Family Time in San Diego!

My parents came to visit us for a week while Dan was on Spring Break! It was great to have them here! They arrived on Wed. afternoon, and I had to work on Thurs., so Dan took them on a driving tour of San Diego. My Dad has been out here before, but there were a lot of new things to show my Mom. He took them down to see his school and they stopped by to see me at work. They were also introduced to a couple of Dan's favorite burrito stops (anything contained in a flour tortilla is good!) for breakfast and lunch. Then I was on vacation from Friday-Tuesday, so I got to spend the rest of their visit with them.

We relaxed and spent time at home (The boys won at Spades, but the girls were the champions in Canasta!), but we also did some fun touristy things. We spent a day touring the USS Midway, a Navy aircraft carrier that was converted into a museum and permanently docked in San Diego's harbor. And we drove to L.A. to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which was really well done. It gave some history about the lives and relationship between Ronald and Nancy Reagan (can I just say that they had the sweetest, most romantic relationship under the hardest of circumstances!), but the museum mostly focused on his years as President. They had cool videos strategically placed so you could sit and watch some old news clips and interviews that took place during important national events, and they also had an entire wing that housed the actual Air Force One plane that he flew on while he was President! They retired that plane right after his last term, and he asked if he could have it. Anyway, it was so interesting, and it made me want to visit other Presidential Libraries whenever I'm in those areas of the country.

Most of all, we had the best time just getting to be with my folks on our own for several days in a row. When we see them, we're usually surrounded by lots of family which is great, but you miss that intimate time to really catch up. Dan and I both have the best parents in the world, and we're so blessed that we get along with everyone in our families. We try not to take that for granted, and we appreciate the time we can spend with our folks! It made our month to have them come visit us!

About to tour the USS Midway

My dad, the fighter pilot

We got thrown in the brig!!

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library - Mom and I look like we're about to run away with "Ronnie"!

Dad and Dan posing by Air Force One

Desert in Bloom

We've been wanting to see the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in bloom for the past few years, but hadn't made it out there before now. I've been keeping up with the "Flower Watch" that's on their web site to see when was the best time to visit and see the wildflowers in bloom, and it looked like this weekend was as good a time as any. So we drove there on Sat. (about a 2.5 hour drive) and after a quick stop at the visitors center, drove to the canyons that were in full bloom. It was beautiful! The lady at the visitors center highly recommended taking time to 4-wheel drive through some of the washes, so we did and had a great time! It wasn't too rugged, since it's mostly flat out there, but there are some deep sand pits where you could get stuck if you don't have a 4-wheel drive vehicle. My CR-V came through, and we spent way more time than we expected off-roading through the desert. We want to go back sometime, maybe in the fall, when the weather is as nice as it is in the spring. It felt like summertime, which we're both ready for! Here are some of the best photos from that beautiful day.

The Jesters Go To Orlando!

Last Friday-Wednesday, we flew to Orlando to spend time with Dan's family. Everyone got to be there except for Robin, because she had just started a new job and couldn't take time off yet. We missed her, but had so much fun! It was in the 80's the whole time, so we enjoyed fun pool time at the condo and pretended it was already summer. We also went to the Magic Kingdom and to Busch Gardens, which was a blast. It was great to get to see Dan's parents, Tim, Dawn, Benjamin, and Nathan again so soon after Christmas. Nathan didn't get sick this time (yay!), but Dan did (boo!). He caught the flu the day before we left, and was miserable for the next three days with a fever and congestion. So we took it easy and made sure he got plenty of rest, and he's feeling a lot better now.

The happiest place on earth!

Our nephews are so cute!

Benjamin and Debby were big buddies in Orlando

New *Decorated* Office

I recently got a new office at work, and I've been wanting to decorate it. So Dan and I spent some time this weekend framing and hanging some pictures around the walls. I love them!! Most of the photos are from our road trip around the U.S. during the summer of 2005, and they are beautiful. My talented husband took almost all of them - he's got a great eye for gorgeous photography. Everyone who's visited my office so far has been wowed by them and wants to know where I "bought my photos"! I love telling them that Dan took them and about our 2-month camping trip that resulted in so many awesome pictures. I love being reminded of the memories we made, and now I have a ton of scenic views to enjoy while I'm working!

