Spring Training in Arizona!

Sorry Aunt Susan. You won't see Zach drinking a beer at a baseball game... but my parents do! :-)














































OMG, my BFF Jen! :-) Jen joined us for dinner since we were, after all, in her town!









































Awww! Madre & Padre!!!!







































Zach and his beloved cactus. He was in desert heaven.








































Diamonds are a girls best friend. :-)
































Go A's! Woohoo!!































All our favorite boys. :-)



























Bobby Crosby! Right there in front of us!

























Zach LOVED getting up close and personal to the field, the players, all the action.





















Madre & Anne got festive for St. Patty's Day! That's what real divas do. ;-)

Jelly Belly Mania

My Aunt Debi is visiting from Iowa, and she is a Longaberger Basket conossieur? collector? crazy basket lady? The Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield hosted a Longeberger Basket Fest, so of course, Debi had to be there! My mom & I came along and we had a lovely girls day out. We took the factory tour & bought ourselves some beautiful baskets. Just fyi: the paper factory hats were REQUIRED for the tour, and the picture of us in the giant Longaberger basket... ok that was just silly.





















My big brother Nate turned 28 in late Feb, and we finally had a chance to celebrate with him. What better way to celebrate than with a giant chocolate coconut cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory? Happy Birthday Big Brother!

A Day at the Zoo!

Last Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL spring day here in Sacramento! Zach & I decided to spend the entire day outdoors. We went to Land Park- a huge park by the Sac Zoo with big ponds, gardens, ducks, etc. We had a picnic & brought our croquet set for a "friendly competition." :-) I, of course, had to see the zoo while we were there. I love seeing all the different animals. Zach thinks I get too attached because I name all the animals & give them personalities... whatever. :-)-

I was a kangaroo in another life.













So, if Zach were a bird, his wingspan would be the same as a Bald Eagle. Now, if you know Zach at all, you know he has no hair on his head... Tell me this isn't FUNNY?!?
















Tiger! Lauren, this one is for you. :-)

















Hyenas are umm.... ugly.














Peek-a-boo! :-)















Zebras!!! They are SO cool. Did you know every zebra has different stripes? Just like humans with their fingerprints. Amazing.















A Bongo! An awesome cross between an antelope & gazelle. I love these things.

Paul's birthday

Zach's youngest brother, Paul, has a Leap Year Birthday! We celebrated 20 years of his life, but technically... he's only 5. ;-)
I busted out my new cake decorating kit (compliments of my mother & father-in-law) and produced what I thought was a pretty nice looking cake for my first time using a pastry bag! Happy birthday little brother!

Kings Game

Anne's parents were very generous this Christmas & gave Zach tickets to a Sacramento Kings game for the 2nd year in a row! The seats are fabulous- practically courtside! We got some great pix of our favorite players, & before the game we ate at Center Court restaurant, owned by NBA player Chris Webb. So fun!

Our 1st Annual Super Bowl Party!

We hosted our 1st Annual Super Bowl Party on February 3rd. We had so much fun preparing for it. The whole apartment was decked out in football decor, and I tried lots of new recipes. We had a blast!

Tom, Dave & Kevin. Extraordinary friends, men of God, and sports fans. :-)











Brent & Nick give their reactions & comments from the peanut gallery.














Stephen & Lissa! Our jh interns & one of our very favorite fellow married couples. :-) They're awesome friends with a huge passion for jr. high students.














Our big groupie. We had a great mix of friends at the party- some football fans, others not so much. All in all there was a lot of laughter and a lot of insulting each other's favorite teams. :-)












I was so proud of myself after I made these football cakes! I found the Martha Stewart within!