Sun Valley Vacation...

Jeff, Ethan, and I headed over to Sun Valley Idaho to celebrate the 4th of July and hang out for a week in the sun. We got to hang out with my sister and her family visiting from Colorado, my step brother from Utah, and my parents. It was a perfect 80 degrees every day we were there and we had a ton of pool time and lots and lots of home made ice cream. I definitely need a sugar detox now that we are back home. We also drove into Hailey Idaho for their 4th of July parade and took a gondola ride up to the top of Baldy Mountain to eat at the Roundhouse Grill.

We had a long, long drive there consisting of ten plus hours but it was worth it and thanks to the iPad, Ethan did tremendously well. We plan on hopefully making this a annual Summer tradition.

Happy Anniversary Round 2...

This last weekend it was Jeff's turn to surprise me for our ten year wedding anniversary. He didn't give me any details, just to be ready by 3 and that we were staying somewhere overnight. When we got in the car we started driving down towards the wineries and I figured out that we were staying at the Willow's Lodge. I always wanted to stay here so I was pretty happy. Then he told me that we were going to be eating at the HerbFarm restaurant for dinner which I was extremely excited about since it is a nine course wine paired meal. He also threw in a spa appointment in the morning and everyone knows I love the spa.

When we arrived at the restaurant they give a garden walk before dinner so we decided to go and check out the wine cellar before it started. On the way back to the cellar we ran into our friend Kristin and then the rest of our friends. I was so shocked that we were all going to be eating dinner together in one of their private rooms and it was fantastic. Lot's of fun and good laughs were had by all and Jeff then went and surprised me with a anniversary band. The night could not have been any more perfect and we had such a fabulous time. Here's to the first ten years and many more years of happiness to come. I love you Jeff!!

(Thanks to my wonderful friend Courtney for taking the pictures.)

A new gate...

We have lived in our house for almost ten years and the day we moved into our house I always wanted to replace our front gate to our backyard. Our old one had been rotting for the past several years and each year it became harder and harder to open it. After my dad had done a bunch of work on his house, including many fences I asked for his help since Jeff and I had no clue where to begin. We also had one of our first nice days of the summer so we lucked out with the weather. Thankfully my dad agreed to help us out and did most of the work since we were busy trying to wrangle Ethan so we owe him a HUGE THANKS.

I tried to capture the process while it was happening. Check it out below...

Ski to Sea...

We spent Sunday of our Memorial Day weekend up in Bellingham hanging out with Grandpa and Jackie, attending the Ski to Sea festival. It was a fabulous day since the sun decided to make an appearance. Ethan enjoyed lots of good treats, ice cream, playing at the playground, playing at the beach, seeing old cars, and a trip to the bouncy house. It's great that he can participate in this festival that I participated in while living in Bellingham.

Weekend in Napa Valley

Even though our ten year anniversary is not until next month I surprised Jeff with a weekend trip to Napa Valley Wine Country. We arrived on Friday morning to sunshine and blue skies and drove out to wine country. Our first stop was to Oakville Grocery for some picnic supplies and sandwiches out back behind the market. After the market we then made a quick stop at the Robert Mondavi Winery to take some pictures of their lovely property.

We then headed on over to Del Dotto Vineyards for a cave tour. This tour was fantastic and we both enjoyed it greatly. Out tour guide for the day was Brandon and he was really great and told us a lot about how they made their wine and especially gave us an education about different barrel treatments.

We then checked into the Cottages of Napa Valley. The cottages were the perfect choice for lodging in the valley and their service was excellent. When we checked in they gave us a basket of smore fixin's since each cottage comes with an outdoor fireplace. They also gave us a complimentary bottle of Napa wine, drinks, and snacks. When staying at the cottages you also receive a breakfast basket every morning that consisted of fresh baked goods from the well known Bouchon Bakery and fresh squeezed OJ.

On Saturday we met up with our friends Jill and Greg for more wine tasting further up the valley. We began the day with a tour of the Castello Di Amorosa. This was a huge winery with a huge castle on the grounds. All of the wine was stored in underground tunnels that seemed to go on forever. They also had a torture chamber and armory and many other hidden gems. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and where we found my mom's Chardonnay.

Here are a couple of more winery highlights that we visited on Saturday...

Prager Winery & Port

Heitz Cellars

Peju

Domaine Chandon

Beringer

We also had some fantastic meals at Ad Hoc, The Restaurant at Meadowood, and Gott's Roadside.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's day this year kicked off with getting presents in bed, bath stuff and cookie cutters from Ethan and a lovely spa gift certificate from Jeff. Definitely something any mom could use. Ethan picked out a SpongeBob Squarepants card and even signed it himself. I think he did a great job with signing his name.

We then went to Ruby's for breakfast followed by a trip to Flower World in Maltby to pick up flowers for the yard and veggie's for my garden. This year we planted peas, snow peas, two different types of tomatoes, lettuce, acorn squash, and mini jack pumpkins.

To all of you mom's I wish you a very happy Mother's Day. I hope that your day was as great as mine. :)