Today is our...........

6th Wedding Anniversary!

6 years ago today, Scott and I had the most beautiful wedding. We had so many family and friends there to help us celebrate. Every single one of my extended family was there - it was the first time we had all been together since my grandma had passed away back in the summer of 2000. It was so unbelievably special to me.

Here is how our story began...

One weekend, back in May of 1998, I was home at my parents from college (Chico State). It was pretty late at night, after 11:00 or so and I was playing around on their computer. At the time I had AOL and up popped an instant message from someone that I had never met. I enjoyed chatting with people, so we started talking. Turns out, the someone was a drunk Scott who had just gotten home from the Bear and was looking to talk to some chick - that's how he puts it. We chatted that Friday night for quite awhile and again Saturday night. I drove back to Chico on Sunday and we talked some on the phone during the week. Thursday May 14th was our first official date, even if it was just him coming over and us watching the Seinfeld Series Finale.

Scott was just finishing up his degree in Liberal Studies and then he entered the credential program. He completed that in May of 1999 and we moved in together right afterwards. I was STILL in school, getting my degree in Child Development, meanwhile Scott got on every school districts substitute teacher list and subbed for the next year, until I graduated in May of 2000. We were both hired by the North Sacramento School District right after my graduation. We moved to Rocklin in July of 2000 and started our teaching careers.

During the summer of 2001, we took a road trip up to Montana to visit my family. Along the way, in Coeur d'Alene Idaho Scott got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. The wedding planning then began and here is what happened on one of the most special days in my life.

Trip #1 to the cabin

PINECREST CALIFORNIA

My family has a cabin in beautiful Pinecrest, CA and so far this summer we have made two trips up there. Pinecrest is located in the Stanislaus National Forest about 30 miles east of Sonora. The cabin was originally bought by my grandparents (on my dad's site) back in the 60's I believe. After my grandpa passed away in 1996 and my grandma in 2000, my dad, his brother Bill and sister Claudia took over. We are very fortunate to have this wonderful cabin to visit.


Our first trip up this summer was only for a 1 night stay but we had a great time. My Aunt Barbara and Uncle Bill were out from Montana, as well as my cousin Jon and his wife Brooklin and their three boys - Justin, Logan and Ryan. Jon and Brooklin had not seen Caitlyn since she was just 3 months old. They live in Whitefish Montana and do not get out to California often or us back there. We drove up on Saturday morning and came home on Sunday afternoon. Barbara's dad, Joe, was also there as well as some other cousins (from Barbara's side), Chris, Wendy and their two boys - Giovanni and Dante. Caitlyn has a blast playing with the boys even though she wasn't too sure of some of their games. She had never played Ninja Warrior before, although the boys decided that she could be the Ninja Princess - very suiting. She got VERY VERY dirty because Pinecrest dirt is the best! We spent some time at the lake and made SMORES by the bon fire. It was a wonderful visit. We sure wish that Jon, Brooklin and the boys lived closer - love you guys!

Caty and Justin gathering pinecones for the bon fire

Playing Army with the boys

Playing ball - they all thought this was hilarious - she would throw the ball at them as they swung in the hammock

Caty and Ryan at the beach

Jon teaching the boys how to properly roast marshmallows (notice where his marshmallow is - you guessed it - he burned a couple)

Daddy helping Caty - a much better placement of the marshmallow

Before SMORES...

After SMORES!!!!!!!!

Caty and me

Caty, Justin and Logan

Caitlyn - from the beginning

When I joined the blogging world, Caitlyn had just turned 3 years old. Some of my blog followers are family and friends but many of you just met our family when I started blogging in April. So I thought it would be a great idea to put together a video of Caitlyn pictures. And let me tell you, I have a million and a half! So if you've got the time (15 minutes), please sit back and watch our Caty grow up....

San Diego Part #3 - The Wedding

Finally the part that everyone has been waiting for... the Wedding!

Please visit Todd and Erin's wedding website for more info about the wedding, the wedding party and much more.

The day of the wedding had finally arrived and we started it off early. My parents had invited several of our family members and friends that had traveled the distance over for a quick get together. It was great seeing everyone, some whom I hadn't seen in many years. My mom was very clear that the get together was to be over by noon, as we all needed lunch and Caty would definitely need a nap before we needed to leave. All the guest left, we had out lunch and Caty got her much needed nap in. We ended up having to wake her up around 2:30 as we need to leave by 2:45. We arrived at the location for the wedding, Paradise Gardens in Oceanside. Caty had to get changed in the back of our car, as there was no way she was going to ride over to the gardens in her flower girl dress; it was way to pouffy!

The guest started to arrive and it was wonderful to see so many loved ones there. Family members flew in from the San Francisco Bay Area, Montana, and Minnesota. The Best Man's sister even flew in from Paris. My Uncle Barry is courageously trying to fight Pancreatic Cancer and he and my Aunt Claudia drove down from the Bay Area. I know that Todd and Erin were so thankful that they made the effort to come. Two of my best friends from college (Erin and Brandi - luv you girls) live in San Diego and were invited to come. It was wonderful seeing them, as we obviously don't get to see much of each other. The little girl in pink that Caty is hugging in the picture is Brandi's daughter, Avery. Avery also has a brother, Cole, who is Caty's age.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and I know that Todd and Erin will look back at so many happy memories from their special day. The day was also very special for Erin and her dad, Don. Don received a heart transplant on December 1, 2006 after many years of dealing with a problem with his heart. Back before the transplant, they were not sure if Don would be there for Erin's wedding day, but with the transplant we was able to be there and more importantly walk her down the aisle and dance with her for the father daughter dance. Erin read a few words before the dance, talking about how when she was 10 and Don was first dealing with his heart problem, the thing that she wanted most in life was to have her dad be there for her wedding day. She of course had everyone in tears with her words. They danced to a song called "You're My Hero" which we found out after the dance that Erin's sister, Amy, recorded the song for their special dance. It was a truly beautiful song.

Caitlyn was an amazing flower girl. She took to her part and was the second center of attention for the day. We told her that she couldn't outshine Auntie Erin. She was supposed to walk up the aisle with the other flower girl, ring bearer and junior bridesmaid, but they took off without her. Caitlyn had no problem with that, it meant that she got to have all the attention to herself. She walked up the aisle with the biggest smile on her face, who would've guessed! She was a natural and we are so proud of her.

Scott, Caty and I ended up leaving around 9:30 as Caty was getting pretty tired. Just a few minutes after we left, Todd and Erin got wisked away themselves and that was pretty much the end of the spectacular night!

I have put together a video of some of my pictures. Enjoy!

A Little Late But....

HAPPY 4th of July! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday! Earlier in the week, I was searching around on Facebook and came across one of my college roommates, Kristin. She and I were roommies right when Scott and I first started dating each other, back in 1998. We lived together for a year, then Scott and I moved in together. We somehow lost touch but low and behold I found her, and the coolest thing is, she lives about 10 minutes from us!!!! She, her husband (Andy), and their two boys (Brendan and Logan) live in Citrus Heights, literally only about 6 miles from our house. Kristin invited us over to join in on their block party and we had a blast. It was so wonderful seeing Kristin again. While living together we had a ton of fun and a few ups and downs with another roommate of ours. I am so happy to be back in touch with her and I know we'll have many more get togethers in the future.

Hope that everyone had a safe and HAPPY 4th!!

Caty and Daddy trying out the Sparklers

She liked to watch everyone else too

Caty doing the sparklers herself

All the kids in their court

Caty holding Chocolate the baby kitty