Happy 91st Birthday!

yes, you read that correctly. today is my granddad's (my mom's dad) 91st birthday! how lucky am i to still have my granddad around. he is such an amazing man! he has lived through so many historic moments. he was alive for a portion of world war I, lived through the great depression, served in world war II & used to make phone calls on a party line! this doesn't even begin to document the history that he has experienced in his life. i always wonder if i will see as much change as he has.

last year we had a BIG family bash in Palo Alto/San Fransisco to celebrate his 90th! what a fantastic weekend that was. i can't wait for his 95th bday bash.

my granddad has always been so involved in my life...graduations, dance competitions, birthday parties, holidays...the list just goes on & on. i can't imagine my life without him...i am so blessed!


this photo was taken on the porch of the home he was raised in Rutherford, NJ. My mom, one of her brothers (jack) & my granddad recently took a trip back to his home town. the nice lady that owned the house invited them in & gave them a tour. how wonderful to be able to have the opportunity to go back to a home that meant so much to him as a child & have the opportunity to share it with some of his children!

i love you, granddad! happy 91st birthday! wishing you many, many more years of fantastic life & wonderful moments with family, friends & loved ones.

LA County Fair

because our lives are all so busy now...we couldn't arrange a family night at the OC Fair. BUT we had a second chance & all made it to the LA County Fair. It was really packed when we first got there & caused a little frustration for everyone. after some fair food we all started to relax & had a great time!

combined, we ate corn on the cob, hot dogs, kabobs, corn dogs, fresh cut potato chips, tri-tip sandwiches & ice cream!




we fed the animals, watched some pot-belly-pigs fight over food, looked at the sellers booths (which of course my parents got suckered into buying something, every year they walk out with something) viewed the smallest horse (later realized the sign said "could this be the smallest horse?" we got suckered) & ate more & more food!

the only goat my dad would feed because he was his favorite!

see the little tan goat in the picture with jer. he i trying to look all innocent...well jeremy wasn't getting the feed out fast enough for this little guy. he took a little nibble on jer's booty! that is why jeremy looks SO surprised! the little tan guy repeated the booty nibble two more times!

the last event of the night -
the zipper...that ride is totally crazy & probably is not safe for anyone to ride. but, jeremy loves it & i told him i would go...again. (we went last year at the OC Fair)

as we were getting into the small cage where you are in a sit, stand position i noticed something on the floor.

jer said "it's throw up!"
i said, "no...no way, are you serious??"
jer turns to the carnie & said "that's throw up, right?"
the carnie replies, "yep!"
DISGUSTING!


i love getting to spend time with my family!

Flowers, Flowers & more Flowers

today we met with our florist, Shawn, at Ambiance Designs. my parents, jason's mom, jason & i talked flowers for a little over an hour. what color, what type of flowers, ceremony decor, reception decor...etc, etc. shawn was so patient with us. i get a little off track but i think we got a lot done & have a great idea of what the floral decor will look like! i am getting so excited for the BIG day... but i still have to wait 192 days. NO...i didn't do the math The Knot did!

here is a quick picture from one of Shawn's fantastic photo shoots.

thank you so much mom & dad for coming out for the flower planning! AND patti...what an amazing treat it was to have you there with us! it was so sweet of you to drive all the way down from atascadero just for the flower meeting. it wouldn't have been the same without you!

A day at Dog's Beach...

two weekends ago jeremy planned a family day at dog's beach. my mom and dad weren't able to join us. my mom started school the next day and my dad was at his annual trip to burning man!

the car got loaded with snacks, towels, chairs, three pups & four adults! it has been forever since i spent a full day at the beach. i was so excited!

we played for hours in the water, while the non-water fan pups sat on the beach! ridiculous. keico, all 7 pounds of her, protected our stuff by barking at every person & dog that came within five feet of our area. it was an amazing day. we all left exhausted & sunburned. yes, mom & dad...we all put on sunscreen more then once.

side note: about three days after the beach i ended up with two massive cold sores. and about five days later i woke up with a swollen lip out to my nose. seriously, people were staring at me like i was a freak. i am tempted to post the pic of it but i don't know if i want that photo leaked!

jer hitting the waves!

abigail was a bit moody after she got hit by a wave. but after uncle jer-jer dug her a cool hole in the sand, she seemed a bit happier.

anna (jer's gf, love her!!) with our bodyguard keico...isn't she scary! NOT!

i have taken the pups to the beach so many times. i have maybe seen one to two other bassets on any day. well...on this day we saw about ten. at one point there were about seven all together. here they are introducing themselves (nose to butt...sniff, sniff).

buster, the basset between abs and sebastian looks so much like bas when he was a pup. sebastian looked at it for a second, his ears raised and then he started chasing buster down the beach for a play date. that was the only dog he played with all day...do you think he realized "hey, buster looks like me?"

yay...for an amazing day together!

thank you so much jer, anna & keico for such a special day!
we have to do it again.
we had a blast.

Bath Time!

so these photos are from a few weeks ago but i had to share because sebastian (my little drama king) cracks me up.

before with left jason's parents house we gave the pups baths. they were so stinky from a week of playing in a BIG backyard.

miss abigial seemed to enjoy herself. she just sat there, let us rub her belly & wash her face. maybe she realized, "if i am clean, they will hold me." which is so true. they get a lot more love when the basset hound smell is gone.




abs getting love from her papa! she LOVES jason! abs & i have something in common!!

AND then, there was sebastian. you would think it was the most horrible day of his life. he wouldn't move, attempted jumping out of the bath & had the funniest faces...at least i think so.





even the love from mama didn't take away his grumpy face. poor bas!