My Work Baby Shower

On Friday, June 18th I had my first baby shower. My friends at work got together and planned an awesome event! The decorations, the food, the gifts - it was all incredible. I am so blessed to work with such amazing people! THANK YOU!!!

Believe it or not, this only shows about half of the gifts! My friends were all so generous. We are going to have one seriously stylin' little girl!!!

Annie and Lisa at the food table before the chowing-down commensed.

The cake. Yeah, I think it speaks for itself! ADORABLE!

Some of the guests loading up their plates for one of the best potlucks ever.

The tables were all decorated so beautifully - they had pink tablecloths (except my special table was white), vases with gorgeous pink hydrangeas in them, cute little pink baby carriages filled with pink Reese's minis, and more. It was a sight to see, let me tell you!

My frantic race through present-opening! We only have a 40 minute lunch, so I had to promise everyone I'd actually read their cards later.

The bell for 6th period to start came too soon - I wasn't even near done opening all of my gifts - so my principal offered to cover my class for me till I was done. He's the best! After about 10 minutes or so, he sent about half of them to come help clean-up in the teacher's lounge. They enjoyed the spoils of their generosity, too! ;)

The "Math Ladies" (minus Navaz who had to run to class when the bell rang) of Laguna Hills High School! We're all great friends and lunch buddies.

Palm Springs Getaway

When I first found out I'd be getting 2 forced holidays (furlough days for work), I mentioned to my mom that we should go somewhere. Well, if you know "the cruise-director" (as my dad affectionately calls her) at all, you know it was only a matter of minutes before everything was booked and ready to go! My mom and I got to spend 4 days in Palm Springs, and the boys joined us for the weekend. We stayed at an awesome resort - the Miramonte. We had the most relaxing, wonderful time - we rode our bikes, lounged by the pool, read some good books, and ate great food. It was the perfect getaway! Well done, Mom!

A cute picture of our amazing hosts! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Our adorable room that my parents were nice enough to let us crash. We had a great time - if only that old guy didn't saw logs all night long!

Brad took this over-the-shoulder-while-riding picture of my mom and I on the way to breakfast one morning. It was a great ride - absolutely no hills! ;)

One of the many fountains - great view of the mountains in the background, too.

Brad on his beach-cruiser outside the resort. Bringing our bikes was the best decision we made - we rode them everywhere!

The view of the spa area from the main pool - the whole place was gorgeous!

Cruising out in style - bikes and all!

Memorial Day in Sedona

After a loooong drive with plenty of traffic, we arrived in Sedona at 5 am for Memorial weekend. We were super excited to see the Stewarts, but there was even more to be excited over - the Openshaws surprised us and flew in to join us for the day (and night). It was a spontaneous family reunion and we LOVED it! Nothing beats spending time with family.

We picked the gang up at the Sedona Airport and had to take a minute to catch some great photo-ops before hitting up KFC for lunch.

The Openshaws had never been to Slide Rock, so it was a no-brainer as to what to do once they arrived.

Slide Rock is always a favorite! Uncle Brad was a hit with all the kids, as usual.

We got a special treat on Sunday and got to hear Jason speak and Sydney sing - they were both FANSTASTIC!!!

On Memorial Day we took the Stewart kids on a hike through Fay Canyon that was absolutely amazing! The red rock views were incredible!

This was one of our favorite trees. The bark was so cool!

The entire trip was great! We can't wait to go back for more!

The Belly Pictures

Per popular demand, here are a few photos of "the belly." Enjoy!

We took this one on our trip at the halfway point - 20 weeks. I've grown consistently every day since then!

The rare girl who is "knocked up" BEFORE Prom night!

I couldn't decide which was the best, so you get to see several.

At 25 weeks and a few days, I'm just over 5/8 of the way there...but who's counting???

Prom - our 3rd one together!

This is my 5th year teaching, and the 3rd year we've decided to go to Prom. It's always my favorite event to go to because the kids all look great, which seems to make them act great, too. This year was by far the best yet - the venue was amazing and we had a great time! We even tried swing dancing for a bit this year, but apparently my belly was throwing us off! (Or, we're just terrible dancers...more likely.)

After spending 20 minutes sifting through my closet for something that might actually fit my new, ever-expanding form, I ended up with this.

The yearly "self-portrait" on Prom night - gotta love it!

We went to a fun restaurant in Orange called "The Lazy Dog" with our friends Annie and Eric before heading to Prom at the American Cultural Center.

Annie's boyfriend, Eric stole the show with his karaoke performance! He sang an Elvis song (quite fitting for his "look", huh?) and had an incredible voice! We had more fun than the kids did!

Some of the LHHS staff that were there to enjoy the amazing venue and to see the kids all dressed up to the nines.

Brad's 31st Birthday

Brad had quite the birthday, that's for sure!

He began by quitting his job (don't worry, he started a new one with better pay the very next day!), then joined me for an ultrasound to see his baby (which we found out is a .... GIRL!), had his favorite corndogs for dinner, and then invited a bunch of friends over for dessert that night. Yeah, looks like 31 is going to be a good year for him! ;)

A few of our friends who joined us for a great little birthday get-together.

Some of "the guys"

The Bournes and the Burches

Britt and Coop were our last additions to the impromptu party.

When dessert was finally ready, Brad blew all the candles out, so let's hope that wish comes true!

Paris - the City of Light

The Third Installment:

We knew a trip to Europe wouldn't be complete without seeing Paris, so we jumped in the car and headed to Paris for a couple of days.

It was a long drive to Paris from Germany, especially with all 3 of us crammed in the back seat, but we knew it was worth it!

After arriving in Paris at about 6:30 at night, checking into our hotel, and figuring out the metro system, we finally headed into the city. And the very first thing we saw, as the subway came out of a tunnel to cross the river was...the Eiffel Tower! I screamed instantly and totally embarrassed everyone - it was great!

We met up with our French friend, Brigitte first thing in the morning and headed to the Louvre.

We saw the surprisingly small Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo - 2 of the most famous pieces of art that the Louvre has to offer.

We made sure to touch "Point Zero" in front of Notre Dame where, legend has it, if you touch it, you will return to Paris sometime in your life. We made sure to touch every inch of that thing, just in case!!

Our boat tour on the Sienne was a hit - it was something that none of the group had ever done before and we all LOVED it! I'd recommend it to anyone!

Our last stop before the sun went down was Sacre-Coeur and Montmartre - the highest point in Paris. It had an amazing view of the entire city and was PACKED with people!

Brigitte's daughter, Lucille made reservations for us at a fun French restaurant. We made quite the group - 9 people from 4 different countries! The French - Brigitte, Lucille, and Eddie, The Germans - Martin, Susi, and Dean, The Americans - Brad and Becky, and the Vietnamese - Ahn!

We closed out the night at the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysses (the Rodeo Drive of Paris). We were a little late to get good pictures (it was past midnight), but it was still a sight to see!