Friday, August 07, 2009

Happy Birthday, Haven

On August 2nd we celebrated Haven's actual 4th birthday! We had such a GREAT time at Haven's grandparents' place up in Three Rivers.

This is THE life

Birthday girl

Baby K managed, once again, to be absolutely adorable with everyone at the party

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Farewell San Francisco!

On Monday before going home, we stopped at the Carousel on 4th St so that Brianna could play for a bit before the long drive. She loved it!
A mascot by a nearby restaurant
Our healthy eater savoring a sandwich of lettuce, tomatoes and soy cheese. Yum!!!

WE DID IT!!!!

To cap off this incredible weekend celebration, Jeremy, Bibi and Kiara officially completed the San Francisco Marathon in 3 hours 47 mi. Obviously didn't beat any records but what an incredible personal accomplishment it was! A little example of living a life that is not defined by physical shortcomings but enhanced by them. We read a sign that said: "Pain is temporary, victory is forever." And especially for Bibi, to whom pain is not temporary but a constant companion, victory was even sweeter. Through this crazy busy month of July, Bibi (who gave birth to Kiara just a short 3 months ago) was able to train some every week at night and did some cross training to avoid a recurrence of knee injury.
Jeremy, who for the past 6 months has gone from bacterial infection to flu, to bronchitis and back to infections, walked some nights with Bibi but that was the extent of it. During the race he pulled a tendon on his left knee and is still recovering.
Here we are crossing the finish line as a family. Brianna joined us for the last few steps of the race and was excited to "finish" with us. We were so overwhelmed with many different emotions and also incredibly thankful to God to let us accomplish this milestone, our first half, against all odds ...
In the evening after the race, the Pierson Clan and the Maycock's went to an Ethiopian Cafe to celebrate and recover. Here is Brianna chowing down injera, potatoes and veggies. She loves Ethiopian food. We're so proud of her for loving Ethnic food as much as we do too!
"Mommy, I want more potatoes, please"

What a celebration!!!!

What a treat to have Heather & Bob at the party!
Three beautiful little angels
Just one picture of the family style salad/appetizer plate at Specchio's. The beet salad was amazing, the green salad and bruschetta was incredible. We were so glad to "carb up" on this feast to the senses
Brianna gave extra hugs to Amee on this special occasion



More family & friends!

This pic was taken shortly after Gloria and Ken arrived at the restaurant. They just can't believe their eyes!
Daddies on duty
Jen and Nate Trujillo
Eric & Alina (it was awesome to meet Alina for the first time, go Eric!!!)

40th Anniversary Extravaganza

Ken and Jeremy were in charge of the party program and Crystal and Bibi organized all the details through the course of several months. It was an amazing party with the best Italian food we've ever had and fabulous company
Close friends of Ken and Gloria, Hasselbracks and Barnes, were able to join us in SF. It made the surprise even more special!
The honorees of the night! 40 years and still going strong!
The GOP parents

Ken and Gloria's SURPRISE 40th Anniversary Dinner

On Saturday night, July 25th lots of family and friends gathered for a memorable celebration of Ken & Gloria's 40 years together. It was a surprise party and Ken and Gloria were actually blown away! We actually surprised them and they loved it! Here are some pics of the table settings at Specchio Ristorante - the best Italian spot in the city
Many months of planning payed off! Everything went down without a hitch
Thanks Auntie Sharon and Heather Thayne! The orchid floral arrangements were absolutely stunning! Each family took one home as a party souvenir. What a treat!
The big welcome table arrangement went to the honorees of the night. Given that orchids are Gloria's favorite flower, we took her breath away.

Baby Dedication Program - July 25th, 2009

Natalie Trujillo, Bri and Makayla Gorton had a blast playing together throughout the weekend
This was a very special dedication for us. Everyone in the family participated: Amee read a few awesome EGW quotes on raising kids, Ampee dedicated Kiara and the whole family, Brianna and Daddy were in charge of special music and Mommy made the dedication souvenirs. And this all happened on our actual 10th year anniversary!!!!
Daddy and Brianna sang both in English and Spanish
All the GOP Moms prepared a delicious summer lunch that we all enjoyed a lot!

Kiara's Second Baby Dedication - San Francisco

The weekend of July 25th found us in the Peninsula (we just can't keep still, can we?). This time we were there for several reasons, as you will see. It turned out to be the "Pierson Weekend." We kicked it off (on our end) on Sabbath with Kiara's Second Baby Dedication for all the family and friends who couldn't attend the Visalia one.

The Pierson Girls
GOP and beyon! (GOP stands for Gutschuss, Ordelheide and Pierson). The GOP has been together since Africa days and their friendship spans through two generations now.
Great Grandma Lucille and baby Kiara

Jazzed Up about GOOGLE

Santana Row's Farmers Market. An amazing array of fresh fruit, vegetables, breas, dips, baked goods and everything in between. We were blown away by the quality of it all!
You can see Daddy & Brianna dancing jazz in the background. Live jazz is all the rage!
We also found time to hit the GOOGLE complex and take some pics.
We drove around quite a bit and all we saw were GOOGLE buildings. It's a huge company that is going green as well. This company rewards employees who bike rather than drive to work. Go GOOGLE!