Montreat Visit #1

Last Friday Mom and I took a quick road trip up to Montreat to see Allie play in her first college volleyball game! It was so fun to see the game (they played beautifully, if that can be said about a sport) and even more fun to see Allie. We got to see her dorm room all set up and decorated and meet some of the girls she plays with and her roommate. She has some excellent friends already. I can't wait until Montreat visit #2!

Another Year Older

Because my birthday is at the end of August, it usually signaled starting back to school and Greg leaving for PA . . . but not this year! (not last year either, but it's still a new feeling concept to me) This year instead of helping Greg pack up his car, he took me to see a Knight's baseball game, made angel food cake and HOMEMADE whipped cream and invited our family over for dessert. I'm continually amazed at how much this man loves me and all the things he does to make me feel special.

We had so much fun with the family and I was reminded of how blessed I am to have all of them in my life. We sat around for a couple hours laughing, telling stories and catching up with each other. (Chelle and Nathan really stole the show with their customer service stories . . . those 2 are the best story tellers)





























What Greg is thinking: "Another purse?? Where is she going to put it?"









My favorite humorous birthday card . . .
"I hope you have the best day of your life until tomorrow. I wrote this with my left hand so it would be special."

Real Smile

One of the many things that Greg inherited from his dad is his inability to have a real smile on command. He couldn't have Steve's curly hair though, just the cheesy camera smile . . . BUT our friend Liz captured a real smile the other day! I'm pretty excited, because my husband's wonderfully handsome smile is one of my favorite things about him =)






P.S. Greg wanted me to note that his fake smiles are better than his dad's . . .

Our Fisher-dog

We got to take Spartacus with us this last time that we went fishing and he did very well. He actually ventured into the water and seemed to enjoy it. His splashing could have something to do with the fact that we only caught one fish (I caught a 10 in small mouth bass), but Greg says it's more likely that since we were fishing on a stocked stream that wasn't stocked recently that there just weren't any big fish left.

In addition to catching "the only fish in the river", I also caught a Spartacus . . . at one point I laid my pole down to switch lures and Sparty got a little too close and then bolted, which set the hook. He didn't flinch at all while Greg cut the hook and pulled it through. I have a feeling this is only a mild beginning to the Ross Family Adventures . . . =)

What we've been up to . . .

Keeping up a blog when you don't have the internet at home is apparently a little trickier than I thought . . . but usually because I forget to bring in my pictures . . .

In the last month since I posted we've been pretty busy. I had my wisdom teeth taken out (I'll post pictures of that later, they are hysterical), Greg played in what seemed like 1,000 softball games (really only 2-3 a week), celebrated Michelle's 21st birthday, I went to a couple showers for my friend Sarah, we both went to Sarah and Mike's wedding, we went fishing up at South Mountain, we finished the bookshelves, we've gone to several summer cookouts, re-caulked both bathrooms, and had people over at least 1 night a week. It's been a busy month, but so much fun!

It looks like life will be "slowing down" a bit now that the school year is starting back up. Becoming more routine is probably a better way to put it. We'll still be super busy, but most weeks will look the same, so planning will be a little bit easier. Or so it would seem . . .

We took Chelle out to a Mexican restaurant with a group of about 10 girls for her birthday








































At Sarah's shower they had a game to design a wedding dress . . . Leah was my vote












Sarah and Mike had their reception at a family friends house (more like an estate) a little north of us, it was a gorgeous reception











And we got to sit with our besties













Greg says I was out of it when he was driving me home from having my wisdom teeth extracted . . . and by the looks of this picture I would agree











This a couple days after . . . the swelling was up for about 2 weeks . . . it was hott =)

No more wisdom

We Rosses laid pretty low this weekend. All of us except for my checks which decided to blow up about 4 times their normal size for no reason. Well, maybe having my wisdom teeth out on Friday had something to do with it. Maybe.
Friday went pretty smoothly, the laughing gas they gave me pre-surgury was great. I felt like laughing so badly and it took all the self control I had to not bust out laughing. So I settled for a goofy smile on my face instead. I told the assistant who was prepping me that I love the gas and needed some for the house. She, apparently, has heard that before . . . =) The surgery went well as far as I can tell and the recovery has gone really smoothly . . . except for my checks!
Greg took wonderful care of me this weekend, feeding me anything I wanted and keeping the house clean. My mom came and brought me Italian ice and flowers (and chocolate for Greg). Carol, Kristie and Becky all brought dinners which were such a huge blessing! I had planned some freezer meals but had forgotten to take into account that I would only be able to eat soft foods. Pizza unfortunately does not count as a soft food. I've been so blessed by everyone's care!

California Girls (and Boy)

This past week Greg, Allie and I flew on over to California and had a wonderful time with our family who lives out there. We now have 2 grandparents, 8 aunts and uncles and 11 cousins living there (not to mention the countless members of Dad's extended family). We flew in Sunday afternoon and hit the ground running. Monday we spent 10 hours at Hunting Beach were Greg and Allie tried their hand at surfing until the waves got too big (6-8 foot waves kind of big) so the life guards closed the beach for surfing. We hung out with our family, took a walk down to the pier to "be seen" by the Holister camera, and ended the day with a cookout on the beach.

The rest of the days were packed full of baseball games (the Baumgartners LOVE baseball!), cookouts, Knott's Berry Farm, and sight seeing. We packed our days so full that the on going joke was that we'd need a vacation when we got back to recover from our vacation . . . and I'm realzing it wasn't really a joke =)

We were sad to pack up and leave on Saturday but we are looking forward to future visits!

The travelers at the airport bright and early (thanks, Mom!)













My cousin Michael - he was the youngest until March when his brother Nate came along













Me and Nicole, we have the same birthday, just 15 years apart













The high schools grads . . . Kevin is pointing to Allie to show that she is the older one (by a month)


















Greg's first steps in the Pacific




















































Cooking on the beach (Hungtington Beach is one of the last beaches in CA that allows bonfires)












Palos Verdes













The beach club at Palos Verdes













Trump National Golf Course













We got to see Trump at his golf course . . .









































PBS ranked this sandwich place among the top 5 in America . . . they were right!



























Greg at Union station













Dodger's Stadium!



























There was a firework show after the game (we went on July 4th)













Brendon's all-star game, we got to watch both him and Scott play that week













Me and Tricia at Knott's Berry Farm













One of Greg's favorite rides, they use the same technology as air craft carriers to shoot the cars out at 80 miles per hour in 2 seconds - 3G's


















Another of Greg's favorites