Easy Chair

Luke loves sitting in his chair, eating, and watching DVDs. We don't let him watch very often, so he thoroughly enjoys it when we do. First thing he does almost every morning is run to his chair, sit in it, and point to the TV saying "wanna wonna choo choo", which translates to "Good morning mommy and daddy, may I please watch a Thomas the Train DVD while I drink my milk this morning?" He's so polite.
Then he says, "a-a-a outside, a-a-a outside", which means he wants to go outside. He pretty much wants to be outside all day.

Video: Delivery Man

Blake and Kara's Wedding

Luke loves putting on his tux...
Here comes the bride!
Kendall and Carly watching the procession...Natalie with my Aunt and cousins just before we all showed off our moves on the dance floor...
Luke had a tough time falling asleep at the reception so here's my awesome family watching him outside...

Mother's Day with Mom and Gram

Natalie took my mom and gram out for a Mother's Day brunch at the Filoli Center.
They had a great time eating and walking the beautiful grounds.
While they were out, us men went out to the pub for beer and calzones...

Greg, Sharda, and Cooper

Natalie's cousin (and my old friend) Greg and his wife Sharda visited today and we got to celebrate their baby on the way! Yeah, Luke's gonna have another buddy to hang out with in Sacramento.
We haven't seen them in a while so it was great to catch up over some good lunch in the backyard.

Weekend in Sacramento

After Kara's shower we headed to the Osuna's for their baby shower. They've got a fun house with a rabbit...
and a huge St. Bernard!
Luke had a great time mushing up these bananas and trying to get them in his mouth.
The cat looks mad because Luke likes pulling his hair out.

Easter in Lodi

We got to visit Gram in Lodi this weekend to Celebrate Easter! Here's the family picture:Luke wasn't so sure about the Easter bunny...
He was content to chill out under gram's famous orange tree with grandpa all afternoon.
He looks a little grown up in this picture, lounging in the shade... I wonder what he'd be saying...
"Hey mom, grab me another Corona while you're in there."

Wine Tasting in Livermore

Luke experienced his first winetasting today at Wente and Fenestra with his grandparents. It turned out to be a great meeting point between Mountain View and Sacramento -- we'll have to do it again!

Weekend at the Lodge

Our first time seeing the Bradley Lodge with snow! Luckily we got there on Saturday morning after the rest of the family had already shoveled 5ft of snow off the deck the day before.
We went on a couple good walks around the neighborhood -- need some chains on that stroller!Luke enjoyed hanging out with his grandma and grandpa, great grandma, and aunts and uncles.
Natalie and I decided against skiing on Saturday and relaxed on the couch all day. Luke tried out a high-chair for the first time joining us for dinner. Then he beat us at Apples to Apples.

Wii New Year's Party!

Wii played Wii until the Wii hours at the family New Year's Wii Party. I think the biggest hit was watching everyone make fools of themselves in the dancing game.

Video: Luke's First Christmas

Skiing at Crystal Mountain

Skiing the day after Christmas with Nick, Steph, Caleb, and Jordan was a blast. No lines, deep powder, and beautiful weather. Here's a pic with Mt. Rainier in the background:Nobody on the slopes except this hot snow bunny...
Luke enjoyed his stay at the lodge with Stephen and Lori while his mom and dad were out on the slopes.
We "accidentally" took Natalie up an experts only chairlift to the top peak. The only way down is double black diamonds. After Natalie got over her initial shock at the incline and the deep powder, she made it down without even falling! I'm a proud husband.

Merry Christmas!

Sip and See in Sacramento

Last Sunday I participated in my first "Sip and See," i.e. baby viewing party. It was a great way for a lot of people to come by and meet Luke in a short amount of time. A little over 50 people showed up, and Luke still remembers all their names!
Check out the slideshow Wednesday for pics of everyone holding Luke...

Thanksgiving at the Bradley Lodge

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving at the Bradley Lodge this year.We played some rousing games of Hillbilly Horseshoes,
and looked up,at some very big trees.
Luke is getting hugemongous!HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
The whole family...And we finished with some wine tasting at the Twisted Oak winery. Do you recognize the lamp from "A Christmas Story"?

Natalie's mom visiting for the weekend

This is what Natalie looks like while she's carrying Luke and talking to her cousin on the phone about her recent trip to Italy while walking through the park to the store with her mom and me.
One of Luke's first smiles...

Rent the Bradley Lodge

Looking for a beautiful mountain getaway with all the comforts of home? We've really enjoyed staying at my parent's cabin in Big Trees and now it's available for vacation rental so you can enjoy it as well! Look at this kitchen, wow!...


Click here to check out more pictures and book online.

There are many more pictures and a more detailed list of amenities online if you're interested.
Its 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths can fit anywhere from 2-12 people (a couple families) comfortably. Near Big Trees State Park, hiking, kayaking, fishing, snowshoeing, winetasting, great launching point for a ski weekend at Bear Valley, flat screen TV, new appliances and furniture, ping-pong table, yada yada...

Luke's Third Week

Gram and Great-Gram in Town

Thanks mom and gram for coming over and helping us out for a few days! Here's Luke gazing into his grandmother's eyes...


Luke with Great-Grandma.


Lynn stopped by to hold Luke and drop off some yummy food (Thanks!).


We were also glad to be able to see Emily before she heads off to Nairobi.

Emily was even able to convince me to play soccer with her tonight. It was great to put the cleats on again after a long hiatus -- and we won the game! I'll be sore for the next few days.