First Trip Back

I said that I would not let a year go by without a little visit to the Bay Area and since we moved up here almost one year ago, we decided it was time to head back for a weekend with no major plans.

We first made a stop by SCU.  I appreciated that school for my seven year stay, but it looked prettier than ever and I feel more blessed than I can explain to have had the opportunity to be able to attend school there.  We walked the campus just like old days and looked at the little circles gathered around the grass for freshman orientation.  Eleven (was it really 11?!) years ago, Chris and I were in those same little circles and met for the first time at freshman orientation.  It is crazy that it has been 11 years since the first time I stepped on to the campus that brought me so much. I found my husband there, I found myself there, I found such wonderful friends there.  Santa Clara found a lot of my tuition money there, but it was all worth it in the end.

 

Before leaving, I made Chris drop me by the "801 house."  I lived in this house with 8 wonderful girls that I refer to on the blog as my 801 girls.  I guess the upside of Santa Clara's expensive real estate was that I got to make some of the best friends a girl could have.  Although this house looks a little sleepy now, it was a lively little home where all of us became a family.

We split up to visit some coworkers and I once again navigated the California freeways all by myself  (I should have warned everyone). We then had a wonderful little BBQ hosted by the Kehrlis (thanks guys!) where we worked off the delicious food by playing the Michael Jackson Wii game.  Although I was a bit skeptical, I will admit, it was pretty fun.  The most fun to watch award goes to Lynsey and Kelli and the best dance routine definitely goes to the to the Byer siblings.

Becko showed up and and brought some new Giants gear as her BBQ contribution, including the now famous belt buckles.  We got to wear the gear at a Giants game the next night.  The stadium definitely has a different energy than it did just one year ago.  It was such a treat to be there and to top it off the Giants won! What a great first trip back.  It was so great to see everyone!

Twilight Criterium

 

We discovered another reason why summers in Boise are awesome.  The twilight criterium is a bike race around downtown Boise.  Several thousand folks came downtown to watch these guys race.  It is no Tour de France, but it is still a pretty good excuse to head downtown and grab a beer while enjoying Boise's long summer nights.

Pittmans!

Our summer travels continued as we made our way down to L.A. last weekend for the Pittman wedding.  I have to say I think that this wedding was one for the books.  The bride and groom were so relaxed and really seemed to enjoy every minute of the wedding, which was absolutely beautiful in every respect.  We of course loved celebrating the union of two of the most wonderful people we know, seeing all of our friends, and being treated like royalty at the  Riviera Country Club.  I really did feel quite fancy as I sipped on my raspberry lemondrop overlooking the golf course surrounded by beautiful people - it was just gorgeous! The wedding was seamless  and the bride and groom beamed with happiness.  We love the Pittmans and are so glad they are part of our California family.

 

 

Our little "801" girls family continues to grow.  There are now three little ones since the latest little cutie Dominic (below at the left) joined the gang.  And two more on their way this fall (Lish and Stacy due only ten days a part).    

  







The girls had nice catch up time the night before the wedding.  Lynz and I had a good laugh over looking quite twinish when I showed up from the airport.

  

 I love and miss every one of these people every day of my life.  We have the best friends.  We really do.

 

I left my camera at home because I knew I was in the midst of great little photogs.  Picture credit goes to Stacy, Tara, Becky, and Katie.

The 4th at Priest

While I went to visit Erin in North Carolina Chris made the drive up to Priest Lake with copilot Bella.  The fourth of July can have questionable weather up there, but this time around Chris reported that they had wonderful weather.  I am pretty sure that he has not taken a trip up to see his folks without me since we were married.  As much as they love me and I love them, I am sure that it was special to just have some one on one time together.  They fished (and came up empty handed), spent time hanging out on the dock, went for boat rides, watched the Priest Lake fireworks, and Chris continued training for Hood to Coast by running with his dad every morning.  Sounds like a pretty great weekend to me. 

I am also happy to report that Bella's first trip to the lake was a success... she swims!  Chris didn't even have to throw her in.  She even jumps off the dock... what a brave puppy!

I think that our two weekends across the country from each other were a success.  We are both just so lucky to have such wonderful family who offer endless laughs, love, and support.

The 4th in NC

(I do realize that with the amount of pictures of the Erickson boys on this blog, you might come to think that they are my own, but here it goes one last time.)   

I made the trip to North Carolina to see Erin's new beautiful home and surrounding area.  The bottom line is that she pretty much lives in an awesome place that is heads and shoulders above the Mojave Desert (apologies for anyone that loves it there).   Their house is gorgeous and has a huge yard and they are minutes from the beach and all of the activities that come with living on the Outer Banks.

While there:

I watched Andy work for 3 days straight to build the boys a new playset:

We went to the beach (twice) and Owen ate probably a quarter pound of sand:

We bought shrimp pretty much right off the shrimp boats.  It was a very Forrest Gump moment because all I could think about was Bubba listing off shrimp gumbo, BBQ shrimp, shrimp scampi . . .

We went go cart racing and Tyler informed me that I "ate his dust":

We went to the aquarium:


And due to a my flight being cancelled,  we got to enjoy some fourth of July fireworks together topped off by Tyler's special firecracker:

Looking back, we fit quite a bit in for three days.  Some of the best times were spent eating breakfast together, playing out in the backyard, and having some quality time to talk on the car rides to and from the airport. I really do hate not knowing when I will see the Ericksons again, but I know that the days in between are going to be filled with lots of adventures as they explore their incredible new home. Thanks for all of your hospitality and generosity while I was visiting especially since I invited myself over only days after you guys moved.  I loved getting to see a piece of your new life.

If you are wondering where Chris is, he had a separate trip planned with his dad that got cancelled due to late snow melt so he spent the weekend up at my favorite place on earth.  Pictures and post soon to come on that - assuming that he really took some pictures per my request :)