Spawn Shower

My (Steve's) labmate Eric and his wife Kristy are having a baby soon, so they invited us to their baby shower, although they referred to their future son Jake as their "spawn" a lot on the invitation. We had a great time hanging out with them, playing some games like pin the penis on the baby, and winning a sippy cup full of chocolate eggs by guessing the right amount in there- I was dead on!

Our photos are online

Check out our new online photo gallery. We've decided to stop using snapfish because we had to remember to email everyone, and to see our photos you needed an account. Now, anyone can click the link to the right, which will always be on this blog, to see our online gallery. We're still going to put some photos on here, but if you want to see a larger collection, check them out occasionally. We don't have all of them online yet, but we'll keep making notes when we update the online albums.

Bread from around the world

I (Steve) am reading a book called Julie and Julia, about a woman who decided to tackle Julia Child's entire Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. It's so-so so far, but it got me thinking- I've got plenty of great cookbooks I don't cook much from, so why not try something similar. And the challenge I settled on:

Bread: the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter

I'm not going to bother cooking everything from the book in a year, because I frankly don't think I'd have time or come close to finishing. But, I may as well bake all the recipes at least once. Unlike Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I'll never end up with poached eggs en gelee; the worst it may get is a boring flatbread.

Today marks the beginning of the attempt, even though I've made some of these recipes before. The focaccia is fantastic, so it's been made repeatedly. Today, though, before going on a gorgeous bike ride up Grizzly Peak with Marty, Allon, Joe, and Cater, I mixed up a batch of Petit Pains au Lait. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to make a double batch. They turned out great. Thanks to the leftovers from last night's Chinese, we didn't even eat all of them. We'll bring them to Scott and Sarah's tonight instead.

Giselle

As part of our plan to experience California before we leave it, we attended the San Francisco Ballet's Giselle.

We both really enjoyed the show, but we both enjoyed different parts. Steve really liked the first act because of the story it told. Aimee really liked the second act because of the amazing dancing and the stunning visual created by the dancers in white dresses against the dark forest background.

We both loved the amazingly intricate sets and costumes (good thing we had binoculars!). Getting all dressed up and going on a fun date wasn't so bad either.


"map map" (meow meow in Echo speak) cuddle me I'm cute!

Monterey madness

As part of our new effort to take advantage of what California has to offer before we move to Michigan, we took a trip to Monterey Saturday. Scott, Sarah, and Scott's friends Zig and Teresa from college were able to join us. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the jellyfish were pulsing, and we even found parking!

We spent most of the day at the aquarium. The jellyfish exhibit was quite cool, as hopefully gets conveyed in some of the photos. We were lucky enough to get there during the otters' feeding time, so they were doing some tricks and getting trained to be used to their handlers. And of course, we got to see some giant tuna swimming around looking less delicious than on an open-faced sandwich. This aqurium is unique because they pump water directly from the bay for some of their exhibits. So a lot of the stuff growing in those exhibits is random life that came in the water as spores.

We also got to pet a sea cucumber (suprisingly pleasant) and see a giant octopus. The octopus was totally hamming it up. It had turned bright red and was going back and forth in the tank right up against the glass.

Super Bowl!

Steve and I went to a super bowl party at Matt and Brianne's place. They were great hosts and provided us with yummy cookie bars and pizza (I thought it was delivery, but they swore it was DiGorno). Steve made some awesome birthday guacamole for Matt that almost didn't make it into the party.

Here's a picture of a cat. It's adorable and you really like looking at it.
Ignore the fact that Ruby looks a little like a weasel.

Trip to Colorado

Steve and I had a great time on our trip to Colorado. We celebrated Christmas with the Ginley's and then spent time with the Guillaudeu's after they returned from NY.

Louise and her awesome cuddly dogs Milo and Emmi

Steve and Aimee cuddling the dogs. These dogs are doing their best to convert us to small dog lovers. Let me tell you, their best is pretty good.

We had a great time skiing at Loveland ski area, where after demoing some awesome Nordicas Aimee decided that she needs a new pair of skis.

We also went on a great cross country ski hut trip. The six mile all uphill trip in just about killed us, but after that we had lots of fun. There was beautiful scenery, fluffy powder, good company, gigantic games of double deck hearts, cribbage and much more!

On the trail

Doug and Gwen making it look easy
Dad in the snow

At least the 6 miles in were accompanied by gorgeous weather and beautiful views.

Aimee practicing her seal slides down the hill
It may not work for everyone, but I found love when I jumped into a snowbank. Watch out eharmony this could be the next hot thing!

Heading out to play in the snow. We're going to try some downhill for a change.

Polar star hut. Our oasis in the snow

The Bailey's and Snow chefs Becky and Lucy working their magic. I swear this is the best drink I've ever had. I highly recommend it.

Back at the trail head! We survived! This trip was a ton of fun and Steve is standing on some snow I'm not really that short, really.