TrishandJeff.org

Reblog: Reesie’s Birthday

Jeff — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:30:31 +0000

At the risk of breaking the internet with a infinite loop, I’m reblogging my sister’s blog (which links to my blog) of Reese’s birthday party.

Happy Birthday Reese

Jeff — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:48:48 +0000

Reese, or Reese-E as she is commonly referred to, turned the big Oh Two today. The past year has been amazing an amount of growth her; it’s almost like she doubled in age. She’s learned how to talk (a lot), jump, sing, pray, ride her balance bike, share with her sister and sleep in a big girl bed. Reese is a independent girl who loves to curl up and read books. Pinkalicious has quickly become her favorite, but she also delves into the classics like Dr. Seuss and Frog and Toad. Though she’s self entertained there are two characters in her life she can’t do without. Her blankee and her Dad; which might be related since they both start to stink after a few days.

Boxing Day

Jeff — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:25:13 +0000

Tide Pools

Jeff — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:12:05 +0000

This morning we headed over to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Half Moon Bay to catch the tide pools at low tide. We were hoping to see some star fish, sea urchins and crabs. Lucky for us we were able to complete our checklist. We met the Mo Bros at the beach (this time it was planned) and started exploring. It didn’t take long for our socks to get wet or to find our first star fish. Cousin B tallied 24 star fish. Most were purple and blended perfectly into the rocks and mussels, but there were some that stood out with beautiful shades of orange and red. Sea Urchins were easy to find and there were some awesome greens and purples. On our way out some older boys find a kelp crab under a rock — the packages thought that was pretty cool.

Photos are online.

Our first find.

P helping Reese

Some were hard to find

All the packages had a good time

Tea Party

Jeff — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:04:18 +0000

With that headline, I just gotta. Wait for it. Here it comes.

At our house we love three thing about tea parties. The tea, the tea pot and uh, what’s the third one, let’s see. Hmmm, I’m sure there’s a third one. Huh, can’t remember the third one. Oops.

Actually the third one is the easy one. Pinkies out. Payton’s Aunt Marice recently gave her a tea pot and she’s been enjoying making and serving us tea.

Tickled Pink

Jeff — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:03:39 +0000

Santa brought both the girls new bikes for Christmas. They are pink of course. Or should I say, Payton’s is pink and Reese’s balance bike is shocking pink (apparently that’s a real color). Payton’s been riding too fast for my camera to catch, but Reese moves at just the right pace.

Jurassic Park

Jeff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:20:39 +0000

The day after New Years we took the girls over to Half Moon Bay for some hiking, sea shell collecting and the best chai tea this side of Bombay (according to SF Gate). When we got to the coast we were happy to see the sun, but weren’t expecting to see dinosaurs.

The Christmas letter that wasn’t.

Jeff — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:40:42 +0000

Trish and I never do a Christmas letter. Our reluctance to pen our annual feats probably has to do with me growing up with an aspiring journalist whose letters could win the Pulitzer. But, now that even she has relinquished the word processer to her husband I figured I’d give it a try.

Dear Family, Friends and random creepy internet stalkers,

2011 was awesome. I added like fifty new facebook friends, managed to make it through the year without tweeting pictures of myself in my underwear, I’ve got ten million bucks waiting for me in Nigeria and my marriage lasted more than 72 days. Now, that’s how you spell Winning!

Despite all my personal success over the past year, my wife and daughters made my achievements look pedestrian. Reese turned one in January and has been in a race to get to two ever since. She’s gotten great at talking, loves to sing Christmas carols and Happy Birthday and is now working on her stand-up comedy routine. Reese loves to read books, giggle and dress in pink. In December Reese declared she’s done with the crib and loves to pronounce that “I sleep in big girl bed”.

Payton turned four this year with a princess cake, a princess bounce house and a princess dress. Payton has blossomed into a very sweet girl, who loves to instruct her sister (and Dad), ride her bike and take care of her dolls. She has informed us she plans on being a princess when she grows up; we’re just happy we let her watch Kate Middleton’s wedding and not Kim Kardishian’s.

Trish survived her first Bay Area winter and has settled in nicely to her new career. In addition to raising the girls she launched an organization business. Luckily, I still qualify for pro bono service. To pile it on even more she worked out nearly every day of 2011, learned how to make some of the most amazing culinary dishes (peanut butter and chocolate brownies!), got the family eating healthy and once again won wife of the year (seven years running).

As I reflected on my post about Father’s Day, this was just an awesome year. I completed my first year at my new job and continue to love it. I got back into a healthy lifestyle of running, indoor rowing, playing basketball and even took up squash this year; of course I counter balanced all this physical activity by eating lots of Tricia’s peanut butter and chocolate brownies. We were lucky enough to spend ten days in Hawaii with my family and Payton and I took our first of many father/daughter camping trips in Yosemite. I’m looking forward to 2012 and making that trip to Nigeria to pick up my money.

Happy New Year,

Jeff, Trish, Payton & Reese

Christmas parties, Gingerbread men & Snow globes, Oh My.

Jeff — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:55:24 +0000

My camera failed to capture most of Christmas and I’m still in negotiation with the family photographer for getting access to the family archives. Fortunately, there’s plenty of material from our activities before the holiday.

We kicked off the month a holiday party featuring tasty tarts, Wagner wonderlust & some insanely awesome cookies. The night capper was a trip down Eucalyptus street where P and her friends absorbed the best light show outside of Vegas.

Trish and I also took the kids to the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio. We loved the history behind Disney, the innovation in animation and the views of the Golden Gate bridge. The girls got to watch some classic move scenes and made their own snow globes (water, glitter, glycerine, glue and platic bottle is all you need).

Trish and the girls also did plenty of baking leading up to Christmas. The girls helped ice snowmen, stockings, stirred snickerdoodles and decorated giant Gingerbread men. Of course all that work leads to quite an appetite and they thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

December pictures are online.

San Carlos Sledding

Jeff — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:49:02 +0000

Tonight, after a nice hot bowl of ~~soup~~ chili for dinner (apparently chili is a stew, not a soup since it’s not brought to a boil) we headed over the the Griswolds to enjoy the lights. Well, Clark had a surprise for us tonight. He brought in snow and built a ramp for the kids to go sledding — complete with stairs and a hired crew to help load the kids. Both P and Reese hit the slopes. And both walked away with huge smiles. It was awesome.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHRiqFfT50Y]