*a few more...

...of my favorite moments from our trip:

family boat ride::

i loved seeing the cousins playing together::

vera loves "coloring," doesn't matter if the cap is on or off::

the boys heading across angora lake to jump off cliffs::

enjoying chocolate popsicles and fresh lemonade::

she loves to take a drink and say "AHHH!!!". and then you do it too, and then she does it again::

the family just gets bigger and bigger::

vera loved her raft time with daddy::

... and how cute is this bikini? $3.50 @ Old Navy:

[[one more summer trip left! stay tuned :)]]

*matching

[Gegi and I thought these were cuter than a posed photo anyway]

*the cupcake

*** ***
Vera and Marie's birthdays are a couple days apart so we celebrated them together. Vera was nearing bedtime meltdown though, so she had her cupcake before dinner. She was pretty dainty at first, wiped a little frosting in her hair and then devoured the rest.

***

all the cousins cheering her on - i think they were hoping she'd get messier ... [ok, in this picture they look bored, but they were cheering her on :)]

the birthday girls. last time we were at the lake we celebrated Marie's 1st birthday! I can't believe Vera is going to be a little girl like this before we know it!!

*la arena

I love Tahoe sand : beautiful, clean, coarse tiny grainy bits of perfectly polished rocks that I love to run my hands through, shape into castles and bury my feet in. I had a feeling that Vera would loooooove playing in it too, and she did. She could sit contentedly for a good long while with bucket and shovel in hand or even just picking up handfuls and watching it sift away.

...what a long, full, wonderful trip we had - I'm going to have to share it in incremements...

*happy birthday peanut!

This is one of my favorite pictures.  I took it with my cell phone in the hospital room on Vera's first night.  Ben had gone home to sleep and it was just me and her.  I remember it was [finally] really quiet and still and I just stared at her sweet alert little face.  It was surreal after all that waiting to finally meet her, and looking at the picture fills me with a sweet sense of nostalgia for that moment.

Happy Birthday Vera!  

We love you so much - we can't even believe how much!

*happy 4th

I love to think back on that happiest of days ... an amazingly beautiful setting, [almost] all our friends and family present, beautiful flowers, good food, a delicious/gorgeous cake [rivaled only by julie + jeremy's], a wonderful Christ-centered ceremony - all to crown the joyous happy excitement we felt at the prospect of what our lives together would bring. And here we are 4 years later. Memories of new homes put together, new friends made together, meals shared together, a few character building arguments together [just a couple :)], a precious little family started together - - - Ben, I'm so glad we get to do this together!



*(sorry, i can't figure out pictures on ben's laptop)
** I feel I should thank everyone again for helping make our wedding so amazing. so many beautiful details!

*here we are

::::{a much much anticipated trip to tahoe.  i did find a wireless connection in the cabin [smokeyjoe's - i'm quite disciplined, only online a couple times] but having a hard time uploading photos.  this is my favorite pirated picture off google.  it's really that beautiful here }::::

*three friendies

*fresh herbs

This is my other favorite summer dinner, especially if the goods come from the garden. Just about everything did - even the lettuce! Well the broccolini was from the farmer's market [so good!]. Man, it was delicious - I'm still upset I didn't make more.

{...eaten on the front step b/c we don't have a porch...}

.:Pasta:.

garlic

lots of olive oil

broccolini

basil, oregano, thyme

rosemary, italian parsley

couple drops of balsamic vinegar [which liz brought from italy!]

lots of pinenuts

grated parmesan

salt+pepper

.:Salad:.
lettuce
radishes
carrots
feta
oil+vinegar

*one year ago

Celebrating an early anniversary: watching **the amazing** Pink Martini at Deer Valley. Brie, baguettes, corn/basil salad and a big fat pregnant belly [she was already about 9 lbs in there!!!!].

*la cocinita

I bought this at a garage sale today for twenty bucks! I often drool over these ridiculously expensive ones as well as this one, so I am so excited to have found this! I can't wait to [have Ben sand first - I hate sanding] paint it and stock it with some pots & pans. I remember lusting after a kitchen set when I was little and am happy to live through Vera :)

*these little hands...

[you should have seen the look she gave me: uh mom, i'm trying to read a book here..]

*walking

I've been told I should get a video of Vera while she's in her wobbly-walking stage. She's already transitioning from holding her arms out Frankenstein-style and even though she still mostly crawls, is more confident every day...:



:...and yes I've posted a lot lately...:

*first artwork

I know the day will come when she'll be in trouble for defacing a favorite book, but for now I'm so excited to see she's discovered what to do with a colored pencil! I sat back and watched her figure it out all on her own :)

*sparklers

[...at our neighbors' last night...]

*

...lately Vera is really into getting into things...

*first word [maybe]

Vera is making a new sound that I think is her attempt at a first word (besides Dada). She started saying it every time she saw my parents' dogs and now says it sometimes when she sees Boone or any other dog/animal. Or she doesn't say it at all - maybe it's just a new sound.

*buen viaje!

Jessie and Ben stayed with us last night on their way through to New York. Jessie got into Columbia's journalism program and Ben got a sweet [my Ben would say] job nearby. We are so proud of them!!! We really enjoy these two so much, and there were a couple tears on this end as they drove away.

*ok.

She does look a lot like me. However, those pictures were the closest I found! Vera is far cuter than I was with that hint of her chinese/filipino roots that I see developing more and more. I guess that's what I keep looking for. And it's there :)

*little annie

Vera and I have been in Nevada all week. Whenever I'm home I love looking and relooking at old photos. I keep searching for Vera's face in mine. It's there, but she is definitely her own little person. Here I am at 10 mos./18 mos: