Summer 2009 Trip Continued...

Our next stop after Reno was a cute little town of Nice, California right next to Clear Lake to visit Houston's Grandma and Uncle Rick. We picked up our rental car and we were on our way. We had such a nice visit with them and we don't get to see them very much at all, so it was great catching up and hearing more stories about Houston when he was little. We all went out to dinner together and then Houston and I headed down to Napa. Here are a few pictures from the visit there.We arrived in Napa and stayed at the Meritage Resort, which was fabulous! The first day we did not set up any wine tours and decided to just drive to a few that were close by our resort. We stopped at Sutter Homes and a few others but one of my favorite ones was Domaine Carneros, who specializes in champagne and sparkling wine. This place was outstanding! The service was great, the views were spectacular and the champagne was to die for!

When we finished here, we headed back to our resort to check out the underground wine tasting room that they had there. It was so neat! We had dinner in downtown Napa that night and really had a blast!So the next morning, we got up and got ready for our wine tour and it was far better than we ever anticipated it would be. We were the first couple that the wine bus picked up and then we picked up 4 other couples to join us for the day. We had a platter of fruits, crackers and cheese for in between the stops so we could clear our palates and get ready for the next one. Everyone that was on our wine bus was so much fun and our driver was awesome! Platypus Wine Tours...I would recommend them to anyone, they are wonderful! So we started at Elkhorn Peaks Vineyard and the gentleman there taught us a lot about how they grow and harvest the grapes and how to taste the wine :) I felt much better after leaving this place because before that I really didn't have a clue how to do it. We tasted his wines on the second floor of his old barn. He was a really cool guy and had so much knowledge to share with us.

So from there, we headed over to Hopper Creek Winery. This place was where our driver set up a picnic lunch and we hung out on the back patio for quite a while just drinking and playing with the winery dog. The best part about all of these places was that our group was the only people there, so we had their undivided attention. The didn't even care about how many wines you tasted, they just kept pouring them. We got to eat chocolate here with some of the wines too! It was delicious! From here, we went to Black Stallion Winery which was a cool place but there were lots of other people there tasting wine with our group. We were so spoiled before at our first two stops that we didn't care for that much. The next place we stopped at was called Hagafen Winery and that place was really nice too but I don't remember much from there :) I'm sure at that point I had a little too much wine.

Reno, Napa, San Fran and Clayton!!

Wow! What a trip Houston and I just had...it was truly the best EVER! We started off in Reno for my cousin Julie's wedding. Everything turned out perfect for her and I was so happy about that. She got married at her parent's country club which was absolutely gorgeous! On one side were the snow capped mountains and the other side, the gorgeous views of the city. Not to mention my uncle and aunt's home was an amazing custom home with the waterfall below in their backyard. That's where we stayed for the first three nights. I have attached a few pictures from the wedding. It was so nice to see some of my family. We don't get to see each other that often so that was really nice. I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid for her special day and we had such a blast together! I'm so glad that Houston was able to spend some time with my extended family also. What a beautiful bride she was!

Haz Mat Graduation

Houston just finished a 6 week Hazmat program with many of his fellow firefighters. It consisted of sitting in class for 40 hours a week learning lots of chemistry and much more. His favorite part though was when they got to dress up in their Hazmat gear and blow things up. Why is that not a surprise? It was really nice to have him home every night, that was the longest time that we have spent every night together. It was awesome! I am so proud of him and It was a huge accomplishment. He put in a lot of hard work for it not only in the classroom but writing grants and going to meetings to get the funding for this program for their department. It's amazing how smart he is, he's one of those who will hear something once and will never forget it. I wish I was like that, I always had to cram before a test to remember the information. I hope our kids get that from him :) Not only is he incredibly smart but he is so humble and I love that about him. If he reads this he will probably be mad that I wrote all of that about him but it's true! Here are a few pictures from the graduation, he looks pretty cute in that uniform!

Going Private

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am making our blog private. Please let me know if you would like me to add you to the list of people to view it. All you have to do is email me your email address. Thanks!

Fun Times in Greer :)

Wow! Last weekend we had one of the best times in a very long time. Houston and I along with 5 other couples from the fire department rented a cabin in Greer, AZ for our friend Dan's surprise 30th birthday celebration. His wife did such a great job planning the weekend for Dan and he was completely surprised! It was absolute craziness the entire time and you better believe there was a lot of drinking involved!!!!! We played lots of games over the weekend such as kings, speed quarters, left-right-center, charades, the last word, Edward fortyhands and the list goes on and on... We truly are blessed to have the friends that we do from the department, we are definitely one big family. We all get along so well and we always have so much fun together. We stayed at the Greer Lodge Resort in probably their nicest cabin on the Little Colorado River. The cabin was decorated so nicely with beautiful furniture and appliances and a Jacuzzi outside on the deck. I would highly recommend this place to anyone!!! We had beautiful weather all weekend, we even got 4 inches of snow on the first night which was a blast to play in. There were snow ball fights, snow angels made and lots of fun pictures taken. I will say if you have never played Edward fortyhands that you have to try it because it is hilarious! Here are some pics from the weekend...