Let the Sun Shine!!!

John finished his quarter yesterday 

and I can't believe how fast

this year has Gone!

Thankfully the rain has stopped and the beautiful

weather has arrived. 

Yesterday was so fun, we headed to the beach for the afternoon

and then had a BBQ afterwards. 

It's so nice when John can relax and not worry that 

something needs to be done tomorrow.

Usually once or twice a month we go on a

 family date

to IN-N-OUT. This is one place we will

miss when we don't live in California.

Park day...it's a lifesaver

We went to the Chinese New Year Parade in

Union Square. We had an awesome spot 

right in the front. It was the longest parade I have ever been to. 

We had to leave early because our kids couldn't take it any

longer. Who would have thought.

Notice in the picture by the float,

 there is the remnants of a fire works display. 

It was so loud I thought someone put my head

 inside a bombshell. 

I am pretty sure it was about 1000 black cat firecrackers 

going off at one time...I am not even exaggerating. 

I plugged banks' ears for him, but who was going to plug my ears?

I guess if i go deaf at least he can hear.

photography class

I have been taking a photography class

taught here in San Francisco 

by Nicole Hill Gerulat

I absolutely love it and it got me really excited 

about photography.

I know she teaches online classes and crash courses all over the place 

so click here for more info. The class is 

all about using your SLR camera in Manual Mode.

Fabulous!

so here are some of my favorites from our assignments.

I used Nayvee the most because she is

so NOT camera shy.

Banks is at a really hard age because he is obssesed with my camera

and keeps walking to me.

The pics below were about motion.

These were about lighting in open shade

and using reflectors, along with head positioning

This was using window lighting

Pretty much, I learned a ton!

Some Firsts

She has loved school

so much 

and hangs all of her 

little art projects 

on the back of her door.

and I would highly recommend

"Joy School"

to anyone who isn't sure

about the preschools in their area.

you can find more info about here

We had a sweet

little

party for Banks and went to

In-n-Out

for dinner of course he slept through

that part.

Nayvee is now on the count down 

until her birthday.

She asks at least once a day 

if it can be her birthday 

tomorrow.

It will get here eventually!

The Last of our Canada Trip

Sorry, this is a huge post!  

you may have to look in shifts! 

Dont skip reading the last one it's

CRAZY!

We just had such a great time

and there was so much to tell about.

 so 

here it is!

Skiing Whitefish Montana

More of our Trip

for anyone who doesn't know

 what hoar frost is,

 it comes when it is foggy and freezing. 

Canada or Bust

This is the first 

of our trip to 

Canada

This is such a great spot. 

If you ever visit Kalispell Montana it's on 

Main Street.

This and That

This is the last of our January pics

 and now that i am home i am slowly getting 

caught back up.

The night we went to Ghirardelli 

the main chocolate shop was closed for a private party. 

Super bummer! 

We had to go to the little one at the end of the square

 which was crazy busy.

 We were with some friends luckily 

so we were able to bully our way in to get a table.

We haven't done a lot of swimming

 since we have lived here,

 so this was a super exciting occasion. 

He carries the phone everywhere he goes 

and is constantly 

pushing buttons and changing the settings.

 I am sure he has called China a few times,

 but it's no problem 

we have Vonage so it's free.

We're Back

We are home from visiting Southern AB

 and i am back hard at work trying to finish Banks's Baby Book. 

Here are the latest pages.

 I am also working on the pages from our trip so i will get them posted as they come.

 Of course what kind of a CANADIAN would i be if i didn't say what a

 great hockey game that was! 

Definitely worth skipping church for.

 Good job to the americans, we couldn't have asked for a better match up

 or a more exciting battle to the end. 

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

Rainy Days and Days...Fun

Nayvee and Banks love to get in the tub, and they are crazy when the do. It had been raining for days at this point and we needed something to do, and a bubble bath with food coloring in the water seemed like a good answer.

We had some friends come to visit and they had some extra passes to the exploratorium and the aquarium by the bay that they didn't use. This was our first time to both places. San Francisco is such a cool place to live but everything is still expensive for us too, so it is awesome when we get to see the sights.

dang it...2009, i'll have to fix that on the original :)