BBQ

We said Sayonara to our good friend Audrey with a friend/family bbq. They moved Monday to the land of the Beatles and the Beckhams where Tony will be a dentist for the Air Force for the next three years. She will be missed, but hopefully she can host our next fish fry (with chips) in her beautiful British abodeJ

In high school we all drove to school in Audrey's car that we lovingly named POC (Piece of Crap).

It was such a beater but some of my best high school memories were with these gals in that car.

We even had a song for our little carpool club that went like this...

We are the Girls of POC you see, Heather, Lindsay, Audrey, Me.

I think that we all met by fate

because in life we really relate

Audrey drives She is a Hon

Heather always has shotgun

Lindsay makes driving so much fun

Jessica eats her breakfast on the run

So as we drive to be a hawk,

we won't forget our mascot, POC!

Brian and John getting ready to launch the candy from the cannon.

The food was finger-licking, foil-licking good...literally... I licked the foil that the salmon was cooked in! And just may have had to buy a pregnancy test because John started to think I might have been eating for two. It turned out that I was just really hungry and the food was THAT good. ... I will be wearing my new Miley Cyrus skinny jeans this winter:)

The Junior POC-eteers patiently waiting for candy launch.

Family Photo. Propabably only one of five we have with the three of us. Note to self: take more gregory family photos.

James is clapping like crayzay and his first word is a high pitched "Yay!" I walked over to the amphitheater the other night with James so we could hear a couple of songs of a Bluegrass concert for his night time lullaby. He clapped and screamed yay the entire time we were there. He has obviously officially developed his hearing because my singing doesn't seem to bring out the same cheering that the concert did:( Sad day. At least he still thinks I can dance:)

27 Birthday Recap

My mom made a delightful and scrumptious tea party for me in her garden. I felt like I was back in Paris...It was so very Versailles.

We were trying to decide what would give me the most birthday bang for my buck when we noticed a country concert going on at the amphitheater across the street. So we walked over and bought a couple of tickets and enjoyed a fabulous concert with a had been who could seriously still hit the high notes. We enjoyed a whole row to ourselves because hardly anyone was there.

James climbed from the bottom step to the top and was so pooped out by the end he slept pretty much through the whole show.

The summer night weather was perfect, the view of the city below was fantastic, and John as my date was the icing on the birthday cake... and sometimes I think to myself, what a wonderful world:)

We went mountain biking with Heather and Dave for the first time! It was so much fun but much more intense than I ever thought it would be. It takes serious guts to go down hill.

This is the betty John bought me for my b-day present. A William Sonoma Gelato maker. It concocts the most delicious bowl of ice-cream I've ever tasted in about 20 minutes with only milk, sugar, and cream. It's pretty much magic. I love Gelato because it is like ice cream's less fattening sister. And it always looks so dang pretty at the shops.

And the grand finale to my b-day weekend festivities was a fish dinner at my favorite restaurant.

I love birthdays. especially when you don't have to spend them at work and you feel like you are twelve again. Thanks everyone for making it such a special day.

.

Price

Paris

Paris was as pretty and as picturesque as every postcard I’ve ever seen! The architecture…the romance of the city-scape…the marvelous artworks…the culinary experience of the cafes…. It will be years before my soul soaks in everything we were able to see and experience.

To observe the masterpieces I studied about in college and to walk where artists were inspired was surreal. And the shoes!!! They could have been chiseled by Michelangelo himself!

After hearing all these years that the Mona Lisa was a disappointment I was pleasantly surprised by its size and beauty.

I was so lucky to go with my mom and sisters who were so motivated to pack in as much of Paris as humanly possible. We woke up before sunrise and came back every night after the midnight sparkling of the Eiffel tower. Yup, right when I thought Paris couldn’t get any more perfect, the Eiffel tower started to sparkle like a diamond from De Beers.

At the Louvre, I was looking at a painting of a baby when I became completely homesick for James. I felt like a horrible mom for leaving my baby for so long. Then my mom told me of an analogy of mother birds leaving their nests to find twigs for their homes. She said, just like birds, moms need to leave their homes occasionally to gain experience and expound their horizons in order to be better teachers and caregivers. So from that point on I told myself James was in good hands and I let Paris be my playground for 5 perfect days. I will be forever changed by this sublime city in France . A Bientot! -I’ll be back soon.

Summer