Laura turns 24!

On October 1st Laura turned 24. She is a strong independent woman working as a physical education and health teacher in Hempfield, PA. She is currently house hunting and training her 6 month old husky puppy, Nika.

Happy Birthday Laura, I couldn't be more proud of you!

Here are some pictures of Laura and her puppy:

My favorite picture ever!  Kelli and I are playing and Laura is smiling so pretty!  

Laura zoning at the lake in the Adirondack - you look so sad.  

Laura and her puppy Nika!  

Laura struggling with her puppy Nika.  

Laura and Kelli being crazy

Wow this is an old picture!  We need to take a new one.  

I love you Laura and am so proud!  

Patience Everyone

OK, apparently I need to be more specific in my promises.

People, when I promise to keep the blog up to date that means update it as often as I can. I promise not to get 6-8 month behind like before. I CANNOT promise that I will update every week. I appreciate the enthusiasm and desire to read my blogs, but heaven's to Betsy, patience people!

I love you all!
Enjoy the updates.

Evie Turns 1

Happy Birthday Evie!!!


Eric and I went down to New Haven on Saturday, Sept. 6th for Evie's birthday. We had lunch and cupcakes. We watched her open the gifts while Mom and Dad Frett watched on Skype. Evie loved her books and her rubber duckie, but she mostly loved the paper from the bag. So...

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear Evie.
Happy Birthday to you.

All of us singing...



She was shy with Uncle Eric and Aunt Christie for a little while. She thought Uncle Eric had a funny face.


She kept staring at him.


She didn't like the hat that mommy and daddy kept putting on her.


She was very excited about her presents.


She really liked the books we gave her.

But she loved her rubber duckie.


Aunt Christie, Uncle Eric and Evie

Evie loved the paper from the bag...


really...


really...


really...


really...


really loved the paper!


Video of Evie playing in paper:

Kelli Turns 20!

Happy 20th Birthday Kelli!


Kelli, my sister, turned 20 on Aug. 31st. She is currently a sophomore at Lock Haven University. She is currently majoring in Elementary Education but might double major in Spanish as well. I am so proud of you Kelli. Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoyed the care package with your present!

Here are some fun pictures of Kelli:

This is my favorite picture of the three of us girls:  I am holding Laura who is calm and Kelli is jumping into my arms as well.  

Kelli and I posing at Buttermilk Falls in the Adirondacks

Harley and Kelli

Kelli trying to eat the biggest Hershey bar in NY city!

Happy Birthday Kelli!  I love you and am so proud of you!

Welcome to the world Elise Torres

On August 25th Elise Torres was born. She is the daughter of Amy and Andres Torres and sister of Caleb Torres. When she was bore she was 21 inches long and weighed 7lbs 14 oz. She is a beautiful little girl. Everyone is doing great! Congratulations!!!

California - take 2

From August 21st -26th Rachel Calton and I took a road trip to CA. We went for the long weekend to visit Amanda and Josh Dishmon, who live in Monterey, CA.

Thursday:
Eric took Rachel and I to the airport for a noon flight. We didn't have any problems. We got right through security and didn't have to wait all that long. The flight to Atlanta was fine. We had a 4 hour layover in Atlanta, so after checking in with everyone we found our next gate and had a sit down lunch/dinner. The flight from Atlanta to Son Jose was long, but easy. We got in late and Josh picked us up. Amanda had to work and met us at her home. After catching up we all went to bed.



Friday
We explored Monterey. We watched the seals in the bay and walked to Lovers Point. There we watched some fisherman, and took pictures. I also tried to feed the friendly ground squirrels. Instead they reached up for my hand instead of the flower. Scary! After visiting Lover's Point we walked through Monterey to the Monterey Fisherman's Wharf and went on a glass bottom boat. After seeing nothing on the glass except kelp we walked along the coast guard pier to visit the sea lions. I even had one try to fight me.






