Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would be my Dad's birthday, he would be turning 53, so I thought I should at least remember him out here. The picture is from our last Christmas when Chris got to meet him and ask him for my hand in marriage. My Dad was a great cook and so is Chris so it was beautiful to watch them in the kitchen together.
It is the first birthday without him. It is hard for me but it is way worst for my sister back home. She has had really hard time after our Mom passed away and then Dad sure didn't help. As if that was not enough, she called me yesterday to tell me that her kitten passed away. I know, you think cat - what's the big deal? But to her it was the only thing that made her want to come back home and gave her something to look forward to. She doesn't really have much at home to keep her going. Sometimes I am very worried about her. Below is picture of my sister with her kitten and it's sister.

Alissa & Matt's Wedding

My friend Alissa was getting married on the 19th of January and Patty & I joined in on the festivities. Alissa is our friend from way back. The three of us & Cecily used to work together in Phoenix American in 1999 (wow...long time ago). The wedding was in Bodega Bay in Tides Inn and it was a very cute setting. It started at 5pm and we didn't end up getting home until midnight. They did a great job on organizing the whole thing. Here is the ex-Phoenix crew (Patty, Mony, Alissa & Cecily) and Alissa and Matt.

Weekend in the snow

We couldn't resist the urge to enjoy all the freshly dumped snow up in Tahoe so we headed up for a three day weekend in South Lake. We rented a cabin up there and brought the dogs with us. Skodas and Tongas left on Thursday night and us, Patty and the three dogs joined them on Friday morning. We got on the slopes around 12 but we still managed to get our fill of snow. Chris did really great on his new snowboard. The second day wasn't as good since Patty manged to twist her ankle. Luckily, that didn't happen until the end of the day. I think she may be off it for next few weeks. Poor Patty! The boys were boys on Friday night and decided to prove their manhood by running through the snow with now shoes on. For some it end up better than for others :o) Go testosterone!

Sunday we opted out of skiing and went snowshoeing while Patty gambeled and the rest watched football. I love Tahoe, the nature is just amazing. We had fabulous time snowshoeing. The dogs did great, only towards the end their paws started to bleed a little - all the crazy running through the snow. Oh, was also run in to a border collie puppy. He looked just like Zoe just year ago. :o(

Though life....

Oy... here we are in yet another year... and already we are faced with all these hard life altering decisions that we have to make. Such as - where to go on our next vacation and what activities to plan in our off time. Oh yes, also we have to figure out how to best use the monetary gift we got from Chris' parents. I know life is though!! :o)
All kidding aside, I do feel very luck that these are the sort of problems we have to deal with in this year. (knock, knock) The last year was not all that good to neither one of our families with the three funerals it brought us. At least, luckily we had one good and major event, our wedding to bring some happiness in all the sadness. But that's last year... this one will be that much better.
Speaking of vacation planning... tomorrow we are heading up to Tahoe for a skiing weekend. It has been dumping so the snow should be excellent. And after that.... weekend in Mendocino with our friends; trip to Sedona and surrounding areas in early May; remodeling our kitchen/living space from May - August (hopefully); maybe if we are lucky trip to BC in August, and in November - Thailand & Cambodia.
Hey, I said our life is though.!!
Anyway... that was a lil reflection on what was... and what is to come... now off to packing.