The Good Old Days!

(Me, Kristyn, and Jessica)

What a riot! A girlfriend from high school just sent me these photos. The one above is the summer of 1989, right after we graduated. We went to San Diego for some celebrating. The hair and the outfits crack me up. Could our shorts BE any longer (and not in the good way)?

(Brandie, Jennifer, and Jessica)

This picture was taken in 1994. We were having lunch at the Ceasar's Forum in Las Vegas (where we all live(d) ). I remember this day well because I had just gotten my hair cut off and I was heart-broken. I hated this hair cut! It was supposed to look like a cute pixie cut and ended up looking like Pat Benatar. I blame my beloved Kelly for this mess. He had been bugging me for years to get my hair cut off, telling me I could carry the look. Kelly knows that if he bugs me enough and strikes on me when the mood is right, he could basically convince me to jump off a cliff if he wanted. Don't deny it Kelly. You know it is true!

God, I look so young. We all did. Well, Jennifer essentially looks the same. I swear that girl doesn't age one bit. She should be a spokesperson for Noxema or something. I have always been jealous of her skin and squeaky clean face.

What I Have Been Up To This Past Month...part 2

Over our Thanksgiving holiday break, my little family flew down to Sacramento, California to spend the holiday with Phillip's parents, Ray and Theresa. They live in a little town outside of Sacramento called Placerville. The weather was beautiful (as it always is in California) and it was great to spend some time with family and old friends. Of course, the main event was not the actual holiday, but rather the Grandparents spending time with Parker. This was their second time visiting with him since he has been born. Needless to say, I hardly got any time with him for a whole week. Parker ate up all of the attention though and absolutely loved it.

(Grandpa Ray and Parker. Grandma Theresa and Parker.)

I have never been one to get too excited about Thanksgiving. I feel like the day is wasted because it is all about one meal...big whoop. However, I do have one long time tradition...the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I watch it every year (I just love the parade banter) with a platter of Pillsbury Orange Rolls and coffee. One year I actually got to see the parade in person while I was visiting Kelly in New York. I remember that it was very cold (this was before I lived in Minnesota, so I didn't know what cold could really mean.) and wet. It didn't really hit me that I was watching the parade until I saw the Big Bird float go by my face. At that time, I looked up at Kelly and he and I both had such silly grins on our faces. That Thanksgiving was my favorite by far.


(Parker and I watching the parade together. Parker fell asleep.)

Even though the week flew by pretty quickly, we managed to drive down to Sacramento to meet some of our old friends from the Bay area. One of the couples just had a sweet little baby girl a few months ago, so Phillip and I were very eager to meet the new addition, Sophie.

(The old gang out to dinner. Our waiter rocked! He was so patient with us and the kids. Of course, we left him a good tip.)

(Parker meeting Sophie for the first time with Nick. Shannon, Parker, Sophie and Nick.)

I think I might have to plan on an arranged marriage for Parker and Sophie. She was definitely a cutie!

We had a great time and miss all of you guys!

All-American Past Time

This Sunday we went to the Twins baseball game with a couple of friends. The game was great...initially it looked like we would win hands down, but toward the end we weren't so sure. Of course the Twins came out on top and beat Seattle 11 to 8. It was a great game. Parker was quite the whole game - well, except when I kept trying to make him smile for the picture with Jess. I think he was just amazed by the lights and music...so much visual stimulation! This is his second pro baseball game in his 7 months of life. I'm guessing that he will be a Twins fan for life - no matter where we live in the future.