2014 in Review

There have been so many things that I intended to blog about this past year, but I just didn't have the time (or internet) to do it.  I have promised y'all lots of pictures, and this post fulfills that promise!  haha!  Rather than post about each thing individually, I decided it would be easier for me to just do a year in review of sorts.  There are activities that have been left out, and many many pictures that I just didn't have the time or energy to edit and post, but I hope you aren't disappointed!  Some months had more activities than others, as I'm sure you'll be able to tell.  (I obviously didn't add anything that I've previously posted.)

If you want to get a better look at the pictures, don't forget that you can click on the picture and it will make it larger for you!  If any of you would like a picture or two, let me know which one and I'll be happy to email the individual picture to you.  Collages just seemed the easiest way for me to get all these pics on here this time.

So without further ado, here is our 2014:

January:

After months of planning trips to Muir Woods and then cancelling, we FINALLY made it out there! 

I accidentally brought the wrong lens for my camera, so I didn't get the greatest scenery pics, but that's ok.  After the hike, we went to the lookout point for the Golden Gate Bridge and enjoyed some awesome fog.

February:
We had a picnic at a park in Vacaville one sunny day!  Natalie had a blast running around in the grass.  Man, she looks so little to me in this picture!

March:
As previously posted, my baby brother came to visit us! On his last day we were able to go hiking at the Rockville Hills Regional Park.  It was beautiful weather and good exercise.  :)

April:
This month, Travis' dad and aunt were able to come visit us!  These pictures were all taken on the day that we went to the V. Sattui Winery in Napa.

May:
Travis' mom flew out for a visit this month, and we got to take Natalie to her first air show.  She loved those planes!

June:
My parents were able to come see us this month, and we took a long weekend to go to the Monterey Bay area.  It was gorgeous!

July:
We made the big move to Germany and lived in a hotel for a month!  Our first big sightseeing adventure was to Trier, Germany, which is about an hour from our house.  We had a good time looking at the sights until we got caught in a HUGE thunderstorm with no umbrella!  We hung out in a tunnel for an hour before the rain let up a bit and we attempted to make it back to our car.  Still plenty of things to do in that city that we missed because of the rain!

August:
We drove to Heidelberg, Germany, for the day to check out that town and castle.  We took the tour of the castle, but they didn't allow pictures to be taken inside.  Boo.  It DID rain on us this day, too, but we had already learned our lesson and had an umbrella ready!

September:
Travis had his first tour, and at the end of it we rendezvoused in Vienna!  It is our biggest trip so far, and was so fun!  We got to spend 3 days in the city, and saw some amazing sights.  These pictures don't even scratch the surface of all the pictures we took.  ha!

October:
I have been on quite a crochet kick lately, and this hat and scarf set was the first in a long line of projects that I've completed.  Natalie just looks so cute in it that I had to take her out for a little photo shoot!  Also, we were thrown an awesome baby shower for Baby Boy on the weekend of Halloween!  We got some matching shirts to make the occasion even more fun.  hahaha

November:
At the end of this month, we got to go to our first German Christmas market!  We decided to go back to Trier, and it was great fun.  Looking forward to more Christmas markets next year!

December:
This month Natalie turned 2!  But that is worth its own post.  We stayed home during the Christmas break, since it's so close to Baby Boy's due date, and I've been so achy that we haven't even done much in the area.  We enjoyed a nice, quiet Christmas at home, and watching Natalie open presents this year was so fun!  It has snowed a few times, which has been beautiful.  2014 has been a great year, and we're looking forward to all that God has in store for us in 2015!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

This past weekend was gorgeous!  Sunny with a cool breeze and a high in the mid 70s.  It felt like fall and it was amazing!  We decided that we needed to take Natalie to her first pumpkin patch.  Remember a couple of years ago when Travis and I did the corn maze?  We went to the same place this time, too, but skipped the maze and headed for the pumpkins instead.  :)  Even though we went there 2 years ago, we didn't pick out pumpkins 2 years ago.  As it turns out, this was not only Natalie's, but also Travis' and my first time to pick pumpkins from a pumpkin patch!  It was fun and makes me think this needs to be a tradition.  No more store bought pumpkins.  :)

Of course, this was also a perfect photo op.  Baby and pumpkins!!  Natalie had fallen asleep in the truck on the way out, so she was still sleepy when we got there.  She wasn't so much in the smiling mood, but I got some adorable pictures anyway.  How could I not?!

