Special Occasions Galore

While blogging is not my forte, I feel that special occasions deserve a post every now and again. This past month has been full of special occasions and I wish I could pause time for just a little bit so that I could savor the present for just a little bit MORE. February began with our youngest turning 8 years old.

This included a birthday party with friends at USA Sports,

getting her ears pierced,



and most importantly, choosing to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.
All of Kamryn's grandparents travelled here from Utah for the event. Our California cousins were also able to attend, along with many of our dear friends here in Hollister. It was a lovely day and we are grateful to the many people who contributed.

Arnell and I also celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary in February. We spent it in San Francisco...one of our favorite places to visit. The BYU Men's Basketball team happened to be playing a game at the Univ. of San Francisco so we began our get-away there. What an exciting game!(BYU won by 85-84) While that might not seem very "anniversary-ish", we are avid BYU fans and will cheer for them anywhere, anyway we can:-) We stayed at The Argonaut Hotel which is at the end of Fisherman's Wharf.


I think it's safe to say it's the nicest hotel I've ever been in. We don't know this for sure, but we have a hunch they upgraded our room (our room was HUGE and had an ocean view....which my husband admitted he did not reserve). The hotel even left us a "Happy Anniversary" note along with some sparkling apple cider. It's the little details that can make all the difference.

The weather could not have been more perfect either. Because of the warm sun, we were able to walk all over SF and not worry about rain (Ghirardelli Square, the Ferry Building, Giants Stadium). But as we were leaving SF, the fog was rolling in and looked very menacing. We drove home along Hwy 1, stopping at several beaches that had been listed on a website Arnell found titled, "10 best places to stop between SF and Santa Cruz". We had fun taking pictures and just walking along the shores.
Our day ended at an Italian restaurant in Santa Cruz called "Kianti's". I was surprised to find all of our friends there waiting! It was actually a surprise dinner for all the February birthday girls (one of them was me:-)). What a nice surprise it was too! And at the end of the night, I didn't want to go home. It's hard to see some things end and this anniversary was definitely one of them. Thank you Arnell for a wonderful time!

My birthday is at the end of what my husband affectionately calls "Mega Week" (valentines, anniversary & my birthday). My only desire for the day was to NOT cook. I just wanted to be free of that responsibility for one day. So we all went to Cozy Cup for breakfast, my friends took me to lunch, and my family made dinner at home. It was the best! Love, love, love my family and friends. You've made this busy month so memorable and fun!