Monday, October 23, 2006

Boy Power!

I am happy to report that Jason and I are the proud Aunt and Uncle of Pierce Schiflet, born Oct. 16 to my ecstatic brother Craig and his wife Lorye. Our family is officially trending "boy" with Pierce being the third, and incredibly adorable, grandson!

Lorye spent a full day in the hospital before Pierce was ready to meet the world... and apparently even then he wasn't ready to announce his arrival as Craig had to poke him a bunch to even get him to make any noise! In true-boy fashion, Pierce is proving to be laid-back and easy-going... much like his Dad.


Lorye & Craig are adjusting nicely, and benefitting from doting grandparents and family in these first weeks as new parents. Jason & I will meet Pierce in person this Christmas, while my sister and Alli will see him in November. Ty and Jake will meet their new cousin this winter, and I can only wonder about all the things they'll tell him about being member of this family! Enjoy the pics, more to come (as soon as Craig has time!).

Sunday, October 08, 2006

By Land, Sea AND Air!


What a busy weekend! I don't want to mis-lead you, we didn't actually fly anywhere, but we did watch the Blue Angels and to me, that counts (and it also made for a catchy title!).

On Saturday, Jason and I took our kayaks out on the Bay and paddled around in the rip currents by the North side of the GG Bridge. OK, I'm being a little dramatic, but by the time we got out of the water the waves were huge and the current was super-strong! We had to do a lot of back-paddling to stay in one place, but we managed to hang out for an hour or so, catching the airshow in town for San Francisco's Fleet Week. We took these pics from our boats, but if you're really interested in this stuff, check out the SF Chronicle's photos - they are very cool - http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2006/10/08/FLEETWEEK.TMP&o=0

We had a really good time just hanging out on the water and dodging a few hundred boats (all bigger than us, of course!) but we also had a great view! Mind you, the Blue Angels kept flying overhead and around in circles, making me sea-sick after a while b/c I was following their movements while bouncing up and down in my boat!

Today, Jason completed his first-ever organized sporting event - I mean, unless you consider bowling a sport?! Jason ran in the San Jose Rock and Roll half marathon and crossed the finish line right on target, and still smiling too.

Despite sore shins, Jason persevered through 13 miles of pavement - all before 11 in the morning! Why wasn't I running, you ask? Well, someone had to document the event with pictures so I stayed behind, very selfless of me, I know - ha ha!

Luckily Jason had a few friends from work that also ran, and he and Tiffany ran the entire race together, crossing the finish line like pros!

Congratulations Jason, I am so proud of you!

Engaged!





Mark and Michelle (and Maggie & Sarah) hosted a fabulous engagement party for us a few weeks ago... we got really lucky with "summer-like" weather and thanks to Jason's early-morning scouting, we ended up with a primo picnic spot!

Except for a few hiccups before the party started (how's the bumper, Mark?), I think everyone had a great time enjoying the sun and scenery, while eating homemade cioppino (with clams, mussells, fish, shrimp - the works!), scallops wrapped in prosciutto, fresh sourdough bread and salads, and last - but absolutely not least - a scrumptious carrot cake to top it all off.

This was really the first chance we've had to hang out with all our friends since we got engaged, and it was really so much fun to just relax with everyone and catch up. As Jason usually does when a party is over, he asked as the sun finished setting: "where'd everyone go?"... as if seven hours for a picnic or a party is not nearly long enough! But I think it is just a testament to the fact that we have such great friends - we hate it when they do actually have to be on their way. Everyone is so busy these days (including us), and it seems like a really special event when we can all take an afternoon and just hang out for a few hours. Oh, and did I mention the multiple cases of wine and beer? That really helps with the "relax" part!! :-)