Rosie and Husker in Action

Check out the video of our dogs interacting. I thought you could see how cute Rosie is. Her new thing is to lick our faces in the middle of the night when she has to go to the bathroom. I think she wakes up, is bored and wants someone to play with.

Hello from Kauai

We made the move to Kauai. Jace was a real trooper on the long plane ride over here.

Marissa and I are starting to adjust and enjoy the slow paced life here.

We are having a great time with furnishing and decorating the house.

Jace loves the beach and the water and has a great time playing in the sand.

Now, we only need Norm to get over here. We miss him.

Hope you all will keep in touch and come visit whenever you can.

30 candles on the Birthday Cake!

Sam's Funny face

All of Us

Happy Birthday Mel! Yep- I turned 30- the day before I started crying because James told me I didn't know how to cut birthday cake. He had the cake ordered and then he said that it only fed 12 people- which of course wouldn't have been enough... So that was pretty comical. I don't really know the real reason why I started crying but I think it was a combination of being 30, being emotional, etc.

The day was pretty fun. James took me to lunch at very cool new restaurant at the AZ center called 1130. Then when the bill came, it had been, "taken care of". The Concierge at the hotel called to tell them it was my 30th b-day. That was pretty cool. Then we had a retirement party for Earl Knight at the hotel. After 32 years of service with Hyatt, he decided to move on to greener pastures. I have been with Hyatt for almost 8 years and I really can't imagine 26 more but then again, it doesn't feel like 8 years has come and gone since college!

After work, James, the kids, Norm, Rossana and I had dinner at one of my favorite places- Buca Di Beppo! Got a little picture crazy and here you can see some of those- I think about 70 pics were taken in the span of 1 hour!

New Dog

Yep- we got another dog. As you may know, Husker doesn't like other dogs so we knew it would be fairly challenging... So the solution was to get a muzzle and it is working pretty well. Now, we call her Hannibal because she looks like Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs. She can't bite Rosie the new Boxer. Our friend Renee has many dogs. She got Rosie not too long ago and wanted to breed her with their dog Phoenix. Phoenix got ahold of her too soon. Rosie had 2 beautiful pups.

Rosie is such a lover. Husker isn't convinced. I know the muzzle may look harsh but trust me, Husker has a temper and is not tolerant of ANY other dogs. We do take it off of her overnight and during the day when they are seperated. We are happy to have a new addition to the family.

Michelle, Callin and Chris come over for Breakfast

Tuesday night, I made breakfast for the Farr Family! We enjoyed breakfast for dinner~ Here's some pics and videos. Doesn't Michelle look radiant! James and I are going to be baby sitting the little munchkin on Saturday

More Pics from San Diego and a Video of the Dophins that were with us

The views from our window at the new Hyatt on Mission Bay were amazing. The hotel is newly renovated and has a very resorty feel. The old California shaped pool was replaced with 3 seperate pools including 2 water slides. The location is amazing right on Mission bay. There was a small pod of dolphins t

hat were at play and even swam and were following us at the bough of the boat

Saved the BEST For Last- Sam's B-day weekend Part IV~ Sunday, Feb 10th

The gang- check out Sebastian with his little hat on!

Jimmy's Driving!

Pierre decided it could be fun to rent a power but on Sunday and cruise around the ocean and Mission bay- what the heck, right? I never imagined how awesome it would be! The sun was shining and we had a blast! We all took turns driving!

Birthday Weekend Part III- Saturday February 9th for DinDin

Marrisa's 19th Birthday was Feb 7th so we celebrated both!

Sam wanted to go to a restaurant called Dick's last resort. I knew it would be an interesting place based on the name- It was LOUD and we had 2 toddlers but they didn't seem to mind after they got used to it, in fact- Jace fell right asleep with the live band playing and all

Sam's Birthday Weekend Part II- Saturday, Feb 9th He is Actually 17 now!

The day and entire weekend was just beautiful in San Diego, warm and sunny! We started with breakfast, then James, Sam and I went to the San Diego swapmeet (a must everytime we are in San Diego- if you've never been- go next time you are there!) We got some cool treasures- Sam got an awesome fishing pole- we got shirts, decor for the house, yummy fresh California fruit and some other trinkets. After that, Tamara, Pierre and Sebastian met us for lunch and we ate at Luigi's at Mission Beach- We had the hugest Pizza I have EVER seen- 30 inches in diameter. I could kick myself for not getting a picture of it. The 5 of us, barely at 1/2 of it! After that, we headed back to the beautifully remodeled Hyatt at Mission bay (formerly Islandia) where Norm, Florence, Marissa and Jace met up with us. We lounged poolside for a while before dinner

Check out Sebastian walking after lunch at mission beach! He's such a big boy now!

Sam's Birthday weekend Part I Friday, Feb 8th

The boys go fishing. Sam, James and Pierre set out for the twilight cruise abourd the Islandia Sport Fishing boat- It left at 6pm and was supposed to get back at 10 pm- there were only 12 on board and typically, they have been coming back to dock with 70+ catches- that night a total of 4! Needless to say the guys didn't catch anything and were pretty bummed, not to mention cold and tired. Take a look at these beauties- GIANT SQUID- those were the 4 catches of the night...

San Diego here we come!!!

James, Sam and I will be heading out to San Diego tomorrow for the weekend. Sam's b-day is Saturday- he will be 17! Tamara, Pierre and Sebas (hopefully not psycho Sebas) will be joining us there. On Saturday, the Akins will also join us. It should be a fun time! We are going to stay at the Hyatt Mission Bay and I know that the boys will go fishing. Tam, Sebas and I will hang out and catch up! Pics to follow of course!

Recuperating from our Super Bowl Hangover!!!

James and I worked and worked and worked during Superbowl week. James worked 18 days straight and I worked 12 days straight without a day off. It was exciting to see all the famous people downtown. The ESPN radio guys were broadcasting live from the front drive of the hotel. I know it was great for the city but we did work our butts off! Here's some better pics of the hotel and surrounding area!

The Lombardi trophy decked out the BofA building!

Akin's Kauai Home

Here is the home we will be living in on Kauai. It is 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and is on a 1/2 acre.

For those familiar with Kauai, the home is just north of Kapaa.

Norm will sure enjoy the gardening.

There is a dirt bike track just up the road from the house so that will be fun for him too. :)

The beach is just about 10 minutes down the road.

Baby Norm

Here is Norm as a baby with GranAranna.

Look at how much Norm's grandson Jace looks like him as a baby.