They Say It's Your Birthday....

Big B turned the big 3 - 5 today. Yes, people he is one year closer to 40. Despite being 1 year older, he didn't seem to complain and we had a fabulous celebration.


I took Bryan to The Beach House in Cardiff By The Sea. This restaurant sits right on the beach and we dined to the sound of waves crashing {I know.....totally romantic}. It was bliss! I was disappointed the photo didn't capture the background because it was totally the best part!

Let me just preface.....I don't do seafood. I don't like the smell, the texture, etc. However, this was a monumental moment as I tried eating not cooked Ahi, but RAW Ahi! Yup....I did it and I kindda liked it!

To end the night, we had the Moffats over for some cake and ice cream. Once again......the cake was a total FLOP. This is one day a year that I try to go above and beyond with the cake and every year I just can't get it right. It may look {somewhat} of a success, but pictures can be deceiving. It was totally dry and I let it sit in the fridge and the icing was too firm when it should have been light and fluffy. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.
The best gift of the day came from Deb, Jonathan & McCall. If you look close enough.....you can see this lovely candy dish is engraved "Congratulations to the Moffats 2010." Mmm.....wonder where that came from. Thanks guys! We totally LOVE it!
Happy Birthday Bryan......Turning 35 wasn't that bad, right!!!

You May Be Thinking.....

......Is this ALL you ever feed your daughter?? Contrary to what you see here, Mia DOES eat more than just cupcakes {just for the record}.

Our neighbors {and good friends}, Deb & Jonathan, got married the first of January and they celebrated their marriage this weekend at a reception in Temecula. Deb had asked me if I would help by making some cookies........and you know how much I love to bake {especially cookies}, so I whipped up these little guys.

Here's a picture of the cookies in action. The best part of the refreshments was definitely the candy bar. They had a bar with jars and jars of different kinds of candy. I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of it because it was AMAZING! Can you tell that I don't like sugar?? {I wish}

And here's the lady of the night......the beautiful, blushing bride!

Private......Just Kidding!

So, I finally had some time tonight to sit down and {attempt}to make my blog private. I got all the contacts input just to find out that blogger only allows 100 readers.....really? I was so overwhelmed with the response of those requesting to be added to my blog list. There's no way I was going to go through and pick and choose who those 100 readers would be. So.....I guess I'm not going to go private. That's all!

. o O O O

Last week Bryan had meetings in Utah so Mia and I decided to tag along. We were able to spend a few days with our families, which was so great. I was so nervous about Mia flying. You just never know how she's going to react. Having a layover in Vegas, we hoped that would help break things up. Thank goodness for a non-full flight and A LOT of candy......she did well.
We were excited to stay with Weston & Kirstin for a night before going to Fillmore. Mia is so in love with these two {Motley & Cash}. Her new favorite word is "puppy." I love animals, but I've never been much of a "pet" person. I think that might have change....we'll see!

We spent 4 days in Fillmore and the highlight of our trip was spending some time at the cemetery and decorating for Valentine's Day.


While in Utah, we bought a car and drove it back to California. We have been a 1-car-family for the past 5 months and realized this situation just won't work anymore. Since January, we have done the 600 mile drive 3 times. Expecting {an almost} 2-year-old to behave in a car for 9 hours is far too much to expect. But after lots of stops and many episodes of "Baby Can Read" we made it.

When we got home, Mia had a valentine from Grandma & Grandpa Roper waiting for her. She was in heaven.

I'm Totally SMITTEN with.....

YoU.....

.....AnD yOu......

.......AnD yOu!!!!
{Just Sayin....}

Happiness is THIS......

Lovely LuLu

Shortly after Kate passed away my dear friend, Lizzie, came for a visit. Lizzie {early in her second pregnancy} expressed that if she were to have a little girl, she wanted to name her after Kate. I can't even describe how touched and honored I was {I am} by this. Eight months later Miss London Kate was born. Little did we know that she would have her own set of health issues.

Just shortly after London's 1st birthday, she was given the gift of life. LuLu received her liver transplant and just recently headed home {sweet home}. She is doing so well and we are so thankful. What a miracle!!! The last couple of days I have just been thinking about how precious life is and how important being a donor is; how it can saves lives. When Kate was still with us, we spent months in and out of the hospital. We made some dear friends while we were there. We saw children waiting on donor lists for heart transplants; some who received them and some that never made it. When I turned 16 and got my driver's license for the first time, I made the decision to be a donor {not really putting much thought into it}. Through the experiences I have had over the past couple of years seeing many lives changed {for the good}, I am proud to say that I am a DONOR!!! Are you??

To Miss London Kate and your family......We love you and are so happy that you got your new liver!!! Keep fighting girl!

This is Mia, Tytan and Miss LuLu back in August......

....and this is Miss LuLu now {post transplant}! Isn't she lovely??

Meet Miss LuLu and read her sweet story at: http://www.liverforlulu.blogspot.com/.