Our 2nd anniversary is next week!

In light of our second anniversary I would like to share a video of Jessica's brother, Johnny, and me, Justin, playing guitar. The idea was that we would play this song as Jessica walked down the isle. With Jessica's help and hours upon hours of work we arranged this version of the Allman Brothers Band song, "Jessica". This has always been one of my favorite songs. Johnny worked so hard on this and it shows. My part was really just 2 chords the whole time, then two different chords for the outtro. But hey, I'm a drummer, so it was hard for me :). I rediscovered this video on my old computer as I went through backing up some files. The sad thing about this whole story is Johnny and I never got to play this song at our wedding. We got approval through someone who turns out didn't know anything at our church, then when we went to the rehearsal, our priest said we couldn't play it. It was devastating at first, but Jessica and I concluded that our marriage was more important than playing this song. As I look back I don't feel bad about it. I cherish that weekend that the three of us did nothing but work on this song. This video is late at night, and we figured we should record it so we could practice on our own after I went back to Davis. We probably played this song over a hundred times that weekend, in between jamming sets with me on drums playing "Purple Haze" and "Rock Candy". I love it, and as I look back it reminds me of my time with Jessica's family early on, getting to know them and realizing that I truly had made the right decision to marry Jessica. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to fit so perfectly in a family that was completely new to me and that weekend we worked on this song solidified my love of Jessica. It was meant to be. So here's a stroll down memory lane, the video is on YouTube and here it is...



I love you Jess, Happy almost 2nd anniversary.

Kite Day.

Today it was really windy in Livermore so in the afternoon we took our kite to the park and Gianna loved it! This was actually the second time she flew a kite (the first was back in May of last year). We had a really great time and even the part where we got our kite stuck in a tree was fun (especially for Justin who enjoyed climbing the tree to 'help' get the kite out). Today reminded me of how "contagious" kite flying is: about a half hour after we got our kite up really high someone showed up with this really awesome pirate ship kite, then another person, then another. It was great to see all of the kites out there!
Gianna loved the streamers the best.
Mommy shows Gianna how to fly it.Daddy and Gianna get ready to fly.
Justin Rescues our kite (someday we'll have to put up a picture that does justice to the enormity of this tree, I have no clue how he got up there).

Easter Egg hunt

The Livermore Mom's Club put on an egg hunt yesterday, since this is Gianna's 2nd easter she acted like an old pro: grabbed her basket, got some eggs, asked mommy to hold the basket, put her eggs in and got more eggs. She was so cute wandering around, gathering eggs. She even did well: 6 eggs! Here are some favorite photos:

Gianna does Charlie's angels while mommy sticks out her toungue.
Getting an egg.
Putting it in her basket.
Our playgroup Mommies and babies (Jenny, do you notice what I notice?).
Family Photo with the Easter bunny.

MNO: Margarita Madness!

On Friday night a few of us girls went out to celebrate the first time Dawn is going to come back to visit (I don't want to talk about her leaving--boo). Here is a great picture from the night. It was really fun to go out because we were all ready for a little break from the rough cold and flu (and teething) season we've had.

Sean's First Birthday Party

Since our friends, the Hogans, are moving away before baby Sean's first birthday, our playgroup decided to have a surprise 1st birthday party. It was so fun to get to celebrate with Sean since we all knew him before he was even born! It has been awesome to watch him grow and we are going to miss him a ton (and his parents too!). Here are some pictures from the party:
Sean opens a present.
Gianna and Nicolas plan their escape plans.
Gianna is really excited about Sean's new toy.
Sean's cake.

Disneyland Pictures!!!

We went to Disneyland last weekend to celebrate Ooda's Birthday (Jessica's mom), it was awesome! Gianna was so good (except for one minor breakdown on Tom Sawyer's Island), and she had an awesome time!! We all loved watching her experience the happiest place on earth for the first time. Here are our favorite pictures (I know it seems like a lot, but it is just a few of the 200+ pictures we took!):

Gianna with Ooda and Oopa at the gate:
First Ride: SPACE MOUNTAIN!
Uncle Johnny Plays with Gianna.Dumbo (Gianna actually didn't like this that much, I think it was to fast).
Eeyore is so much bigger than Gianna!
Outside of Thunder Mountain Railroad (the best ride!).
Here are a few pictures from what we think was probably Gianna's favorite part of Disneyland (the petting zoo).

I wasn't sure if this was a statue or real...turns out, it's real.Family Picture in California Adventure.
Lounging on Minnie's bed, she really loved this and hammed it up for a couple of photos.

Watching a cake bake in Minnie's oven. She loved this and the dishwasher.
Micky Mouse! Gianna wasn't too sure about him either.
Family Photo on Autopia (L to R: Gianna, Oopa, Ooda, Uncle Johnny--Justin and I are in the front car taking pictures and driving).
Buzz Lightyear!
Gianna actually really liked Ariel.
Playing steel drums in Tarzan's Treehouse.
Daddy and Gianna ride the Carousel in California Adventure (Gianna liked this so much she cried when it was over).
Walking around on Tom Sawyer's Island. It was almost nap time and not too long after these pictures were taken Gianna had a major meltdown and we had to wait for the 2nd Ferry to take us back to our stroller so she could go to sleep! People really were getting irritated by her screaming too!! They should have let me cut to the front of the line so I would be gone!!
Killing time while we wait for the parade to start."Oh My Gosh do you see what is coming!!!???"
Our Last Ride: Finding Nemo Submarine.I know that we already posted a picture like this, but it is just such a sweet moment. I loved watching her walk down Main Street, USA with this balloon.Dreams of Disneyland follow us home.Helping with presents is one of Gianna's specialties.
Mommy and Gianna take a break in the car on the ride there.
Goofing off in the Hotel.

Taking in some of the sights

So we weren't about to make it to Disneyland in one shot. So we figured we would check out the Hollywood stars and the Chinese theater where all the hand prints are as a good rest before the LA traffic devoured us. Here is Mommy and Gianna finding a match with Judy Garland.
Gianna couldn't resist it after seeing us and hundreds of other people putting there hands down. She was so funny. She really just started doing it on her own, she's such a smarty pants.
Here is mommy and Gianna at the stairs for the Kodak Theater, they look like movie stars. Gianna might as well be a movie star because when we were putting our hands down at the Chinese Theater a group of Japanese girls thought Gianna was the cutest baby and took a bunch of pictures like they were paparazzi or something. Jess and I thought is was really funny, but Gianna just figured it was uncle Johnny taking lots of pictures as usual :)
Here is video of Gianna putting her hands down, she loved this place. It was also a place Daddy has always wanted to see.