My Weekend in Santa Cruz

Last weekend I got to spend some time with Kendra and the Family in Santa Cruz. I have not had any alone time there since Amber arrived and I was one very excited "YaYa" to get to spend a whole weekend there! Here are some of the pictures from the weekend, we had LOTS of fun and LITTLE sleep but it was a great weekend with the girls!

Peyton was excited to see YaYa too! The first thing we did was have some quality time at Target so Kendra could get some shopping done.



Peyton and Amber got a new stroller from Brandon's parents and Brandon put it together while Peyton was in bed so she was very excited to see it in the morning and wanted her "drink" while she sat in it and watched Wiggles!



Amber was trying to stay awake for all the fun! It is hard work being a baby.



Smiles for YaYa!



What was planned as a quick walk to the store with the new stroller ended up as a 2+ hour walk all the way to the beach! They loved it and Kendra and I were happy to be back before the rain got heavy.



Snuggles with YaYa...she is so precious!



Wide awake and ready to play...to bad YaYa was not as awake!



We went to Old Navy on Heart-day and they painted Peyton's face for her!



Then my Valentine and I have chicken nuggets and blueberrys for dinner while Mom and Dad went out!



My other Valentine in the famous "Date Night PJ's"! When Peyton was a baby we used to have date night once a week while Brandon and Kendra went out and these were my favorite pj's on her so they became the "Date Night PJ's" and Kendra would make sure they were always clean for that night! Now Amber gets to wear them!!!



"Bubba, can we just take one cute picture together for Heart-day Date Night and then you can go right back to Mickey?" -YaYa
(as you can see that did not work out, but I like this one better I think!)

A Starbucks Drive-Thru Surprise

I had the most delightful surprise yesterday while in the drive-thru at Starbucks. There was a VERY long line of cars and it took me about 15 minutes to get up to the window and receive my coffee. I was willing to wait in the long line because this was my “before night class pick me up” coffee and (this is perhaps more honest) I was already in line and could not back out over the cars behind me! So I was a little annoyed but not too bad about the long wait. One of the benefits of always trying to be early to everything is that I usually have time to spare in these situations. Anyhow, as I reached the window I had my $4.00 ready and was very eager to receive my peppermint mocha when the girl opened the window and informed me that the guy ahead of me had bought my drink for me! How lovely! I was so pleased that I was a bit speechless for a moment. Once I came back to reality I asked if I could buy the persons drink behind me then. She smiled and said “Sure, I love when this happens. That will be $2.10”. While I did end up saving a dollar (I gave the tip jar the rest of the .90cents in an effort to spread the joy) what I really got was a smile and a new outlook on my day. I was so pleased with the little surprise that I almost drove off without my coffee. As I sat there thinking about how much it had just blessed me that someone had bought my coffee I was excited for the person behind me to have that same feeling. I hope she thought the same way I did and kept the chain going. Who knows, perhaps someone bought the coffee of the guy who bought mine. It is just such a wonderful random act of kindness! Sure it is not something big, but it is a great surprise that instantly erased any annoyance I found in line and sent me off to class with a smile on my face! So next time you are in the Starbucks drive-thru and you have a few extra dollars…start a new chain, you never know when you will be on the other end of one!

Congratulations Mom & Dad!

CONGRATULATIONS MOM & DAD!!

Today is my parent’s 29^th wedding anniversary! They are off on a much deserved vacation celebrating and I am thinking about how lucky I am to have them. My parents were high school sweethearts and well over 30 years later are still very much in love. They have been an amazing example of love and marriage for me and are to be credited with the high ideals I hold when it comes to forever with someone. I am blessed to have grown up with such a display of what marriage can be, and I am so very proud that they are my parents!

I love you both!! Congratulations!