{Inspecting the hay.}

I just love that sweater and headband!  Yes, I did make them.  ;)  Aren't they perfect for a fall day?  I got the pattern for the sweater here.  I was going to make the little hat that goes with it, but for some reason it was coming out way too small...  So I scrapped it and went for this headband and this flower instead.  (I made the medium flower from that pattern.)

{Those EYES!}

{"Flying Baby" always gets a smile out of her!}

{I was setting up the tripod and testing out the settings... isn't this a good picture of them?}

We started getting some smiles from her after a little while.  :)

{I love my family.  God has blessed us!!!}

{The pumpkin patch at sunset.}

{Natalie and I with our pumpkin haul.}

Fall is my favorite season.  I love the changing leaves and the cooling weather.  I love the sweaters and the hot drinks.  I hope y'all are all having a lovely fall!  We miss you, dear family and friends!

Concert at Cline Cellars Winery

On August 24th, Natalie and I went to listen to one of Travis' concerts.  The USAF Band of the Golden West was performing at the Cline Cellars Winery in Sonoma, which sounded like a great excuse to get outside!  I was expecting it to be hot outside, but it was actually really nice, especially sitting in the shade of a tree.  We didn't have the best view of Travis, but we could hear just fine.  I spread a couple of blankets on the ground, put some of Natalie's toys out, and enjoyed the show.  It was really fun!

Our View of the Band

Yes, it's blurry... but who could resist this face?!?!

Meteors

Earlier this week there was a meteor shower.  August is apparently the month for it.  While I typically go to bed not long after Natalie, I was hoping to venture into our backyard to check it out on one of the nights that was supposed to have a lot of meteors.  Well, last Monday night, Natalie decided that she didn't want to go to bed at her normal time...  So, we bundled up and all went into the backyard for the show!  Our backyard is tiny, but has a pretty nice view of the sky.  We aren't too close to any big bright lights, so you can see the stars fairly well on a clear night.

The nights out here get nice and chilly.  It just so happens that I had been clearing out Natalie's drawers and closets to make room for newer, bigger clothes.  In the process, I came across the flower hat that I had crocheted for her way back in February.  (It's the top hat in this post.)  When I originally made it, the yarn I used made it too large for her head.  I tried it on her when I found it and it fit perfectly!  It was just a little too short, so I added a couple of rows to the bottom.  I was so happy that she actually had an opportunity to wear it!

{The Flower Hat - with 2 extra rows}

{Ready to go watch meteors!}

{So Sweet}

Travis has been learning about taking pictures of the night sky.  Have y'all seen his awesome picture of the moon?  Maybe I'll post about it some time.  Anyway, he made it his goal to capture a meteor, and he got one!  Totally awesome!  Check it out.

I do love a good night under the stars.  :)

Our 3rd Anniversary

A few days ago, Travis and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary!  It's kind of hard to believe that it's already been 3 years!  Since our anniversary fell on a Wednesday, we didn't make any ridiculously big plans or anything.  We knew we wanted to eat out, but didn't want to go to some chain restaurant that we've been to a million times.  So after searching the internet, Travis found this great restaurant in Napa called Bistro Don Giovanni.  It was only 30 minutes from our house, and so good!  It's one of those places where they bring your plate of food out and it doesn't look like much, but sure fills you up!  Each of our plates of food were laid out so prettily, too.  :)  It reminded me of the restaurants we ate at on our honeymoon.  We were even full enough (without appetizers or alcohol) to skip dessert...  We'll definitely have to go back sometime to try the desserts!

