July in CA

I love going home to California for my annual summer trip. I normally like to spend about 10 days out there catching up with friends and family and this year meeting all of the new additions! I try to make it to the west coast as much as I can, but if all else fails, I always make it out for my July trip! This year was action packed. It all started with dinner at Heather's house, then it was go, go, go from there.

I spent two days in Lake Tahoe at Marlene's in-laws cabin. It was so nice to get away for a couple of days and enjoy the sun and freezing cold lake. Tracy and Heidi joined us. Thanks Mar and Todd for letting us stay with you!! I also got to meet the newest addition to the Cook family, Katelyn! Both of her kids are so cute!

Ellie & Katelyn :)
Thanks for hosting Cooks!

There was no resting in between Tahoe and my next activity.....THE POLICE at the Concord Pavilion. I loved it. Tracy (thanks for bringing me as your date) Heather, and her co-worker Danielle, Angie and a bunch of people from Tracy's old work headed out to the lawn on a beautiful NorCal night. To our surprise, we were upgraded into pretty good seats and enjoyed the closer view. Sting was amazing. He looked 50 but sounded 25!Getting ready for The Police
Our new friend, Sting's #1 fan. I caught him jumping in the back of one of our group shots, and from then on, he thought he was out BFF! He plays a mean air guitar.
If you've ever been to an A's game then you know this guy! Heather and I love making new friends.

From there it was lunch with Alix and Ayla. Then lunch with Cindy and Logan on Friday. I then had to hit the Nordstrom Sale (we don't have one in Memphis) then went to my brother's softball game. His team was playing a bunch of my guy friends from high school. It was great to see all of them, then head to Rocco's for pizza and beer with the LaSala's! It was so wonderful to catch up with everyone one on one. I find this can be hard on most of my trips. I was thankful to be in town for two full weekends!
How cute is baby Alya

I was also lucky enough to be in town for Angie's son Anthony's 4th birthday party. It was a great afternoon watching the kids swim and play, while catching up with all of the fun people at the party!
Happy 4th Birthday Anthony


Tracy bought Anthony some fake mustaches, we thought they were hilarious and had to show them off! Shelby, Ashley's daughter, though they were pretty funny too!Biker Babes?
This one was too cute not to post. Shelby wasn't even fazed by the sticky furry mustache!

I know

Well, I'm in California with limited Internet access, but I've had tons of fun stuff going on. Pictures and stories coming soon to a blog near you!

4th of July in STL

Shawn and I headed up to St. Louis for the 4th weekend. One of Shawn's best friends lives up there, and has a super fun house with a pool. We spent the whole day on the 4th swimming, playing pool volleyball and bbqing!

Saturday, we headed downtown and went to the Cards/Cubs game. The Cards won with a walk off single in the bottom of the 9th!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th weekend.

Next stop.....HOME!! NorCal here I come.

Congrats John & Michelle

Shawn and I, and the rest of my dad's side of the family, spent a long weekend in Chapel Hill, NC for my cousin Michelle's wedding. We had a wonderful weekend filled with typical cousin craziness and amazing events planned by John, Michelle and their parents!

Thank you so much for making us part of your special day.

Friday my aunts hosted a luncheon for Michelle at Spanky's in Chapel Hill. The food and company were great.

Later that night, we headed to the UNC football field for the rehearsal dinner. It was so much fun to go down on the field and play a little football. John & Michelle had catered food from their favorite restaurants in town.

Maybe my brother should have played football instead of baseball! Nice form!

Saturday morning we took a tour of the UNC basketball arena (including a trip to the locker room!)
Michael Jordan's jersey is top row second from the right.

Saturday night was the wedding at the Carolina Inn on UNC's campus. The wedding, reception and hotel were are beautiful. Here are just a couple pics:

Sunday, Shawn and I headed to Duke. That campus is unbelievable. The Duke Chapel and Cameron Stadium are a must see!