Barcelona!

I don't know where to begin! I was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to travel to Barcelona with C. We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived Friday evening in Barcelona after traveling through Frankfurt. Once we arrived and were settled in our hotel we headed out to Las Ramblas to find food. We had tapas at a quaint little cafe called "Cafe Brasil" and walked the length of Las Ramblas before going back to the hotel. The next morning C unfortunately had to work so I was on my own. I began the day with a 5 mile run along the Mediterranean as the sun rose. It was beautiful! The rest of the day and those that followed were just as exciting- here are some highlights:

• Walking along Las Ramblas watching the crowds of tourists and locals mingle.
• Visiting several very beautiful and very old cathedrals
• Eating yummy chocolate filled croissants at Cafe L' Opera on Las Ramblas
• Practicing my Spanish conversational skills with the locals
• Sightseeing around the city- of particular interest- the works of Gaudi
• SHOPPING
• Visiting a large outdoor marketplace and stocking up on my favorite gummy candies
• Taking the metro everywhere
  
• Popping in on C at work and seeing the London crew
• Sitting in the park on Sunday watching the families at play and striking up a conversation
• Planning our next trip to Barcelona!!

I traveled home on Tuesday without difficulty and C arrived home Friday evening. It was a wonderful trip and how lucky I feel to have been able to go. Our next trip is a little closer to home- we'll be heading up to San Francisco for a few days beginning Sunday. We'll spend Superbowl Sunday in SF- GO PATRIOTS!!!

First Ski!

Two weeks ago the Bay Area had a tremendous storm come through. It was windy and raining for days! It got to the point that bridges were being closed because it was too dangerous to cross or were blocked by semi trucks that had been blown over by 100 mph winds. The worst that happened to us was that our power was out for almost 24 hours and that we were banned (by the CHP) from driving up to Tahoe where we had planned to go skiing. Instead we spent a cozy weekend in Galt! This past weekend, however, there were no storms in sight and we were anxious to enjoy the new fallen snow from the previous week. We left before sunrise on Sunday morning and drove up to Kirkwood. It was a beautiful day! We were on the chair lift when it opened at 9am and skied through to lunch. After eating and watching the end of the Cowboys v. Giants game, we headed back out for a while longer until the disappearing sun made it almost impossible to see where we were going. We headed home excitedly anticipating our next ski trip. Now, looking ahead at our busy schedules, we hope our first ski of the season doesn't turn out to be the only skiing for us this season!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)

Things that made us smile in 2007

We are incredibly blessed and have much to smile about. Here are a few smile-worthy moments from the past year:

• Spending time with our families in Quincy, Calumet, Las Vegas, Huntington Beach, Montrose, Disneyland, San Francisco, Redwood City, Galt, Loma Linda and Waikiki!
• Tara beginning a Masters program at Santa Clara University
• Christian taking JAVA classes
• Celebrating our 10 year high school reunions!
• Tara scuba diving for the first time while in Kauai in June
• Snow skiing at Kirkwood and Tahoe
• Boating and skiing on the Delta
• Kirk and Lindsey's wedding in July at the Mission Inn
• Watching the Catalina races with the Andersons
• Christian's travels to Shanghai, Las Vegas, Orlando, Chicago, New Hampshire
  
• Tara visiting her family in the U.P. Michigan
• Seeing Aerosmith in concert in Las Vegas and Billy Joel in San Francisco!
• Tara running her first half marathon!
• Celebrating Kurt's safe return from Iraq
• Fun times and special memories with family, friends and each other!

We wish you love and lots of smiles in 2008!