale.

Rich petting a stuffed badger.

Blue Whale eyeball.

The Food of Monterey

Archie's Diner Garlic Fries

Ghirardelli Hot Fudge Sunday

Monterey Bay Chocolate Factory

Turtle Bay Taqueria

Tidepooling

One afternoon while in Monterey we went tidepooling.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Squishing into a giant clam in the splash zone.

This past Thursday we headed down to Monterey for a birthday vacation. The Monterey area is one of our favorite places to go. While we were there we went to the aquarium. We were hoping to see the 4th great white at the aquarium, but it was released a few days before we got there. We were a little disappointed because we had seen the previous 3 great whites they had. They are just young little sharks, but still impressive to see up close.

We did enjoy seeing many of the other exhibits. We saw the jellyfish exhibit for the last time because it will be leaving the aquarium in January, but in the spring of 2009 a new seahorse exhibit will be opening in its place. We also got to see the newly remodeled splash zone (for the kids), but it didn't seem that different to us.Each time we go it is hard to pick a favorite animal or exhibit because they are all pretty cool. I think my favorite is still the sea otters. The mola mola (ocean sun fish) was a pretty close 2nd. If you haven't seen the mola mola before it is a very ugly and unusual fish, but that is why I like it so much. Rich's usual favorite, the giant octopus, was not active this time, so he picked a different favorite. His favorite exhibit this time was the outer bay. Rich liked to watch the school of anchovies moving together to look one big fish.

Morning Rounds at the Aquarium

Last Thursday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We got up at 4:30 a.m., so we could get there for morning rounds at 8:15 a.m. Morning rounds is an extra tour that takes you behind the scenes. This was a special treat for me for my birthday. We really enjoyed this tour, especially feeding some of the fish and bat rays. We also got to help prepare the penguin's food.

Feeding squid to the bat rays.

Me carrying the fish food (squid, krill, and other stuff).

Standing on the roof of the aquarium to feed the anchovies in the kelp forest.

Lisa stuffing a vitamin in the penguin's food (smelt).

Rich holding krill and Lisa throwing it to the anchovies in the kelp forest.

Competition for Luca arrives in January

In a previous blog we shared some of our trip to Utah. We had a good time at the reunion and visiting old hang-outs, but that was not the best part of the trip. The main reason for our trip was to meet Kimberly, who is our birth mom...That's right, we are expecting a baby girl in January. We know this probably sounds a little crazy with everything that happened in June, but we are excited and really enjoyed our visit with Kimberly. We have had the opportunity to really get to know her and look forward to talking to her each week.

While in Utah we were able to go to an ultrasound with Kimberly. At this time she did not know the sex of the baby and Kimberly was kind enough to invite us to find out with her. The first ultrasound was unsuccessful because the baby would not unfold her legs and was keeping it a secret. We went back the following day and Kimberly had eaten a lot of sugar to help the baby be more active. This time the baby was more active and the ultrasound was successful. We are happy to announce that we will be the parents of a baby girl this January.

Rich and I are happier than we can express. It is hard to believe it is real at times and other times it is a little scary to think about. We are starting to prepare our home and think about the things we will need. We have a few big items that family and friends gave us, but soon will slowly start to collect other baby items. Lisa is having a hard time not buying cute clothes and baby shoes...I love baby shoes!! I am also really excited that the baby girl clothes are so much cuter than before. I love that there is so much more that just pink. I especially love all the pink and brown combinations.

We know that having a baby is so much more that cute clothes and shoes. We have been waiting for a long time to have a bundle of joy to love, teach, and nurture. We can't wait to share our life and love with a child. We have already been thinking about the next few years and the things we want to do with our baby. We know January is still a ways off, but so far the time as been flying by. Again, we are happier than words can express and we are eternally grateful to Kimberly for giving us the opportunity and gift.

A photo with us, Kimberly, and her mom before the ultrasound.

CPR and First Aid Class

This past weekend we took a CPR and first aid class. We had to recertify for our adoption agency. We both have been certified for 10+ years, so the class was pretty easy, but also pretty boring. There was a change with the CPR...again. It seems like everytime we recertify they change the chest compression to breath ratio. It is now 30 to 2. We also had to practice different kinds of splints. First I immobilized Rich's arm and then he put a splint on my ankle. After a long day of CPR and first aid we are now recertified...YEAH!!