Rachel and Amanda at Lover's Point

My new pet squirrel. (He actually touched my hand)

What is he pointing to?

At Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf.  

Pelicans were everywhere and would get close.  

Look at the wing span.  

On our glass bottom boat trip.  


The one and only fish we saw.  

We were up close and personal for a sea lion battle.  

My sea lion friend - he didn't like it when I got face to face with him.  


After leaving the pier we noticed a group of people gathered looking out into the ocean. There were two long nose dolphins doing flips. We stopped and took many pictures while Amanda called them too us.







Before dinner we stood in the Pacific Ocean.





The three of us met Josh at El Torrito, a little mexican restaurant where we all got very large margaritas.








Saturday we drove down to Big Sur. We made many stops along Rt 1 at number of little beaches and over looks. During the hours or so drive we stopped at Pfeiffer National Park for a little hike. It turned out to be a little harder than we were all expecting. The cool part about the exhausting hike was that we got to see and touch Redwood Trees and see first hand the results of the California fires that destroyed at least half of the National Park. After our long hike we finally made our way to Julia Pfeiffer Falls. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen! I loved it and wished Eric could have been there to see this with me! I loved it!

Sites along the road:























Pictures of the Redwoods:



The biggest Redwood I have ever seen.  


A close up of us standing in the redwood.


Sitting on the trunk of a Redwood.  


Me compared to a Redwood.  


The effects of the CA fire:






Julia Pfieffer Falls:



























After spending about an hour at the falls we made our way back to have dinner at The Fish Hopper in Monterey. We also had dessert at Ghiradelli.









Sunday we went to Josh and Amanda's church. I loved the sermon and the music/band was great. After church we grabbed Papa John's Pizza and went to Carmel's beach. It turned out to be a beautiful day! We sat on the beach, ate pizza, watched the dogs and went for a walk along the ocean. After spending a few hours at the beach we decided to take Rachel to 17 Mile Drive, where we made a number of stops for picture opportunities, especially at Pebble Beach. Later that night Rachel, Amanda and I walked form Monterey to Pacific Grove to grab dinner at the 17th Street Grille. That was the best fast food / diner food I have ever had. Of course we finished our last evening in Monterey with Ghiradelli chocolate, visiting the seals, a beautiful over Lover's Point and visiting Amanda's shop. When we returned to the apt. we had a fun girls night singing to crazy songs and giving facials.

Carmel Beach:












17 Mile Drive:














Dinner around the fire.  





Girls Night


Monday the three of us took a road trip to San Francisco. We visited the Fisherman’s Wharf where we had a great view of Alcatraz. On our way walking to Ghirardelli Square we saw and listened to hundreds of sea lions sun bathing on the docks. After enjoying Ghiradelli ice cream we walked up a typical and crazy San Francisco hill to Lombard Street. Of course we had to take pictures of street and walk down the street. After Lombard Street we walked back to the car. It was beautiful out, so we decided to try and take pictures of the bridge. Last time Eric and I went to San Fran. it became foggy so quickly. This time Rachel and I had better luck. The San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge was beautiful! The pictures were awesome! After taking some amazing pictures we decided to try and find the "Full House" house. We did! After taking some memorable pictures we we drove to the Golden Gate Park. It is like Central Park for San Francisco. After spending most of the day we in San Francisco we drove to the motel in San Jose. We checked in and went for our last meal together - steak dinner. Then we went back to the motel for a night of bonding before Rachel and I had to leave.












The Golden Gate Bridge:











The "Full House" House





Our last night.  


Tuesday morning was an early flight home. We had an easy flight to Atlanta. We had a quick stop for lunch and then we were back on plane. We thought we were on our way home, but we ended up sitting for 4-6 hours due to technical problems in Atlanta's head quarters. We finally got home at 9ish, which was over 15 hours of traveling. It was a long trip home, but we had a blast! It was great to see Josh and Amanda and have a fun road trip with Rachel.