The Barco Wedding!

TJ and I had the pleasure to head down to SoCal for Erin and Kris's wedding last weekend. It was a great weekend trip away and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. The wedding was in San Juan Capistrano at this beautiful garden with tons of flowers and lights. The bride was stunning, like she always is, and the groom was very handsome. Erin and Kris are great friends and we couldn't be more happy for them. We felt very honored to have been asked to be there for it. After the wedding we took off a few mintues north and had a blast hanging out with Amber and Conway. All in all...a great weekend!

October, 2009...Sampson and Pumpkins...

And he is NOT happy about this...

4th of July this year was pretty awesome. Tons more pictures to show...but these are a few just to get an idea. The weather was great...we saw a couple Bald Eagles (no, they didn't try to pick up Sampson), and burned through our share of gun powder!

Sunrise on the 4th...

Come play with me!!!

MOM!!! Come play with me!!!

Are those cookies I smell???

Spring and Sampson

You've got to love those lazy spring days...

Fun times!

Well we just got out tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert in August! Myself, TJ, Noe, Kai, and my parents will be enjoying a day/evening of great Seattle weather (fingers crossed...and I probably just jinxed it) while listening to the great music of Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland, and of course Kenny Chesney. Should be a great time and we are so excited!

Our new toy....aka...Sams new nemesis.

Sampson at his finest...

Happy Birthday Sammy!

Well today is Sampson's 2nd Birthday! Here is a little something to bring you down memory lane.... Happy birthday buddy..we love you!

Please donate and listen today...

Its that time of year folks! Jackie and Bender are doing their annual One Big Kiss for Children's Hospital today and tomorrow. Again this year, I have decided to donate. Big or small...any donation counts and is appreciated. Tune in to 106.1 and spend 5 minutes to listen to their efforts and the stories of these kids. If you can donate anything...I highly recommend it. God forbid...but you never know if you, a friend, or a loved one will need the services of Children's Hospital at some point in your life, and you will be thankful for the services and technology they provide and for the fundraising efforts that Jackie and Bender do year after year.

If you'd like to listen click on the following link: http://player.play.it/player/player.html?id=173&onestat=kbks2

So this week I had another publisher event like I usually do. But I was pleasantly surprised this time to see that it wasn't the usual dinner and work chat. My reps at Gorilla Nation and Girls Life.com took the team to a cooking class at the Blue Ribbon Cooking School in Seattle. I have to say....I recommend this for any girls night, family event, work team function, or even date night. It is a little pricey but you get to learn how to make two different appetizers, two side dishes, two main dishes, and two deserts! During the entire process you get cooking tips and tricks from a top local chef, get to taste various wines, and at the end you all get to sit down and relax while you taste your hard work. They teach a variety of classes from southern cuisine, Thai cuisine, Asian cuisine, to French and new American dishes. During our session we made flat iron steaks with a Cabernet Sauvignon balsamic reduction, salt crusted whole herb chickens, chickpea and pesto pasta, herb stuffed roasted tomatoes, berry cobbler, and profiteroles with coffee ice-cream and chocolate and caramel sauce. I haven't had this much fun at a work function in a long time, and I cant wait to try it sometime with friends and family. If you would like to check out any more info on the place, I have provided to website below. Enjoy..and if any of our friends out there are interested in getting a group together sometime to try it...let us know!

http://blueribboncooking.com/

NewFriends...

It is Sunday...and that means one thing now that football season is almost over- it is dog park day! Sampson has some new friends...he LOVES to hang out with the big dogs. Great Danes, St. Bernards...these are his favorites. But...pretty much any dog that will run around with him he loves. Along with the mud puddles...and that makes for an interesting ride home!

But Mom!!!! Why can't I play in the puddles?

check #241 off "the list..."

Well...they say that one of the things that should be on "your list"of things to do is to teach someone something. I think I might have decided on something...that, well...is maybe a bit more than I expected.

But COMPLEATLY worth it!

This is why I love snowboarding...and I am SO GLAD Erin puts up with me enough to see things like this with me. Pictures can't describe how cool it is to stand on top of a mountain and look directly at something as magnificant as Mt. Rainier. In person you feel like you can reach out and touch it- I wish I could capture it on film...Iit would be worth a million dollars. It is also damn cool to turn and be able to see Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, and some other mountain I havn't figured out yet. Thank you honey for putting up with everything enought to see stuff like this. It is so much better to have someone you love with you than to see it alone...

Enought of the sappy stuff...pictures below.

One of these days...I am going to climb that ridge and go down this bowl...

So how does Sean and Erin get the cool picture and I am left out???

its just a bulldog life

Such a busy day in the life of a bulldog...


Jumping up to get food (even if it isn't mine...).

Running down the stairs...

Rolling over and over...but never on command!

Ahhh yes- and the chicken (family joke, if you heard this thing you would know why)....such a tiring day!