Birthday Celebration!

Birthday Boy and Girl with Luca. Luca's shirt says, "Life of the Party."

On Sunday we went to Gridley to celebrate my birthday along with our nephew Nathan. This year I will be 31 and Nathan will be 8. Our birthdays are only 2 days apart so we enjoy celebrating them together. We had a nice meal followed by chocolate cake and ice cream...it was delicious!!
We all enjoyed watching Nathan open his birthday gifts. He is so enthusiastic and entertaining. We love to give him gifts because he gets so excited and you know he truly appreciates it. Before opening his gifts he sang a crazy song and then started dancing when he opened the Indiana Jones Legos he got from grandma and grandpa. As soon as the gifts were done Nathan, Rachel, and Kobe started putting together the Legos.

Nathan's reaction to his Legos...he is just a little excited.

The office goes to the track

On Wednesday Dr. Quinto treated the office to races at RPM (indoor kart racing). Rich and the office staff got to race the little karts around two different tracks. The scoreboard said Rich got first place in both races, but it was wrong. Rich got first in the first race, but on the second race they mixed up Rich and Dr. Quinto. Dr. Quinto was the real winner of the second race.

Rich is #7

Labor Day

We started out our holiday by sleeping in...it was so nice!! We then went to the outlets and did a little shopping...I love the sales! We didn't buy much, but I did get a pair of cute red shoes. Rich also found a cool Italia shirt and the Puma outlet. He is starting to get a good little collection of Italia paraphernalia going.

After shopping we went to the Big Spoon. It is an awesome frozen yogurt shop where you get to build your own creation. You start by picking your flavor and then you can add all the toppings you want. I love it because you aren't charged per topping, but by weight. There is a Big Spoon right by Rich's work, so he goes there a lot during his lunch break.

Rich's Creation: Vanilla bean and milk chocolate yogurt with twix, kit-kat, brownie bites, cookie dough, gummy bears, and whipped cream.Lisa's Creation: Vanilla bean, milk chocolate, and peanut butter yogurt with chocolate sprinkles, almonds, snickers, snow caps, and gummy bears.

After stuffing ourselves with yogurt we headed home to rest a little bit more...but wait...it's labor day, so we have to do some labor. That's what Rich says anyway. He told me when he was younger his dad would have the family do stuff around the house because it was labor day. To keep up his family tradition we did do a few things around the house, but to keep up my family tradition we relaxed at the end of the day.

Trip to Utah

This past weekend we went on a road trip to Utah. We drove part of the way on Thursday and then arrived in Utah on Friday. That afternoon we met our friend Emma and her son Jake at the Joseph Smith Building for lunch. It was nice to see them and we were amazed at how much Jake had grown (it has been a year since we saw them).

Emma helping Jake eat tomato soup.

On Saturday we visited Provo and memory lane. We went to our old apartments, including the one where we met. Our second married basement apartment was no longer there. It was turned into a driveway for some new apartments. We also drove around BYU and went to one of our favorite restaurants.

We first met at the Glenwood apts. We called them the GlenHood apts.

We ate at La Dolce Vita which was our favorite place for pizza.

College Park was our first married apt. We lived in the bottom apt. in the picture. The driveway (below) is where our second married apt. was located. We lived in the basement of a house. It has since been torn down and made into a driveway for the new apartment complex in the back.

Saturday evening we drove to Layton for Rich's mission reunion. One of his mission presidents and wife hosted the reunion at their farm. There were a lot of former missionaries, spouses, and children. Rich did not know most of them, but he was able to reconnect with about 5-6 mission buddies. We had a nice time and stayed a little too long because I was attacked by mosquitoes.

One of Rich's mission Presidents...President Dibble.

Missionary Buddies

On Sunday we started the long and boring journey home. We use to do this drive a lot when we were in college and we sure don't miss it. The salt flats and Nevada desert are boring and hot. Overall, it was a fun trip and we are glad we went. Maybe in another 8 years we will do the drive again.

These are pictures of the boring salt flats. The weird tree sculpture is still there in the middle of nowhere. We could never figure out why it was there.