a fuzzy addition to the bursons...

...you guessed it... This is no rabbit paw; it is the paw of the Burson's very first pet! A kitten that we call "Lewis."

The proud new cat owners affectionately named their cat after one of their favorite authors: C.S. Lewis. It is yet another experience to add to the list of adventures we get to share! Little Lewis is a darling little kitten... see how innocent and sweet.
That is...until he gets this devious look in his eye!

Then you know he is going to go for the plant or perhaps chase his tail. Or, one of our favorites, climb up the door jam. (I wish I had a picture of that one) Another devious game he likes to play takes place when I take a shower. He likes to come and stand in the bathroom and meow and then attempt to climb up our glass shower door via Josh's towel. Since when do cats beg to get in the water?

One not so devious, but quite endearing maneuver that Lewis loves is when I work at home, he likes to get as close to me as possible. You can't get much closer than this...

This picture is of Josh napping on the guest bedroom bed while I was sending in my timesheets for work. Lewis decided to join him.

All in all, we have lots of fun. Lewis was completely trained for not only the litter box, but a scratching post when we got him, so we have had no accidents. Hooray! He is pretty much the cutest cat we've ever had! Hope you get to meet him soon!

Family Wedding #4 for the year...

Amongst the beach aspiring flowers, we settled in the Scotts Valley Community center for Uncle Dave's wedding. Dressing for the occasion, my cousin, Sean, classically glanced at the camera. It was one of the very few pictures that the kids let me take! He could easily be a young member of the rat pack, I think!

There they are... the newly-wedded couple. I think that Liz is happy! She is Greek and really enjoys a good Greek Wedding!

I have no idea who this little boy is, but he had one of the cutest little faces. The jarring scar on his forehead took some 15 stiches!

My mom, enjoyed the ceremony, the candles, the fall leaves, the crisp air... and the Peet's coffee that we brought her mid-reception!

I wanted to get some outdoor pictures of the couple, but they were not quite as enthusiastic as myself. The tree turned out to be so fascinating. I love how it towers above their heads with two commanding branches that unite at the bottom.

My husband is so strong... strong enough to break even the most durable of fake metal silverware!

Wow, a serpant around the bride and groom!

This is my cousin Cole (Sean's younger brother). He clearly has a gift.

We think this will be the last in the series of family wedding posts for the year. Let me tell you about this tree... Climbing up was fun. Jumping down, in heeled shoes... not quite as free-spirited! However, I did manage to land without a broken bone. Hooray!

If I were to like cake...

I would like this one...
A cheesecake is something I have learned to like. This one, from Upper Crust, went so far as to congratulate Tom on his oldness (sorry Tom - you know I am joking)! Truly, it was an art form... AND it came accompanied by roughly 11 or so spoons.

At this point, Tom is thrilled. Italian food. Good friends. Brian looking confused...

One must never forget to give a canned good as a birthday present. With the economic crisis, you can never be to careful, plus, its easy to chew on when you are old! Don't worry... Kristen made sure to cross out the "young" in "young peas" and correct its misprint.

Speaking of old... oh wait a minute... I mean YOUNG... We found ourselves playing a classic YOUNG person's game of scrabble one of these weeknights. It was probably the best game of scrabble ever played. Josh was the winner by TWO points! The score was 249 to 251!!!

The remaining letters of course!!! Where else would you put them?

Yet another family wedding...

It seems as if us Hoffmans (or formerly Hoffmans) have been saving up all or our marriages for this year. This time it was my cousin, Erik (completing the third marriage in the year). His lovely bride is Olga. Taking place at the Monday club in San Luis Obispo, Josh and I attended this rather casual but meaningful wedding. My cousin and his bride have been dating for "5 years". I say this in quotes because I wasn't counting the 4 years before that they started dating that one or both of them liked eachother. I will never forget my cousin's first comment to me about Olga. It was his freshman year in college at Cal Poly, where him and Olga lived in the dorms together, 1999. I had come to stay in his dorm room during Thanksgiving with him and noticed that there were a few stuffed animals beside his bed. "Erik, wow, stuffed animals!" I teased. "Oh..." he said fake non-chalently, "those...I am babysitting those for a friend." As I didn't try to hold in my laughter, I asked which friend. And that was when I first heard Olga's name. It was also the day that I figured that they would probably get married one day. And look at this...9 years later and they have rings!

