Rose Parade Decorating

How fun to be a part of the Rose Parade!  My aunt asked us if we wanted to volunteer at the Rose Parade on behalf of Kiwanis International. I have never been to the Rose Parade nor been around any of the floats. It's beyond words to explain these floats.  They are gigantic and have such attention to detail.  Jerry & I helped by gluing rose trimmings onto large rose sculpture for a float called Just Imagine by American Western Asset.  Here are a few photos of us hard at work:

Photo Fun

My friend Lorena practiced doing make-up on me.  Afterward it was only proper to have a photo shoot with a little dog on the stairs, right?  The husband was shooting away like a professional, as I tried to pose :) 

Happy Halloween

This was the first Halloween in our house, which had us anticipating Trick-or-Treater's!  Living in Long Beach, our condo didn't allow access for Tricker Treater's, so we were a little pumped to prepare pumpkins in hopes of seeing costumes and handing out candy this year.  We both carved a pumpkin; Jerry carved a scary face and I carved a brewing witch.  We had so much fun carving the pumpkins, that we went back to buy another pumpkin each to carve.  It turned out that only a handful of neighbor kids stop by, but they were so cute!!  It was fun to get in the Halloween spirit this year.  Here are our creations, the spooky Halloween sunset, and our little Luke in his Dog-osaurus costume:

Our carved creations and a Halloween sunset

Defeated by exhaustion and possibly his costume

OktoberFest 2011

Oktobertfest. Proust!

Celebrating Oktoberfest and Jerry's Birthday!

Train Concert

My mom invited me to see Train perform in Palm Springs.  This was so fitting since there is a song that always reminds my mom of me, and now subsequently reminds me of her.  I have been a fan of Train, but after the concert, I fell in love with all their songs.  Pat Monahan, the lead singer, sang "When I look to the Sky" acapella, and it sounded amazing! (click on the song title to see the performance).  The lyrics of this song moved me.  You could feel every emotion that he sang. 

We enjoyed the concert, a good meal before, and brought home a bottle of Train's wine called "Drops of Jupiter" from Save Me San Francisco winery.  So cool!

Malibu Wedding

Oh beautiful Malibu!  Jerry & I had a lot of fun attending a wedding and spending the weekend  in Malibu over Memorial weekend.  Living in southern California, you would think we would have passed through or visited here, but this was our first time.  We love to visit places off the beaten track, and Malibu just never seemed like that place (from what we seen in celebrity magazines)...yet it was!  I guess that's why the famous flock here.  It has serene beauty,  a slower way of life and a simple charm which was very relaxing.  The wedding was fabulous, in a beautiful, HUGE house off PCH --- we had a really good time!

Malibu Pier

The new Couple!

Malibu = Romantic fun!

Oak Glen & Forest Falls

With so much new terrain to explore in the IE we decided to take a day trip to Oak Glen & Forest Falls.  This is a great place for a day trip and a picnic in the forest.  We stopped at the apple orchards in Oak Glen, enjoyed some fresh apple pie burritos (apple pie rolled in pie crust....yum!) and strolled thru the fresh produce stands that line the road.  All the produce is locally grown and very tasty.  We bought some blood oranges and pear butter from Moms Country Orchard  -- an awesome place to stop along the way.  They are super friendly and let us sample just about everything in the place.  I chuckled at the photos they had on the wall of Huell Howser's visits over the years.  You know if Huell loves this place, then its nothing short of awesome!

Apple Pie Burritos....mmmm!

Mile High Apple Pies

Forrest Fall is a short drive away from Oak Glen.  Snow was still on the ground which made hiking & playing with Luke extra fun.  There are many different trails that take you along waterfalls (weather permitting) where you can stop and eat a picnic lunch.  Jerry made us a healthy lunch that we enjoyed while sitting on logs near the creek.  This is a great place to go for hiking and nature...a Sunday well enjoyed!

Jerry & I at Forest Falls

Despite the silly face, he loved it here!

One of the falls

Our backyard

When we lived in Long Beach, our "backyard" was the beach.  Our new "backyard" is just as fun to explore!  Riverside does not dissapoint!  We now live directly next to a park that has many walking trails and breathtaking views from the top.  We enjoy the excerise, and Luke loves running free! 

View from our new home

Luke the explorer

 Jerry at the top of the hill