Out takes from our family photo shoot.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Blair's cousin was kind enough to take some pictures of our family on location in Sausalito, Ca. I wanted to get pictures done in a familiar yet beautiful location with the kids. It was a lot of fun and work! But when I look at these pics even the ones that didn't make the holiday card, I just think to myself how much I love my family.



I love this sequence of the kids and Comet running to their favorite person, Daddy!



This is so sweet! Isela trying to catch her big brother Max, even though it was a total miss :)


Isela was brave enough to get on her dad's shoulders and even smiled!

Silly faces. Max and Isela looking out into yonder.




Nature's seesaw. Comet looks so little in this picture as do the kids. Makes me sad that they are growing up so fast.

Love how strong and big the ocean looks against my little man.

 I love my princesa chiquita!  This picture is hilarious because we are all blinded by the sun!

I love my family.


We are still in love !

I am so grateful for the road that life has taken us on.




Autumn in the North Bay

Monday, November 7, 2011

Halloween was very fun this year. We took many walks in our neighborhood just looking at all the spooky decorations. People go all out where we live. In fact Marin County holds many fall festivals and Halloween events right before the big day. A week before Halloween I decided to take some pictures of the kids wearing different costumes before they outgrew some of their old costumes.






Lately I've been thinking that I need to document of some of their crazy antics because I am so forgetful. I made these capes for them over spring break and they love to wear them. Isela likes to run around the house yelling, "I'm a supa hero!". Max likes to wear it to the park or when he's riding his bike.
In the far distance you can see part of the Bay.
Northern california is so beautiful. I really love where we live. It does take a little longer to cool down than in states with all four seasons but the good thing is that it is not as cold or confining as the snow.
Although it has been cooling down we have still been very active. I love being outdoors and I am fortunate that my city has many trails for me to explore.
Novato.

I really have been enjoying the alone time I get with Isela when max is in preschool.

A picture of Comet just because she is cute!

Another view of the Bay.

We had the opportunity to see family last week. We drove down the 101 to Sausalito right by the Golden Gate Bridge. My kids love this bridge. It was a super clear and suprisingly warm day so I took pictures.

Right across the Bay is San Francisco.
Its funny how the women end up with all the kids while the men go on rollercoaster rides. Hmm....

The kids and their distant cousins caught an up close look at this super friendly walrus.

These rides make me dizzy.

Last cool thing about this Fall is I found more trails! First time I tried to go Max freaked out about mountain lions and rattle snakes. I told him about the possible dangers so he was informed about running off by himself or poking around in those holes in the ground but it ended up scaring him. Hence, our first attempt at the new trails was a FAILURE. We can back again with Blair because he is a big strong daddy and no lion would go up against a daddy haha. Anyways we soon found out that there are so many poeple on these trails it is unlikely we would encounter anything dangerous.
Indian Valley Fire Road.

Max decided to play his trumpet during our walk.

I love it when our kids are affectionate to eachother.

Not a very good picture of salamander thing we found. But he is in there somewhere.

After this hike I convinced Blair to invest in a special harness that teaches Comet not to pull. She was really horrible during this walk so we went straight to the Humane Society and got her fitted. Today will be my first day trying it out on a nature walk.








The story of Comet

Monday, October 24, 2011


Comet 8 1/2 weeks. Her ears weren't sticking up yet.
Max learned how to draw pictures over the summer. He started drawing pictures of us and then he moved onto drawings of a dog who he named Comet. He just kept talking about this dog Comet who would be his "doggy friend". After going to many rescues and having no luck we ended up finding a backyard breeder who had just had their first litter of white german shepherd puppies. We drove two hours to Sacramento to "look" at the puppies and of course walked away with Comet.
After a few days of getting her, her ears perked up. Here she is trying to sleep with her "littermates".
There were two puppies left and the kids were running around and playing with them. Max came to me and whispered in my ear that one of them had given him a hug and that he wanted to take that one home. So we did! I held the puppy in my arms as we drove home and we shared our first bonding experience when she became car sick and threw up on me. Not very fun then but funny now :).
Still small enough to sit with us on our laps. On our way to Target and Petco for socialization.
Since then life has been amusing, hectic and frustrating at times. Its hard to raise two small kids with a puppy around. Now that I have the hang of it I like it. You know how when you have a newborn your life revolves around their nap schedule, well for me it kind of revolves around Comet's play schedule. Whats great about it is that I get plenty of excercise. I have a companion with me when we take the kids to the park and that when she is tired she is a cute cuddle bug. Whats not so great about it is when she doesn't get enough exercise she gets bored and she chews up our shoes, clothes, trash, door mat, dead grasshoppers, hands, toes and basically anything that will fit in her mouth.  But she keeps my life interesting and I have met a ton of people because of her. We have a doggy playgroup we go to every night. We have made friends with other herding dogs and go on trails. We had the chance to meet an Irish fellow who let Comet become familiar with horses and let Max sit on this beautiful horse. It was awesome. The kids are learning (slowly) to care for something. We teach them to think of her feelings and wants and to be gentle and loving. We have been to some beautiful places because of her. Rodeo Beach is a dog beach, Indian Valley Trail is for hikers, mountain bikers, dog people, and horse back riding. We love Comet and are so happy to have her in our lives. I never would have thought that I would love a dog like I love Comet. I actually wish the kids weren't around sometimes just so I could explore some more advance hikes and do other cool activities like flyball, agility...even just to watch her do what she was bred to do: herd sheep.

At Rodeo Beach. Comet loves to help the kids dig in the sand.

The only time Comet can run alongside Max. Other times she tries to herd him.
Indian Valley Trail is really close to our house and Comet LOVES this place.
I have recently started letting Comet off the leash at the park when no one else is around. She likes to think she is one of the kids by climbing up the playground :)
Max and Comet exploring in the woods.
Comet has been on the trail with horses before but she has never met one until now.
Max meeting the horse.
As Max was being placed on the horse he started to become scared but we encouraged him anyway and then he loved being on the horse.

The beautiful horse named Dodge.