Another New Cousin for Rebecca

Thursday, July 12, 2007, Isaac Rees Palmer was born at 9:25 am. He was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 21 in. Mother and baby are doing well. So much fun!

Rebecca and I are getting excited for the next fun for this summer...coming to TX! Can't wait!

Happy 2 Years of Marriage!

So July 9th (Monday) was Steve and I's anniversary. We went to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA! (Yes, I did plan it, obviously). It was sooo cool! We got to see how Jelly Belly's are made and then we got free samples. They also have this huge downstairs where you can buy all the different flavors and candy they make there. They make candy corn and some sunkist candy at the factory too. You could also buy flops (I restrained myself). They also have a tasting counter where you could try any flavor you wanted, but they only let you try one or two flavors (so sad!).This is me in front of a wall covered in Jelly Belly's with the Jelly Belly guy! I have my paper hat on that they make you wear as you go through the factory. They don't let you take pictures inside the factory, so this is after. This is Steve out front with the big blow up Jelly Belly.

This is Jelly Belly Art! They have tons of these displayed throughout the factory. The two most common are President Reagen (because he used to have Jelly Belly's at the White House because he used to them to quit eith smoking or tobacco, I don't remember which it was) and then Elvis. But they are actually Jelly Belly's. They said how they are made is they paint a picture first and then the same technique for mosaic art is used. They put the Jelly Belly's in a clear glue and put them on the painting.

After the factory, we went to this oil tasting place that was just down the street. We ended up buying some Red Apple Balsamic Vinegar. It is so delicious with a little sweetness! yummy! Then we had an hour couple massage that was just heavenly. Then we ate dinner at Vic Stewart's which is a steak place here in Walnut Creek. It is at the old train station depot and there was a train attached to the building. We actually sat inside the train, the caboose, to eat. Then the seperate train compartments are turned into private dining rooms that would fit like 8 to 10 people. It was awesome, but sadly I forgot my camera. We had a porterhouse steak that was so delicious along with mashed potatoes and asparagus. We finished it off with creme brulee!

I have no pictures of Rebecca...but don't despair, I do have more videos! So click the link and check these out. They are both pretty short. The second one, Rebecca gets up on her toes and this is becoming more and more common. Lots of times when she does this, she sticks her butt up in the air more.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Fireworks are the BEST!

We went over to our aunt and uncle's house yesterday for the 4th of July for a BBQ. The cousins played with Rebecca while we were there. They kept her very entertained.


After the BBQ, we went to Central Park (obviously not the one in NY) for Fireworks.
Uncle Robert helping Rebecca to stand...she is still quite wobbly. Rebecca had not slept much during the day and started to get fussy because she was tired. But then the fireworks started...

She was so quite while watching! She LOVED the fireworks. But the minute they were over...WAHHHH. She was screaming again.Aunt Debbie holding Rebecca while she watched the fireworks.

Rockin' Baby!

More videos...the first one is Rebecca making this cute noise but its a little hard to hear (so make sure the room is quite before you play it). The second is her rocking back and forth...just about ready to crawl!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007



HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

USC or Longhorns?!

Rebecca grabbed Dad's hat the other day and put it on her head. So cute! Especially with the "I love Daddy" bib on. The only problem is that it is a USC hat! USC! So I'm making sure to put up a picture of her in the longhorn's onesie.

We went to Aptos this weekend. Aptos is about 7mi. south of Santa Cruz. Our friends have a beach house there. We went to the beach on Saturday and Rebecca got to eat lots and lots of sand (sadly we didn't have our camera so no pic). She would play with the sand then grab a big handful and shove it in her mouth. Then drool it out while playing with more sand then grab a big handful...and so on. Then she rubbed her eyes, so she had sand all over her face and in her ears and nose. Plus she had been crawling in it so it was all down her front. So we took her out in to the ocean. Cold Cold Ocean! Then we put her on the sand again so mommy could could try to skim board (i think thats what it is called). You throw this light weight board across the sand as the wave is receeding and then jump on it and ride it for about 10ft. if you're good. I ate it. Right on my BEHIND (luckily no pictures of that!). After trying that out, Rebecca had gotten more sand all over her. So we took her to the showers to rinse off. She started to shiver. So daddy wrapped her up in a blanket and she stayed and cuddled with him for 20 min. He loved it! She is not much of a cuddler now that she's a mover and a shaker.

In Aptos, we played games and hung out with our friends. It was three couples including us. We are the only one with a baby but the other couples are both pregnant. One due in a few weeks, the other in a few months. Steve and I went for a walk with Rebecca on Sunday morning before everyone else got up. We went down to the beach for the walk. There is this pier that heads out to a sunken ship. So we went out to check it out. There are people fishing all along the pier. While we were walking back one of them had caught something so we stopped to see what he was reeling in. It was a SHARK! It was about 3 1/2 feet long. He walked all the way over to the shore pulling the shark so that it was on the shore (but he is actually on the pier which is like 20 ft. above the shore). His friend ran down to grab the shark and unhook the line. They took the shark over to his car. So Steve, Rebecca and I walk over to see the shark up close and ask if he'll let us touch it. It feels very leathery...it was sooo cool! We watched him smack it with a tire iron to kill it and then cut it from the gills to the front to bleed it out. Steve got a couple of pictures on his cell phone. I'll see if I can get them onto the computer.

This is the view from the back yard of the beach house. We are on a hill, actually a cliff if you look over the edge of that railing, and there are houses down below that are actually on the beach. But you have such an amazing view from up here and none of the traffic if you actually lived on the beach. That is Rebecca and I sitting on the grass and Danny (one of the friends) sitting in the lawn chair. We sat outside and talked and played games and grilled hot dogs over the fire pit (and of course s'mores). The sounds of the waves crashing was so delightful. We slept with the door open to the outside so we could hear it all night.