Winter Treat

Ice cream in the middle of winter? Don't mind if I do!

A much-enjoyed treat!

Nathalieland Update - Colds/Decorating/Painting

Sick Again. February has been a month full of sickness! Since the stomach bug we all got at the beginning of the month, I've been sick twice more with colds, Emily started a cough/cold last week, and Jessica just caught my head cold yesterday (which started with a runny nose in the middle of the night -- not a good night's sleep that's for sure!). We're all tired, cranky, and longing for better, healthier days.

"Sicky picnic" 

Watching lots of Nintendo Wii

Dining Room Picture Wall. Spending days at home means I've had a chance to get started on a project I've been procrastinating: adding family photos to our dining room wall. Over the past few weeks I've purchased frames, painted (some of) them, selected and printed pictures, and put them all together. Today I finally started hanging them on the wall!

Wrapping paper templates 

Top and bottom rows done!

My plan is to write "Dinner is better when we eat together" on the antique door. The pictures hanging all around it are of family members eating together, of course! I'll be sure to post a picture once it's all done.

Learning to Paint. We're all done the drawing section of my Drawing & Painting class; we've moved on to painting! I have a lot less experience with painting, so I'm excited to see how I like it and whether my skills will improve over the next 5 weeks. Speaking of painting, here are the latest snapshots of Jessica's bedroom 'canvas'. She's really filled it up!

Working together ♥

Happy Birthday Grand-Papa!

My dad turns 65 tomorrow, so naturally today we celebrated!
 

Grand-Papa enjoys opening gifts with his two helpers... 

 And I think he enjoyed getting all his favourite treats!

Lorelei joining in to help too

Grand-Maman's tall Lego tower!

We love you, Grand-Papa!

Memory Lane: Orange County & Las Vegas 2008

Warning: long post and lots of pictures below! 

This was a very memorable trip that I took in the summer of 2008. Steve was in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, so the plan was for me and Steve's sister, Kirsten, to fly out to Los Angeles and meet up with my new friend Amy, who lives in Orange County. We would stay with her for a few days, and then we would all drive to Las Vegas to meet up with the boys.

It was especially exciting because this was my first 'solo' trip, meaning I was the adult in charge of getting us to the airport, finding our way, and watching over Steve's (then 18-year-old) sister.

We filled our days in California with activities like whale watching, going to the beach, and visiting Disneyland. Lots of fun stuff packed into four days!

First, we got acquainted with Penny (Amy's dog ♥), and Amy and Gavin's beautiful home in Ladera Ranch.

Cooking and drinking

Kirsten and I did our whale watching adventure in Dana Point, CA, while Amy was at work. Although we didn't get to see any whales and both almost got sea sick, seeing a huge pod of dolphins made it all worthwhile.

Dolphins!

The following day Amy took us to Laguna Beach for some ocean swimming. All I remember is that the waves were big and the weather was hot. Ha! But the pictures make it look like we had a good time ;).

 My first ever In-N-Out Burger

On our way to the beach

Laguna Beach

Making fun of my constant sunscreen application

(I didn't want to burn just a couple of months before my wedding!) 

Checking out the waves

 

 Kirsten was brave enough to go in

Ahh, pre-baby beach bodies

 

It's easy to smile and look cute for pictures...

... but the truth is sometimes we looked like this.

On our last full day in Orange County, we went to one of Amy's favourite places: Disneyland! We visited many sights, did a few small rides, and much to my dismay, went on one big roller coaster (Space Mountain). (Nope, don't like roller coasters!).

Then it was time for our road trip to Las Vegas. I was so happy to be reunited with my husband-to-be and enjoyed a couple of days sightseeing in Vegas.

 

Together again ♥

Build-A-Bear!

 Fancy dinner at Daniel Boulud Brasserie

Lots of memories made on this girls' trip to California/Nevada!

Next up on Memory Lane: Bahamas 2009