{The flowers that Travis bought for me.  12 gorgeous long stem roses!}

{At Bistro Don Giovanni, after dinner.}

{We finished the night by busting out the toasting glasses from our wedding, and toasted with ginger ale!}

Corn Maze 2011

A couple of weeks ago, Travis and I were driving back home from a trip to Sacramento.  Along the highway, I saw a sign for "the world's largest corn maze."  Travis and I started talking about corn mazes, and I was surprised to learn that he had never been to one!  (I went to a corn maze during my time at Tech.)  So I made a mental note to check out this corn maze online and see what I could find.  As it turns out, it really is the world's largest corn maze!!  It's in the Guinness Book of World Records and everything.  Needless to say, we had to go.

Travis decided that we should go at night and tackle the maze in the dark.  This thing is 45 acres huge.  It was awesome!

{Before we entered the maze.}

{The map}

Thank goodness they gave us a map!  We never would have made it out without one.  As it is, it took us over 2 hours to navigate our way from the entrance to the exit.  We got turned around a couple of times, but for the most part we were pretty awesome.  ;)  We learned early on not to listen to other people, as they aren't always as smart as you.  haha!  We were headed the right way (towards the beginning of the maze), and some people started walking the opposite direction, saying, "It's a dead end."  So we turned around and ended up getting lost.  ha!

At some point in the middle of the maze we (I) decided that we needed to get a picture of us inside the maze.  So I pulled out the camera and we started attempting to take a good picture.  Unfortunately, the flash was really bright, and we could not get our eyes to cooperate!!

{Please note that I have crazy wide eyes and Travis practically closes his every. single. time.}

Since the camera was already out, Travis got the photography itch and started taking pictures of the corn stalks and the moon.  So to end this blog post, here are 2 of the fantastic pictures he took.  :)

If you are interested in going to this maze, click here to check out all that they have to offer!

Let's Go, Rangers, Let's Go! *clap clap*

On August 12, Travis and I finally got to go to a Rangers game!  They were playing the Oakland A's in Oakland, so we drove down there for the evening.  It was so fun!  I have truly missed living close to the Rangers' stadium, so it was awesome to finally see them play live.

The view from our seats.  Not bad for the cheap seats!

The Rangers played really well!  We won 9 to 1!  It made me proud to be a Texan.  :)

I will leave you tonight with my favorite quote from that evening.  At some point in the middle of the game, we heard this little kid behind us yell, "Come on, A's!  They whoopin' y'all!"

Go Rangers!

2nd Anniversary

On June 20th, 2011, Travis and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!  We decided to spend the evening in San Francisco.  Travis had never ridden the cable cars before, so it seemed like a good opportunity to do so.  We started the date off by parking in Union Square and walking around some.  We then waited in line for the cable cars to take us to Ghirardelli Square.  (All of these pictures are from our phones.)

                                            Waiting in Line                                   Finally Near the Front!

Our Cable Car  :)

We had so much fun riding through San Francisco, hanging off the side of the cable car!  We were able to get some great views without any leg work.  :)

After getting an ice cream shake to share at Ghirardelli, we walked over to the Fisherman's Wharf.  It was a beautiful day in San Fran!  Sunny and warm.  The high was around 75.  There were lots of gulls walking around the wharf, too.  This one was determined to swallow that huge piece of bread whole.  :)  He didn't succeed.

We rode the cable car back to Union Square for dinner.  About halfway through the trip, the car came off the cable.  Ha!  So we sat in the middle of a random street for about 15 minutes while they fixed it.  We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which is on the roof of the Macy's building.  It was so fun!  I've never eaten at a rooftop restaurant before.  Here was our view during dinner.

After the sun finished setting, our phones wouldn't take any more pictures worth posting.  I tried to take a picture of my pretty drink, but it was too dark!  We had such a great time eating under the stars.  :)  It was a perfect night!