Isn't she beautiful?

...And he handsome?

I couldn't resist putting in yet one more picture of us... We are newlyweds... What do you expect?!!

Their first dance. I love the look in Olga's eyes.

The kids at the wedding were very endearing. The above photo is one of Olga's family members and the below is of my little cousin Alex, who refused to give me any face forward pictures. I was glad for this one. What beats an action shot. She looks like she could be off chasing some sort of bad guy. Go Alex!!! You can catch him!

What would a wedding be without a pinata? My cousin Reed really knew how to swing his pinata stick.

The next morning, all of us went to breakfast at the Madonna Inn. Gee, can you tell by the pink chairs and the rediculous goblets on the table?!! My dad really was having a good time. He looks stoic in this picture. I like it.

Last but certainly not least (in price at least...) is my grapefruit. No, this was no ordinary grapefruit. The Madonna Inn successfully charged me $3.75 for this HALF grapefruit. I wanted a whole grapefruit, but who pays $7.50 for one grapefruit that you could buy for $.50 at the store. So, of course, it deserved documentation. I want to at least give it publicity so that I can make the price worth it. Enjoy it.

Now we all know the effects of country music...

It was a delightful evening as we two normal people traveled to the not-so-distant Pismo Beach. As we drove over the rolling hills east of the ocean, we had absolutely no inkling of what Dean and Jessica's wedding would reveal.

It all began with the kids. Hannah, an unsuspected culprit was surely confused as her eating habits began to resemble that of an innocent cat savoring the last morsel of cream upon the floor. Thankfully she chose the preferred human method of disposable bamboo plate and chocolate.

Although, it seemed as the situation had escalated as I observed Chante trying to aid her vision by using a nearby glass of pink lemonade...wrong kind of glasses...

I knew it was trouble when Joe and Kristen got involved. No longer were the bamboo plates used as eating recepticles, but as party hats.

This creation was implemented via a Russian Tea Cookie/Mexican Wedding cake. These exquisitely sweet pastries, I learned are functional for the makings of clown make-up. Oh my! Celeste has moved from playdough to food!

Just when I thought I would capture a romantic moment with the Fulwylers, once again, the moment captured me. I was fooled once again by the nature of the evening.

Nothing could quite parallel that of this individual who I think is Landon. However, I am not convinced that this same face belongs to the gentle-spirited children's ministry servant.

As much as this man did officiate the wedding beautifully, he is a country music lover. I think I am beginning to understand the transformation here. With all of the country music playing out here in the hills, people are beginning to forget where reality is.

I knew it was trouble when they roped my very own husband into a CONGO LINE!!! This could be only the work of, dare I say it, Country Music...no...country music.

The bride and groom were involved from the very start, with every Shania Twain and line dancing groove delineated for the evening. It even drove them to the same lapse of reality, smearing cake in every which direction.

We were just thankful that we remained here with you, in the world where country is but a hallucination, a vision, a wonder...not a reality. Luckily it didn't affect us much, as we tried to shelter our ears strategically.

Overflow...

Out of the joy that Jesus fills our hearts with, we sang.

Two became one... even our instruments!

Oak, not of the poison variety...

After work one evening, Josh and I decided to take a trip to Los Osos Oaks (which is right across the street from our house). God has created a certain amazing majesty in these trees.

Josh aptly noted that it seems as if every picture that we take in the dusk ends up looking the same. Regardless, I enjoyed this one!

I also mentioned that I would post a link for our Picasa web album for our honeymoon. You can click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/joshburson