Flourish + Fun

Missing this sweet little niece this morning.... how cute are they!

On Sunday, Chris, Vange & Josephine came to visit! We started the day with a toddler hike on Bob Jones Trail! They climbed rocks, rode trikes/strollers and giggled most of the way. These cousins are soooooo sweet together! ;-) Then, pit stop to Avila Barn for picnic time, feeding the animals and of course ice cream! Later that night, we had our good buddy Will {who is insanely talented Executive Head Chef at Justin Winery } came over and give us a special one-on-one cooking class for Evangelines belated birthday present! We had him show us all the ins and outs of making some of her favorites: fried chicken, sauteed kale, mashed potatoes and heart biscuits. It was incredibly delicious, cooked to perfection! We were just floored at how talented in the kitchen he is. We were seriously craving this food days later!!! Ladies & Gentlemen, The one and only the talented Chef, Mr. Will Torres!  {oh and Chris in his manly apron and hi...

We had the best weekend! We had another jam packed weekend which really started on Thursday night, Mom & Dad came to watch the girls while I headed to a wedding rehearsal. Friday Michael, Farah & Westly came to watch the girls while Lauren and I went to coordinate the actual wedding. The wedding was held at Robert Hall Winery and despite the rain, it was a gorgeous event! It was a long day, but definitely fun! Saturday I went to Pismo and took some photos of the Aflac event for my sweet friend Lauren, who was running the show! It was quite a production she put together with hundreds of seats set up on the bluffs, secret VIP lounge, roasted pig and a huge food spread. The finale was an awards banquet, and they had hula dancers and fire throwers!

We had a very jam packed weekend, with meetings, work projects to catch up on, and Easter celebrations with our family all in between it was a fun weekend, but very hectic. :-) We are all sick, up all night long, but what's new right!? ...Ava was sick most of the week/weekend too, poor little lady can't catch a break. Saturday morning visiting the Easter Bunny // Em taught the bunny how to do a twirl and hop... at the same time! Ava wasn't feeling so great   Easter morning // the eggs were a big hit!! Easter basket madness!! Bunnies! {doesn't Em actually kinda look like one, that face!} Off to church at the PAC // Happy girls  Nana & Papa's egg hunt // Family celebration time {aka Kyle and I tried to nap to get over our looming sicknesses, ugh!}

Thanks so much to everyone who came over to celebrate Boo Boo baby's First Birthday party! We had such a great time!! Photo recap below! THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!

Celebrating as we speak... :-)

Your entrance into this world was quite a whirlwind! Very different from your sister, Emma's ! We love you so much, words cannot express how much we delight in you and your joyful spirit. Here is your birth story. :-) {oh and disclaimer: I did not proofread or fix any grammar below, mommy wrote this very quickly during your somewhat non-existent naps!} Friday, April 5th Ugh, I was almost 34 weeks pregnant and just about over all of these Doctor tests. How many times can I get pricked with a needle, how many veins did they need? Peeing in a cup, oh wait, a gigantic jug ALL day long so they could test me for pregnancy issues. What a waste {or so I thought}. I was sure the results would come back as absolutely nothing, so my frustration grew with each needle and each increasingly expensive trip to the Doctors office. - - -  A week or so prior to this at your baby shower, Nana had given me a baby book with sweet notes and verses, and for some reason I hadn't even looked at...

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl, we love you!!! http://www.photosnack.com/LisaAhlgren/pdzm0111 {Full Slideshow at the link, above}

This was our long glorious weekend! Our first stop... All you can eat Sushi in LA - compliments of Kyle's clients . It was sooo good, and it kept coming. I just wish I would have not had such a big breakfast so I could have eaten more. Next stop, we were off for a gorgeous Palm Springs weekend, with a wedding for our dear friends Chris & Lisa. Perfectly warm with a slight breeze! We celebrated an awesome couple, with a non-stop dance party, good drinks, great food, and a night away from the kiddos... it couldn't have been better! :-) Getting ready... Waiting for the beautiful bride... We lounged around, had brunch with our old LA friends and hung out by the pool.  Later that night, when we were back on the central coast, we went to our darling nephew Westly's 3rd Birthday party. It was so much fun!! We had our {somewhat typical} sing-a-long and brought the house down, so to speak! We had the best time.  Cousin...