Happy Birthday, Brookie!

My great friend, Brooke, turned the big 30 on Saturday. We have known each other since the 7th grade when she pantsed me twice in gym class. You wonder why I'm still friends with this girl? Yeah, me too! Just kidding! She really is a lot of fun and a good friend. Whether it's crank calling, cruising (or doing "burnys") in her blue Honda Civic, playing games til late at Liberty Squares, or asking that guy in the BYU library a question, Brooke is always making people laugh or wondering what's up with her.
She had a pool/BBQ/karaoke party. I couldn't get Jeff to karaoke with me, but Brooke and I sang a few oldies like Whomp There It Is and Gettin' Jiggy With It. I had a great time. I think the best part was when her friends from San Jose made a list of 30 questions that Brooke would ask. I was dying with laughter each time a question was read. Brooke just sat there wondering why it was so funny. One of my favorite questions was "Does your wife dress you or did you pick that out?" If you know Brooke, you know she asks everyone a million questions and the questions are usually personal. But, that's Brooke, and I love her for who she is. Happy Birthday, Brookes!

Lake Tahoe with the Trueman's

We just got back from spending three nights in Lake Tahoe with Jeff's family. Jeff's Dad's siblings rent a cabin in Tahoe every summer for two weeks. There are six kids in his dad's family and so with significant others, their kids, and their friends it adds up to a lot of people. It was so much fun! The weather was warm and the lake was great to cool off. We stayed near Homewood which is on the west side of the lake. It is beautiful up there! One night we heard there was a concert at Homewood, so we walked over there and had such a great time listening to the music. Sienna was even rocking out with her hippie grandma :)I had heard of this singer, but I did not realize how many hits he has: Footloose, Danger Zone, Celebrate Me Home, Forever, etc. Can you guess who he is? (And, Dad, no cheating! You should know who this is!).Someone got a little tired after all that movin' and groovin'.

Swimming Class

Sienna has been in a swim class this summer and Jeff and I have really enjoyed it. She likes the water and today Jeff dunked her for the first time. She did not cry, but coughed up some water. She just cannot keep her mouth closed when her face gets near the water. She acts like she's going to drink the entire pool! The "class" is kind of silly, but I guess kids like that. It's more for just getting her familiar with the water and moving in the water. She can kick and move her arms to go after a toy. It's fun because Jeff and I can both be in the pool playing with her. She seems to like it, although her teeth are always chattering by the time the 3o minute session is over. The pool is indoors, heated and at the UCSF Mission Bay Campus near the ballpark. It has been a fun family activity.

Deep Sea Fishing

Jeff and his brothers and Dad all went deep sea fishing yesterday. They left from Sausalito at 5:30 in the morning and were on the boat all day. They had a big group, but only one of them caught anything worthy to write home about (sorry, Bill). Ben, Jeff's brother, caught two huge salmon. One weighed 28 lbs and the other 39 lbs, which was the second largest fish caught all week (the largest weighed 40 lbs). They came back to our place, cleaned up the fish, and barbecued some of it for dinner. It was delicious! And, there is so much left over!

Hooray for Grandma and Grandad!

We always have a great time when my parents come and Sienna always shows off her latest tricks. Recently she loves to do "toss 'em up" (I think my sister, Amy, taught her that while we were in Southern California). She does it on command now and we all get a big kick out of it.

Matisse: Painter as Sculptor

We visited the Matisse exhibit at the SF MOMA today. It was very interesting how he used his paintings and drawings to develop his sculptures. He modeled some of his sculptures after Rodin's and Picasso's. Sienna enjoyed the museum, especially the docents. She just learned how to wave, so she waved to everyone in the museum. She also wanted to eat all the sculptures.Sienna sitting in Yerba Buena Gardens in front of the MOMA

I'm Ready for My Close-Up

Grandma and Grandad and Uncle David arrived a few hours ago and brought these hip sunglasses for Sienna. I was surprised that she kept them on long enough to take some pictures and even after that. She's quite the ham when the camera comes out.

San Francisco Zoo

Today Sienna and I went to the San Francisco Zoo with my friend from San Jose, Brooke, and her three kids. We saw the penguin and giraffe feedings, the new Grizzly Gulch, gorillas, polar bears, etc. Sienna got a little freaked out at the giraffe feeding. I think it was a little too close for her. The giraffes were bigger up close than I thought. We had a great time. The boys ran around while the baby girls just sat in their strollers and enjoyed the ride.
The silverback of the gorillas.
Daenen with a peacock.
The boys refused to be in the picture...

If They Could Just Stay Little...

Last week Sienna had a doctor's appointment and weighed in at 15 lbs. She hasn't quite reached the chart yet in weight, but she is just a petite little thing. She is now 8 1/2 months and just figured out how to crawl forward. She has been pushing herself backwards and in circles for a few weeks, but now that she can move forward, there's a whole new world out there to explore. I really have to be careful about what's on the floor. She loves to go after cables and tries to eat them. She still coughs when anyone else does and thinks it's a way of communicating because she will do these fake little coughs back and forth. Her new favorite words are "baba, baba, baba." She loves to give kisses with her mouth wide open, especially to that cute baby in the mirror! She is so much fun and I love watching her grow and discover new things.

LDS Night at the Giants Game

Over the weekend we went to LDS Night at the Giants Game. We went with a group of people from our ward and some friends who are not church members (they wanted to see a group of Mormons in action). Someone recognized me from Pleasanton and started yelling: "Hey, are you Mormon? Are you a Germany? I'm Mormon, too!" I know I must be getting old because this has happened to me before where someone will recognize me from Pleasanton and I will have no idea who they are and then they tell me I used to babysit them or their dad was my seminary teacher. Then I wonder how they became old enough to go to college. Anyway, the game was a lot of fun and we saw Barry Bonds almost hit a homerun. The Giants won 4 to one. Sienna even got a certificate because it was her first game.

International Surf Day

A few weeks ago we went to Southern California to visit my family and to celebrate International Surf Day (June 21). We had a great time seeing everyone and the weather was perfect. Sienna had fun playing with her cousins and being spoiled by her grandparents, aunts, and great-grandparents. She did so well on the trip and even went swimming in the pool. Here are some highlights of our trip:
This is Sienna with her cousin, Taylor, who is four days younger than Sienna. They had so much fun together. Sienna loved giving her kisses and touching her face. Taylor is so good-natured and did not seem to mind Sienna's drooly hands all over her.Sienna with her great-grandparents.
San Onofre or Old-Man's Beach with Grandma and Grandad.
I think Dad fit in quite well at Old-Man's Beach (except everyone else your age was surfing!). Next time we will get you in the water!
International Surf Day
Sienna with her oldest cousin, Mackenzie. Mackenzie is going to be a great mother someday. She just wanted to hold Sienna and feed her and put her to bed.Sienna had so much fun playing with her cousins. The twins played peek-a-boo with her and played with her with her toys. I wish we all lived closer :(

MIA

I know I've been missing in action from my blog, but we were out of town and then we had to deal with dial-up internet for a week. Talk about torture! I did not realize how important (and dependent) I am on high-speed internet. It is finally back up and running, so here we are...