4th of July Tiki Style

The 4th of July celebration started Thursday night when Jerry, Greg, Auds, Darren, Joel and Gena flew into town for a 3 day weekend. We partied a bit Thursday night enjoying some beers at our house, some food and cocktails at the Tap Room and finishing up with pitchers at The Dog. Friday I started off my day with a long walk trying to avoid the early morning beer bongs, fortunately I got out of those but by doing so I missed breakfast which was followed up with Joel proposing to Gena. Of course she said yes and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening celebrating! Congrats again you two!

Saturday was the 4th, we tapped the keg and started drinking pretty early. Audra did an amazing job decorating the house with a Tiki theme, she went all out once again. Even Daisy got to dress up. The guests arrived around noon and the day included lots of beer pong, jello shots and a dance off once the sun went down. It also seemed to include a mini Dublin High reunion which was so much fun. And I end the weekend with this photo - Yes, that means I had a good time!!

The Nilssens in SD

Mark and Nancy drove down for a mini vacation in San Diego! The weather was ugly the entire weekend but we made the best of it. The boys went and golfed and Nancy and I walked the boardwalk, had brunch, shopped the mall, of course Daisy joined us on all the festivities. Here are a few pictures from the weekend - Daisy loves her grandparents!!

Introducing little Daisy!

So after months of filling out applications, meeting with rescues and getting our house approved, we finally were able to adopt our first pup! Daisy is a wonderful 7 1/2 month old we were fortunate enough to meet, fall in love with and take home on Saturday! She was being fostered in Van Nuys by a volunteer with the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue, a great organization. Our meeting went great Saturday morning, we were filling out adoption papers by 10am.

We had a fun first weekend together, we have been inseparable. We started off by attending the Stephen's Memorial Day BBQ, we introduced her to the bay and the boardwalk and did some powerwalking, and the 3 of us went out to eat a few times including Zanzibar, Old City Grill, Einsteins Bagels and lunch with Meliss and Derek at the Shack! We also did some lounging around the house, listening to music in the yard in the afternoon and cuddling to watch movies at night. Here are some pictures of her first few days!

Mr. and Mrs. Shuck

Darren and Audra flew down early to enjoy a bit of San Diego before we headed over to Palm Springs for the weekend. After a Friday morning run and breakfast, we hopped in the cars and drove over to La Quinta to meet up with everyone for Heather and Sam's wedding festivities. We spent Friday afternoon at the pool in order to deal with the 100 degree weather and then headed to Arnold Palmer's bar for some cocktails and dancing that night. Saturday the boys went golfing with the wedding party and Audra and I took a LONG walk (which included a cab ride back), enjoyed some more pool time and then we all headed to their beautiful country club wedding that night. It was a wonderful ceremony and had such a blast at the reception. The bride and groom looked amazing of course - congrats you two!

Derek's birthday!

Happy Birthday Derek! I got to watch lil G for Meliss and Derek as they enjoyed food and drinks out on the town. I had to post a video! Ignore my voice, not pretty!!

Lake Tahoe

My parents were able to pull off a last minute trip with me up to Tahoe to check out some venues for our wedding later this year. We spent the weekend running all over the area, meeting with coordinators and getting quotes. We all fell in love with Edgewood, which shares sides with the beautiful lake and golf course. My uncle Rick and aunt Nora were able to join us - thank you both for all of your help!

Girls Weekend - Palm Desert!

This past weekend was our annual girls trip out to the JW Marriott in Palm Desert! It has grown to be 2 full days of drinking cocktails in the pool, FBT style dinners in the room, and late night drinks and dancing (or dance off's if you are Caroline!) at Costa's which is the hotel club. We always look like we are a bachelorette party but its just a fun weekend with the girls! Can't wait for next year!