Winter Full of Experiences

Earlier in the season Andrew and I put together a list of all the things we wanted to do at Christmastime. I'm happy to report we've completed nearly all of them! For any of you looking for a few fun Christmas activities, may I recommend the following:
1. Newport/Balboa Boat Parade
2. Eggnog lattes
3. Roger's Gardens
4. Holiday baking
5. Do a puzzle
6. Find a themed Christmas ornament for the year
7. Throw a tacky sweater party
8. Walk around Naples (in Long Beach, not Italy)
9. Decorate the house and the Christmas tree
10. Go Christmas shopping
11. Make peppermint bark
12. Watch A Christmas Story
13. Watch It's a Wonderful Life
14. Sip cider by the lights of the tree
15. Keep warm by the fire (one we have yet to do...without a fireplace, this one's tough)

Andrew's 28th Birthday

This year for Andrew's birthday we went to Mastro's in Newport Beach - it was incredible! First, this nice couple next to us gave us a half-bottle of wine that was $28/glass (which I had a couple sips of...okay, a "couple" meaning 4 or 5...but it was a special occasion!). The food was amazing. We ordered their signature Lobster Mashed Potatoes and were shocked when the bill came back and they were $35!! But we figured the wine and the free birthday carrot cake made up for it so we'll count it as another successful dining adventure!

I got Andrew an iPod for his gift and with as often as he uses it I think it might live a short life. Our last birthday celebration childless!

4th Annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party

Last Saturday was our 4th Annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party! What could be more tacky than Andrew's facial hair?
Every year our guests get tackier and tackier. This year in an amazing feat the Kershes took the award for Ruth Hartman Achievement in the Field of Tackyness, putting an end to the Jones' Christmas tacky dynasty. Andrew was so proud of his Tacky Table, complete with Mac n' Weenies, Pizza Pockets, Funyuns, a Cheeseball and Wine in a Box.
The Gourmet Table

Andrew executed his tacky program flawlessly. We played Write a Tacky Christmas Limerick and exchanged the tackiest ornaments we could find (though the idea was for everyone to take theirs home and somehow we ended up with about 15 hidden throughout our tree...darn them).

Heather, Julie and me

Beautiful Washington

The Hartman Family at Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with the Hartmans in Washington this year and it was incredible! Here we are on an afternoon walk (burning off the Holiday calories). Behind us is the Puget Sound - can you believe Larry and Ruth get this view right from their living room?!

Thanksgiving Street Scrabble

Thanksgiving Street Scrabble Rules

1. Anything goes as long as you can sell it and it's funny.

An Oldie But a Goodie

Bored at Grandma's Remedy:

1. One Digital Camera
2. One Magnifying Glass

I procreated. Should you be worried?

Baby's Momma.

Auntie Nellie.

Kelly's Birthday

Andrew took me to dinner at Mozambique in Laguna Beach for my 27th birthday. This after he made the most incredible breakfast (complete with an eggnog latte...my first of the season) in the morning. To top it all off he got my NINE pieces of jewelry! I think I married the most incredible man in the world.
Granny and Pops took us out for my birthday and we ate at 230 Forest in Laguna Beach (incredible food...average service). Here we are enjoying our post-dinner cappucino at Starbucks.
Clearly their baristas are paid for their ability to create the perfect latte rather than the perfect photograph.



Well, bring on the belly shots! Here I was at 24 weeks. Note the shirt I have is not a maternity shirt and has since been retired to the "non-pregnancy" section of the closet.

Our Future Babysitter

We were informed today that we have many hours of this to look forward to.

Unfortunately, we're also told this video is not a joke.

Orange County Fire

Several of you have asked how close we were to the fires so I thought I would post a few pics that Andrew took last weekend when the Orange County fire started. He snapped them from our backyard and though it looks pretty close it was actually about 7 miles away. It rained ash for several days and we're still cleaning it off countertops and sweeping it up in the backyard but we were very fortunate that this was the extent of our being affected.

Happy Halloween

I'd like to introduce you to our "friendly" milkman. Turns out we're going to be spending a lot more time together!

This was our showing at the annual Jones' Halloween Party. A huge step-up from the Nascar team from 2006. We even worked the Cat Walk! We were only two votes short of the most original costume, losing to a girl in a birdcage. No kidding.

Fall Pancake Breakfast with Ladies Club

Last weekend I hosted a Fall Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast/Caramel Apple Extravaganza with Meghan, Beth and Sara. Little Wallace came too and was the first boy included in Ladies Club. Here I am as the short order cook.

Enjoying breakfast. I love the fall! I found this pancake mix at Williams-Sonoma that I highly recommend - it's Pumpkin Pecan Spice and it's amazing!

Outside on the fountain. Meghan and I forgot our knee-highs.

Hawaii

Last week we went to Kauai! It was incredible and after 6 days we still weren't ready to come home.
We rented a Jeep convertible and then traded it in for a PT Cruiser convertible, which was a better fit for the weather which was unpredictable. The Cruiser even came with its own family of cockroaches!
Here we are eating shave ice in Koloa...you can see I have my very own "baby bump."

Here we are at the Princeville Resort overlooking Hanalei Bay. We thought about having dinner here but didn't want to take out a second on our house to do so.

The view from our room in Poipu. This beach had the most incredible snorkeling!

We're Pregnant

On June 29th we found out we are expecting! It was really a surprise to the both of us, so much so that Andrew made me take a second test just to make sure. We're due February 23rd, 2008!