...no not the macerena...

Yes, that's right, an OCARINA! Our friend Tom asked me to play violin for a competition he is entering on YouTube. It is a competition for the instrument that he recently acquired called the Ocarina. There are two pieces on his entry and I am playing the violin in the second one. Although it is not my best performance ever, it is fun. We actually recorded this one in my living room/kitchen while I was sick! The piano was recorded earlier and therefore wasn't there for me to tune to, so my E-string is slightly off! But, nonetheless we had lots of fun and the results are posted in YouTube on the below link.
Raglan Road and The Blue Sky of Ljubljana

...and we're back!

After a 2 month break from sharing our lives with all of you, we have returned (along with my fixed computer!) While I am rejoicing in having my little computer space back, I figured better fill everyone in on the missing time :). Here is a quick synopsis.

A Hike up Bishop's peak in the cold air...it froze my lungs! :)

The Yearly Gingerbread House (/ice scating rink) building party, hosted by Joe and Kristen. This was a commemorative experience for Josh and I since last year's party marked one of the first hints of interest that we had in each other.

Christmas with the Hoffman Family.

A date to San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker! What a treat! (Found out later that you weren't supposed to take pictures in the Opera House! oops!)

Little Lewis' first Christmas ever! He was very festive!

So now, we are in the midst of February! It is cold and... finally raining here in the central coast... we thought it would never come this winter! And then "it" showed us... by SNOWING in Atascadero! It also has been hailing here in Los Osos quite a bit. Most everyone around here has gotten very sick because of the weather's indeciciveness. However, we won't let it stop us! Sick or not, here we come!

Doug and Shannon...Murphy!

As the sun cascaded upon him, Doug sang to Shannon, the song that the Lord gave him for the woman he would marry. This time, instead of asking her to marry him, he affirmed his love in front of all of us at his very own wedding.

Josh and I had a wonderful time at Doug and Shannon's wedding. It was decorated beautifully in the form of traditional Christmas, complete with lights and greenery with bright red vests under every tuxedo. One of those fancy tuxedos was worn by my handsome husband as you see below! He made the best best man ever!

Another treat was to be able to see our friends that now live in Israel, John-Michael and Abra. They were here visiting and had the pleasure of attending this wonderful event as well!

You can't forget the altar picture... I just love how the greenery frames the picture with scattered holly berries. It couldn't have been more festive!

I had to include this picture too! It is our friend Judy Cole, who took Shannon into her home for the month or two that she was back in the States from Azerbaijan. Judy pretty much looks like one of those Zoolander models in this picture!! :) Style!

We are blessed to have been able to attend this wedding. It was a treat to see such a couple who is united in God, be joined together.

Elf Yourself...

Since this is the ongoing fad right now... We would like to share with you what someone made for us :) Enjoy!
Us as Elves...click here!!

The Arctic North...

As I have learned to lovingly call it, the Arctic North (i.e. Sacramento) was home for Thanksgiving. Actually, the below picture is of Los Gatos, on our way back. It was a beautiful night to stop and have Pizza My Heart and Dolce Spazio (a local gelato shop). Still chilly, we parked a couple blocks away and bundled up for our short walk to dinner and dessert. The town was lit up for Christmas and it was quite romantic.

While in the arctic, we saw many adorable kids that I am proud to say I am now related to! The below are my sister-in-law and cousin-in-law's kids. Luke (left) is my nephew and to be honest, I have no idea what that makes Nola (right) in relation to me. Does anyone know? Is she my second cousin or my cousin once removed? Who knows!

There the two are again only this time they are joined by the other cute little ones in the family. Rockwell (bottom right) is Nola's brother and Micah is my other sister-in-law's child. Pretty much the cutest kids EVER!

It was our first time meeting Micah and we couldn't stop holding him. He is SO cute! Also, he is a very well behaved child. Mostly, he slept and made cute noises (all the time).

And of course, there was turkey! That is Josh's dad by the barbeque, making it delicious in every way!

Here I am holding Micah. (I told you I couldn't resist!) Isn't he just the best?!

One of the more wonderful things about the Arctic north is that they actually have trees. Yes, T-R-E-E-S. They DO exist! I, for one, LOVE them! In fact, I would go so far as to say that I DESPERATELY miss them. (You can tell how passionate I am by all the capital letters!)

Here is cute Luke again with his dad, Tom on the swing in the park. This park was an attempt to get some of the wiggles out before sitting inside all day to eat food on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, some kids had gone ice blocking down the grass (and the slide) so it was super muddy! We ended up at a different park.

All in all, it was a very fun trip, reminding us of all of the amazing people we have surrounding us for family. We are truly blessed!

Josh turned ---- ...

For Josh's birthday, we took a sort of pre-vacation getaway. After an evening at Thai food with friends, and the subsequent morning helping Josh and Laurie move, I took Josh for his surprise. I had reserved an evening in a suite at the Cambria Pines Lodge. We even had a deck that overlooked the beautiful pines towering for miles before the sea.

There was a pool and hot tub that was a fabulous after dinner retreat.

And in the morning, we took a walk on Moonstone beach in the fog. God has created this planet as such a masterpiece. His creation continually testifies to us of the love that He has for us. What an amazing God that would sculpt such beautiful landscape for us to enjoy. It was absolutely beautiful; the perfect break from all of the pre-holiday rush to get everything done!

When we got home, we had Tom and Chloe over for some dinner in order to have them meet Lewis (the cat). They will do a wonderful job caring for him during Thanksgiving...and I am sure that Tom will be itching thoroughly afterward (what a sacrifice!). At this point, I finally remembered to give Josh his cake that I had bought him on Friday! It was a chocolate truffle cake from the Cakery in San Luis Obispo. What a treat!

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!