California

I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right?  We spent a week in California celebrating two high school graduations, one jr. high graduation, a 9th birthday, an 18th birthday and two baby showers!  It was fantastic.  As earlier mentioned, our camera broke on the way to CA, so we were not able to take our own pictures.  We got a few from family so I'll share a little of what we did.

We arrived on Saturday and Stephanie made our whole family (that's a lot of folks) dinner.  We played Rock Band, well some people played others watched, and had a yummy dinner and desserts!

Sunday was Alyssa's 9th birthday.  My baby shower was planned for that day, so when she arrived at my mom's house we had a quick birthday celebration complete with a cake and the birthday song.  The baby shower was at a cute little house call the Noriega House.  It is a refurbished old home, perfect for events like

 showers and weddings.   The cake was actually a bunch of little bite sized cupcakes that my mom made.  They were so yummy and cute, of course they perfectly matched the decor!  The table skirt you see in this picture is actually the valance for the baby bedding we chose for the nursery.  

While the women were at the shower Kevin, Rod, Dad, Mark and Jakob played golf.  I know they had a good time, but it was REALLY cold that day.  They didn't finish 18 holes because they about froze to death.  But, like they say, your worst day golfing is better than your best day anywhere else!

Monday was the big fiesta.  Mark and Geoffrey both graduated from high school this year, this was the original reason for making the trip to CA.  My parents hosted an open house party for friends and family to celebrate with these two.  We couldn't be more proud of both of their accomplishments.  

Mark will be leaving in September to join the US Air Force.  I might get this wrong, but he will eventually be assigned to a job in some sort of technology because that is where he scored the highest!  Geoffrey will be attending the Smitcamp Honor College at Fresno State University. This is a very competitive Engineering college that very few people are accepted into each year!

Tuesday we headed to Fresno.  That night, to our surprise, Connie and her friend Lotti had planned a surprise baby shower for us.  We knew people were coming over to Ross and Connie's for ice cream and to visit, but we didn't know it would be to honor us and our baby.  It was so much fun.  We were able to see so many of our friends that we don't always get to see.  It was such a nice surprise.  Wednesday Kevin and Rod played another round of golf while Julie and I hung out with some of our friends and their new babies!  Wednesday night was also Kymberli's 8th grade graduation, but we were unable to attend.  We are very proud of her, she has turned into quite the young lady!  Thursday we headed back to Bakersfield after stopping by my old stomping grounds, Fresno Pacific University, and also saying hi to Kevin's grandpa.

Thursday night were the big graduation ceremonies.  Geoffrey's started at 7pm on one side of town.  We went there first and watched all the opening stuff like speeches and what-not.  We were very fortunate, Geoffrey was the very first one to get his diploma!  We watched him walk across the stage, we yelled and screamed and then got up and left!  We headed to the other side of town to see Mark graduate.  Since Mark's last name starts with a W he was at the very end.  We got there a little too soon and had to watch all the graduates from the Bs on...shew!  Finally it was Mark's turn, we yelled and screamed and then were able to give him a big hug after the ceremony.

Friday was a low key day.  My mom took me shopping while Kevin enjoyed a nice quiet morning at home.  After lunch Kevin and I went to visit my friend Kristi and her family for a few hours and then Dad cooked us some yummy tri-tip for our last night in CA.  We played some Wii and hung out with the family one last time.

It was such a wonderful trip.  I think we may have seen just about everyone we have ever known in CA.  We were so glad to be able to celebrate with our families so many great accomplishments and to be able to anticipate the coming of our baby.

Of all the pictures from the weekend this is my favorite.  Here are my "babies" giving me a kiss on each cheek.  Even though they are 18 and all grown up they still love their Auntie (and they didn't even complain when they were asked to do this)!!!