Finally an update...I know!

(WARNING -- this is a long post with lots of pictures!!)

The computer is still crashed at home so I am doing this from work (shhhh....). Hopefully we'll get it fixed or get a new one ASAP! Luckily Jason has a laptop from work that he can bring home so I still have some access.

Our vacation was great!! We spent four days in Colorado with our friends (the Brang's). The first day was rainy so we just hung out at their house catching up. On Friday, the girls went shopping & had gelato (yummy!!) while the guys rode the motorcycles in the mountains. We rented a motorcycle for Saturday (thanks Todd!!) and had a great ride with MB & Bill and Todd & Jenny. Now I can see why there were so many people on bikes - it will be hard to ride in boring Illinois after going thru the mountains. We also drove through Windsor, CO which had just been hit with the F3 tornado just two weeks prior. It was amazing to see houses down to the ground just streets over from houses that had hardly any damage. Luckily, most people were at work and kids were in school or at daycare when it came through.After leaving Colorado, we went to San Francisco where we met up with my parents. On Monday, we did a city tour and then the Alcatraz night tour. The Alcatraz tour was really neat, and it was fun to ride on the boat seeing San Fran all lit up at night. We spent most of the day walking around on Tuesday - past Lombard Street, to Union Square, China Town, and North Beach, then back to our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf. Mom and I biked the Golden Gate Bridge on Wednesday and hung out in Sausalito for a little while. On Thursday, we just walked around Fisherman's Wharf. We slept in and took a nap every day!! I think we could have done one less day in San Fran, but oh well, you never know until you go.There are signs like this all over town - basically where the rich have made it known that they don't want tour groups coming by their houses!

Cable car turnaround at Powell & Hyde Streets...yep, the guys physically turn the car around!

My name in Chinese!!

She was making fortune cookies!

Yummy caramel sundae at Ghirardelli!On Friday, we picked up the rental car and drove to Miur Woods National Monument. Mom wanted to see the redwoods, but the guys didn't want to pay for a tour so we decided to drive it (it's only about a 1/2 hour away). After Muir Woods, we headed toward Sacramento with a stop at the Jelly Belly factory. They give free tours and samples! YUMMY! The tour was nice and then we had to buy some bags of Belly Flops (irregular Jelly Bellys).

We got to Sacramento late in the afternoon, checked into the hotel and then headed over to Jarrod's parent's house. We had a nice cookout and met some of Jarrod's friends - Desiree, Jarrett, Sara, Nick, and Sean. On Saturday, we toured Old Sacramento and then went to Marge & Clark's (friend's of Jarrod's parents) to get ready for the party. It was a beautiful day - about 40 people showed up for the party including a couple from Hawaii (Jarrod's cousin) and a family from Oregon (another cousin & aunt) that weren't able to make it back to Illinois in March.
On Sunday, we piled into Jarrod's mom's Suburban (except mom and dad who rode with Marge & Clark) and drove to Reno and Lake Tahoe. We stopped at the Atlantis in Reno for lunch...Michelle put $20 in the slot machine before we got in line to eat and ended up winning $500!!!! After lunch, we got back in the cars and headed to Lake Tahoe....what a sight!! It was beautiful! It reminded me so much of northern Wisconsin and Colorado! This is definitely a place I would love to come back to. They have campgrounds, cabin rentals, hotels, etc. right along the lake with a beautiful view of the snow-capped hills in the background!
We flew home on Monday night; actually arriving in Illinois on Tuesday. I spent the day doing laundry, going through the mail, reading newspapers, and napping, of course! It was back to work on Wednesday for both of us.

This past weekend was great, too! We had friends over on Saturday night for swimming and dinner (yes, the pool is finally ready!). Then, on Sunday, I went to church while Jason did the MDA ride with a friend, we met my sister and Jarrod for lunch (they were on their way home from a wedding), and then Jason's sister came over with Kali & Caden to swim. Caden wasn't too sure about the water - it was cooler than his bath water and so much bigger! I think the more he's around it, the more he'll like it. Caden is getting so big! Since the last time we saw him, he has gotten four more teeth and is crawling!!! He'll be a year old in just a few short weeks. I'm not sure if he'll be walking by then or not, but he does really well when you hold his hands. And, he's getting pretty brave to let go of one hand to reach for other things. He is growing up so quick!!

A full week of work this week...that's been a while. Jason goes on his annual "canoe" trip with the boys this weekend. I have to work Friday night and am not sure what I'll do the rest of the weekend.

There...there's my post! Until next time...