Welcome to Sunny D Grandma K!

Mr. Huge flying beetle was happy to welcome my Mom to San Diego.  She looks welcomed, right?

After surprising everyone with Grandma's visit, Rowan and Kierce were anxious to drag her to the ocean to watch them play around with the surf board.  I think Grandma was more scared by the idea of them surfing than the attack of the massive flying beetle!  I do think she warmed up a bit to the idea once she saw that the girls weren't racing out to drop in on massive waves!  

A "Happy Birthday" went out to Grandma K, with a wish and a homemade tropical carrot cake!  We had a blast on the weekend celebrating her birthday with family and some of our new friends!  It wouldn't be a Nevins party if we weren't bursting at the seems with food!  Ryan came up with the idea of the century, and that was to use make use of our community room for our gathering!  It gave everyone more room to spread out and enjoy themselves, and more room for my niece Eva to explore.  We even did some swimming to top off the evening!

My Mom was nice enough to urge Ryan and me out the door to take some couple time together.  After walking around, Ryan led me to a bar in our neighborhood that had an amazing reggae band playing.  We danced and enjoyed the music for a bit, before walking home.  Thank you Mom!

    

The last full day of her visit, we did some "power touring" in Point Loma and La Jolla.  Brooke and Eva met up with us in La Jolla to check out the seals, and spend some last minute quality time together!  We had an absolute fabulous time together, and everyone really enjoyed checking out the seals and tide pools!

Dana came out to our neck of the beach the evening before Mom's departure to enjoy a nice dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  We had a superb meal, and a nice walk home.  The Merricks just can't wait for the next visit from Grandma K!  Although, now I believe it is Grandpa K's turn to ride the waves in Cali!  We have a board waiting for you Dad!

8th Anniversary

Ryan and I were lucky enough to have a night all to ourselves a couple days before our actual anniversary, thanks to Aunt Brooke and Uncle Dana!  Ryan and I were happy to spend some special time together knowing that our kids were off having a blast with their aunt, uncle and cousin!  We had a scrumptious and very fresh dinner at a local restaurant.  While looking back on the past and talking about our hopes for the next eight years!

After dinner we walked down by the cliffs to watch the gorgeous waves and beautiful sunset.

...my handsome groom gazing at the astounding view.  After the sun set in the sky, we took a walk on the pier and downtown.

On our actual anniversary the kids put on the formal wear they received as a gift from Aunt Lynn and Aunt Dawnie.  Rowan thought it would be fun to have a photo shoot.  The photos turned out great and we had a blast!  By the time Ryan got home from work, we were all ready to go out for taco Tuesday at a nice restaurant in town.  Yes, only the Merricks would get dressed to the nine for taco Tuesday!  On our walk down to dinner, Merrick ran into this professional acrobat that thought it would be fun to balance his scooter on his chin, then he balanced his surf board!  Wow, that was a treat!

The tacos were definitely yummy!  We had a great meal as a family, and the kids really enjoyed being a part of our anniversary celebration.  

 

We left the restaurant just in time to catch the neon sky from the sun that had already set.  Ryan and I can both say with confidence that the sun will never set on our love.

Aunt Jean and Amy's Visit

My Aunt Jean and cousin Amy flew in for their annual San Diego retreat this last week, and we were lucky enough to spend some special quality time with them.  Earlier in the week, we went over to Dana and Brooke's house for a some brats on the grill, and to celebrate Dana and Amy's birthday with some chocolate zucchini cake with cream cheese icing.  Aunt Jean and I had some fun with the kids in the yard before we ate dinner.

While Amy got some cuddle time with Eva and Brooke!  

The birthday cousins shared a birthday wish, while Dana swooped in for the blow out of the candles. lol  

Ryan made us all chuckle while telling us his late night fishing story.  What did he catch?  I can tell you it wasn't a fish!  You'll have to ask him to get the full version of the story!

Just before taking off to fly back to Albuquerque, Amy and Aunt Jean stopped over for one last visit and some late lunch.  Brooke and Eva also came over to visit with them as well.  We just loved how Eva was looking up at Amy in this photo.  What a simple yet amazing day.

Their wish came true to say cianara to the ocean one last time before rushing off to the airport.  This is certainly a bunch of beautiful ladies!  We absolutely cherished this time with them and cannot wait to see them again soon!   

Happy 34th Birthday Uncle Dana

Happy Birthday Uncle Dana!  The kids had so much fun showering Uncle Dana with cards, love and even this HUGE sign!  On Dana's actual birthday, the kids and I spent time with Eva so he could take his gorgeous wife Brooke out for a romantic and exquisite dinner.

A few days later we celebrated with a BBQ at our place.  Ryan turned out his yummy burgers, Brooke made his favorite pasta salad and I tossed a creative tomato salad that might be a new favorite, although we can't tell you the secret ingredient ;)  As you can see, Eva has now officially joined the water baby club!  We can't tell who loves the water more :)

We don't know who was more excited about Paulette and Bo making an appearance, us or the kids.  They just love playing with the kids and before you know it, everyone is laughing!  Right away Bo took the kids down to the pool to swim, and boy were the kids thrilled when they could finally go down to the pool.

It was nice to see Dana chill and talk with Lori, Steph and everyone who made it out to celebrate his Birthday.  Everyone loved snacking on Lori's famous peanut butter cookies she brought just for the occasion!

Dana is a guy who has always been on the go, on to the next adventure.  As his sister, I love seeing him relax and just enjoy the moment, all 34 years of it.  Look at this gorgeous family he has created with Brooke.  Everyone would agree that this is one lucky man.

Maybe he'll be even more lucky by his 35th birthday, if I can perfect this natural red cake recipe!  Since this was our favorite childhood cake (made by our Grandma Long) I figured I would pull out all the stops to recreate this cake naturally. Can you see a spec of red???  It was definitely a fun experiment!  ...and potentially may have some fresh ideas for a new traditional birthday cake spin off, all thanks to Brooke.  No worries, will keep you posted.