The Big 3-0!

I love celebrating my birthday - the more celebrations the better! My 30th birthday was on Friday, and we had a fun dinner at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza that night with a group of our friends from church. Some of them used to be part of our small group Bible study, but aren't now, so it was great to get everyone together again. I also got a delicious birthday cake from Coldstone's - the best ice cream store on the planet!!

Celebration #2 was on Saturday night - my wonderful husband took me to see Cirque du Soleil "Corteo" at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, north of San Diego. It was spectacular!! I had never been to a circus before (at least not one that I remember), and Corteo had all the best elements of the circus with amazing choreography and music. I would highly recommend it! There are some Cirque du Soleil shows that are pretty racy, but this one was family-friendly, and we saw plenty of kids having a great time in the audience. The best part of the show was when Dan got chosen out of the audience by a couple of clowns trying to find a body to fit into a casket they were rolling around the stage! They grabbed him and gave him a "check-up" to see if he would fit in the casket - and the woman clown just about ripped his shirt off in her excitement! It was hysterical - more for me than for Dan (he was pretty embarrassed about having his chest revealed to a bunch of strangers, but I figured they all just got more for their money!!). I wish I had gotten a picture of that, but anyway, it was an awesome show, and a fun way to celebrate my birthday! Here's to the beginning of the best decade of my life!!

We Love Christmastime!

We had a blast this Christmas! Since Dan gets two weeks off for the holidays, we always make the most of it and visit both our families in one trip. It saves us from having to fly across the country during Thanksgiving weekend, which is a nightmare! So this year, we flew to Williamsburg, VA first to visit the Jesters. We got to see Dan's cousins, John and Carrie, and their son Dillon one evening, and we went to Christmas Eve service at Robin's church. She played piano for the service and sang a solo and did an awesome job! And Christmas morning was tons of fun with our nephew, Benjamin, who's 3 years old now and really gets into all the gifts! He wanted to help everyone else open their presents after he finished with his. Our little nephew, Nathan, is one and a half, and he's happy to let Benjamin open all his gifts for him. That'll change soon! The only bad part of Christmas was that Nathan got really sick with pneumonia and RSV!! They had to take him to the ER on Christmas night because he was having so much trouble breathing! It was very scary - but he's doing fine now.

We flew from VA to Nashville, TN, to visit the Campbells next. My family never, ever stayed in Nashville for Christmas! We always drove to TX to visit our extended family during the holidays, so I have very few memories of what Christmas is like in my home town. My parents are going to put their house on the market soon and are considering moving out of TN, so it made Christmas in Nashville that much more special this year. Another exciting part of our visit was seeing my best friends, Melody and Michelle. Melody and her son, Skyler, and her parents came to my folks' house for a visit, and then Dan and I drove up to Springfield, TN to see Michelle, her husband, O'Bee, and their son, Brendon. All in all, it was a fun-filled holiday season with family and friends that we'll cherish!

Here are some photos of the Nashville friends we got to see.

Debby and Melody

Mel, her son, Skyler, and Mr. and Mrs. Anderson

Debby and Michelle

Michelle, O'Bee, and their son, Brendon

The Past (Almost) 5 Years

This is our first blog and we've been married for a while, so here's a quick run-down of what our lives have been like! Dan's originally from Long Island, NY and Debby grew up in Nashville, TN. We each moved to Denver after college, met at church there, and got married in 2003. Since we got married, Dan's changed careers from counseling, to teaching, to currently being a high school principal. Debby's stayed in the marketing field, but has worked for different companies along the way. We fell in love with San Diego during a vacation, and moved here in 2005. One of our favorite things to do together is travel, and we've taken a lot of trips over the past few years! Some of the best have been our honeymoon in Kauaii, numerous visits to see family in New York, Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas, a 2-month-long camping road trip we took around the U.S. while we were "between jobs," and a vacation in England and Scotland that we took with Debby's family and Dan's parents.

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