Buddies

We had our great friends, the Morgans & Mortimers, over for lunch last week. Will's best buds are Carson & Jaxon.

While Carson napped, Jaxon taught Will the meaning of sharing:

Saying Goodbye

Last Friday, Scott & I had a bunch of friends over (about 50 total - including kids) for a dessert night before taking off for school.

I was planning on making a sheet cake & chocolate chip cookies for the night, but was too tired to even think about doing this without taking a nap first. Of course, I didn't set my alarm (thinking Scott would wake me up), & in typical Liz fashion, my nap lasted 2 to 3-ish hours instead of the 30 minutes I had hoped for. I woke up with only 30 minutes left until everyone was supposed to arrive. I panicked, but when I went downstairs, Scott already had things ready for me, so I didn't have to stress over getting anything done. (He's always so thoughtful.)

Enjoying the beautiful weather: it was so fun having people finally use our backyard.

Socializing: Tammy, Jen, Lisa, Jim, Sandi, Shana

Taking care of the babes: Jonathan w/ Claire & Scott w/ Will

Sean & Ryan

Owen & Taya: all the kids played so nicely.

Will trapped himself under the bar stool.

Will (another one - he is also name after William Wallace), Josh, & Connor

Jon & Sam

Olivia & Lisa (holding Gabriel)

Tammy feeding my curious little boy - he never wants to miss anything:

Sean, Jonathan, Scott, John, & Sam

Jillian w/ Claire, Allison w/ Sam, Meredith, Sandi

Mamas w/ their babies

The future generation just hanging out:

Thanks to everyone who came. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people around us.

Sneak Peak

To Get Away from it All

On Sunday, Scott, William, & I drove down to Monterey to stay with my parents at their beach house for a few days.

Yesterday morning, we went to First Awakenings - the best restaurant for breakfast ever (actually, Mama's in San Fran is also a favorite)! The portions are huge (honestly, they're too big), & the food is incredible - we always get an egg/potato skillet & wheatberry pancakes.

Will riding the tractor:

Later on in the day, we took a walk on the beach just down the street from my parents' place. It was a beautiful day, albeit a little cold.

I swear, I'm only ever in the pictures if I take the picture myself, or hand the camera over to Scott & remind him that I'm part of the family too (he's not a single dad!).

Playing with the kelp:

Back home for a break:

Will has the most squishable, kissable cheeks - I just love them.

Finally, last evening, we went for a drive around Carmel to look at the beautiful houses there. This particular house had such an interesting roof - it's all wavy - & the brick on the outside was crooked & so different.

A drive-by picture of the beach (which is why the picture is so blurry):

Home from the drive: Will standing up by himself - he actually stood there for quite a long time:

It was so good to travel to Monterey for the few days that we could. We had such a great time & loved spending time away from it all - one last hurrah before Scott starts school (in just over a week).

Visitors, Bowling, & New Toys

This weekend, Scott's sister (Karen) & her friend (Sarge), came to visit. It was so wonderful to see Karen again, as always, & it was great meeting Sarge. Unfortunately our niece, Kayla, couldn't make it for the trip. She did, however, send a present for Will - a 3-in-1 sports toy - baseball, basketball, & football.

Will chasing after the balls - one of the balls went under the chair, & he's trying really hard to find it.

We went bowling w/ Karen & Sarge. Everyone was really good - I by far came in last, but still enjoyed the game. Will enjoyed playing with Scott's ear.

Karen & Sarge w/ William

Scott bowled a strike while holding William - it was quite impressive (this is just a reenactment ;)

William fell asleep on the way home: when he turned his head to the side, it looked like he had a mini 'Flock of Seagulls' hairdo.

Playing with his new toy & loving it.

Mark & Joy also sent a toy golden retriever to Will since he loves dogs so much. I love watching him fall on it & give it a hug (kind of like cuddling with a pillow). (He's scratching the dog's nose in the picture.)

My Sink Threw Up

Today, I decided to semi-clean out my fridge by getting rid of some expired food. I started the line up, & put one thing after the other down the disposal. When I got to my last item, I noticed that the other side of the sink was starting to back up w/ spaghetti bits. The next thing I knew, there was a gush under the sink. I opened the cupboard doors, & spaghetti sauce & water rushed out & covered my feet, & everything under the sink

My sink threw up:

It really did look like projectile vomit, & it smelled like it too.

Well of course William was very interested in what was going on, so he started crawling over to play in the mess. I picked him up & sprinted down the street (running barefoot on hot asphalt while holding a baby is not the most pleasant thing, but then again, neither is spaghetti spewed under my sink). When my neighbor, Kris, answered the door, I told her that my under-sink had exploded & asked if she could take Will. She probably thought I was crazy. I then ran back home to take care of the mess (my thoughts while running home: 'Wow, running feels great! It's been a really long time since I've run - I feel like I could go forever.' - That's right, no thought of the mess inside, just feelings of freedom & feeling like an athlete). When I got in the kitchen, I thought, 'nothing's going to get worse if I run upstairs to get my camera for pictures - I need proof to show Scott how disgusting this is . . . & I could use an update on the blog').

After I cleared everything out, I started to wipe the water (& other remnants) into a tupperware - this may sound very gross, but when the water/spaghetti sauce mixture fell into the tupperware, it sounded like throwing up (I'm really glad I'm not pregnant because I would have lost my stomach. It was really disgusting).

I was very inspired to take care of all this mess by myself (I was feeling quite independent) after reading THIS blog , so I got buckets from the garage & prepared to take the pipes apart under the sink. Of course as soon as I tried turning one of the "bolts" (that's what I'm calling them), it wouldn't budge. So I was off (running barefoot again - it felt so good!) to the neighbors to get the man of the house's help. Aaron came over with some buckets & tools & helped me flush out the pipes & emptied all of the mess into the toilet since we couldn't empty it into the sink. After everything was put back together, I finished cleaning up, & I now have the privilege of having a very clean & organized cupboard under my sink. Happy Day!

New Moon Trailer #2

I continue to stay true to my nerd self - & I'm okay with that.