Our Little Excursion

My neighbor Jenn invited Garrett and I to travel with her to the Santa Ynez Valley, which has grown extreme popularity from the movie "Sideways". It is about a hour and 15 min. drive South from Atascadero. We went and visited her parents, who had the biggest most beautiful house I have ever seen. It was all Spanish architecture, with original Mexican artwork, a fountain, wine cellar, all on the hillside overlooking the Santa Ynez Valley. It was gorgeous.

We went for a little drive into town to this cute store call "Back on the Ranch" it had all kinds of cowboy decor and apparel, even for children too. We spend like an hour and a half in that store. I ended up getting this really cute outfit for Garrett (shown below). It was pretty pricey, so I just did a lot of looky-looing:)

On the way back to Jenn's parents house we past a little town call Ballard. There was a little red school house that has been in operation since 1882. The school house holds k-1 graders. I just thought it was the cutest thing ever.

It was a great day, but after chasing after Garrett making sure he didn't break any collectibles...I was exhausted and went to sleep at 8:00 p.m.!

Aaron got home this morning...soooo happy to have him home for a whole month!

Baby Gymastics!

Garrett's new found love is baby gymnastics. We went for the first time today and he loved it. He had so much fun playing on the giant trampoline and doing sumersalts. He even got to walk the balance beam.

My friend Emily is the gym coach, so it made it even more fun. I brought my friend Elizabeth and her son Drake with us. That is Drake playing with the soccer ball.

Notice Garrett's t-shirt says "I do all my own stunts"...it was suiting for the event. It was hard getting a good picture of him, he was too busy to pause for the camera.

First Date

Aaron and I had outr first dinner date last night since we had Garrett. Aaron had got a gift certificate to The Carlton, so we got to order what ever we desired off the menu. It was so nice to just enjoy a wonderful meal with out the baby. Aaron ordered sushi and I had the most awesome baked salmon with garlic mashed potatoes. We even had this brownie sundae for dessert.

I have to admit most of the conversation revolved around Garrett and how we are so happy to have that little man in our life. We are appreciative that Grandma Kandi came into town to help out and watch the weezer for us. Thanks Grandma!

Grandma comes to town!

I had such a great visit with my mom this weekend. She was able to get in a lot of Garrett time in. We went downtown SLO shopping and to lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen, to church, dinner at the Apple Farm and walking at Atascadero Lake Park. The Apple Farm has the best apple dumpling topped with homemade vanilla ice cream...it is to die for. It was a special treat.

It was so great to show off the house to mom and just spend time with her. I'm so happy to be such great friends with my mom.

Spa Day

My mom came into town and we decided that we needed a little pampering, so we went to the Spa Central Coast for a day of girl time. My friend Emily joined us and we had a great and relaxing time. I would recommend this spa to all my girlfriends!

Mommy and Me

Garrett and I go to a Mommy and Me class every Friday. It is run by the Atascadero School District. It is all kids in his age group and their mommys. The kids have the opportunity to explore all kinds of new toys, painting, circle time, snack and outside play. It really is a great program for Garrett, and the teacher Mrs. Dede is really fun with the kids during circle time.

































Mommy and Me
















My friends Jack and Owen














Snack time...mmmm, yummy!



















Peek-a-Boo!

Baby Genius

Oh course all mothers think their baby is the smartest most cute baby ever, but I truly believe Garrett one smart cookie. Tonight I put in one of Garrett's Blue's Clues movies, he has watched this show several times...maybe even over 12 times. In the show the main character is Joe and he interacts with the viewer, or person watching the show. So here is how it went down...

Joe: "Hey kids, what do we need to solve this clue?"..."Our handy-dandy...(long pause, this is when the viewer is supposed to answer the question)"

Garrett: "Noteboo" (Notebook)

Isn't he the smartest baby ever! Only 16 months saying notebook right on cue!

Wow, it was pretty exciting!

Baby Workout

Today my neighbor Jen and I took our babes (Garrett on the right, Tanner on the left) for a walk around Atascadero Lake Park. There is a great path that wraps around the lake. It's a popular spot for walking, running and feeding the ducks! We went around the lake a few times, and by the time we got back to our cars it was almost dark, even though it looks really dark in the picture!

Home Project

Aaron and Garrett worked all day on Saturday out in the backyard putting up a dog run for Koda...this will save our backyard:) I'm not to sure if Koda will like it. Garrett was a great helper to daddy.








Garrett even got to be like a big boy when he pretended to saw stuff with his Bob the Builder toy saw.
















Here is Aaron posing next to his first big project for the house! Go daddy! We are so proud of you!

Christmas Travels

We had a great time spending Christmas with my family in Riverside. Although Garrett and I were sick, we managed to still see all the family and enjoy the holiday. Garrett got this piano from his Papa Jones, it was a huge hit. We drove to Tehachapi the day after Christmas to celebrate with the Smith family and had a great time there, mostly relaxing and playing with the babies. We were happy to get home and recover from the nasty virus that slammed our family.

We brought in the New Year by having the Smith's and the Kirk's over. We spend time just relaxing and I got in tons of Peyton (our niece) time. It was great. She is so cute. This a pic of Aaron's parents with the two grandkids...they are just eatin' them up! Garrett almost 16 months and Peyton 6 months. I think they kind of look alike in this picture.

Here is a picture of the outfit we got Peyton for Christmas...cheetah girl! I just love it, he he!



















Grandma Debbie got this swing for Garrett for Christmas. As soon as we got home Aaron tied it to an old Oak tree in the backyard. Garrett loves the swing! He also had a blast playing in the new play gym from Grandma and Papa 2 (Aaron's parents). We had a great holiday season and are so thankful to have such loving and wonderful parents! Happy New Year!