noble is THREE!

noble's surprise at seeing the decorations that mahala "designed" and then seeing a pile of presents on the couch!

video fun with the bortolatos

fun with the bortolatos

galavanting through yosemite and san francisco with our dear friends from annecy!

the esparzas visit us!

(bay area) class of 97 reunion!

many of us ended up in the bay area - and rarely do we have so many at a get-together!

oregon

we meandered through oregon after visiting seattle. first stop was portland to see douglas's friend scott who invited us over for dinner, took us to the many fountains of portland, lunch outside the local co-op, and the rose gardens. we then drove along the columbia river and gorge to mount hood where we discovered lavender fields and scenic farmland. then onto crater lake - the bluest lake i have ever seen - and even in july, it had some snow to play with!

noble took this photo of scott with us in the rose gardens

the gorge, columbia river (runs sort of parallel to washington border)

mahala picking lavender

crater lake created by a collapsed volcano

unexpected surprise to be playing in the snow

seattle

we stayed with jess and chris and their one-year-old nina. brian and his wife lori joined us too. it was nice to relax with them after our 2 day drive from fairfax. highlights for the kids were going on amusement park rides and running through the huge fountain in downtown seattle and, the day before, swimming in lake washington. they loved nina too and i was amazed to get a photo of all three of them with smiles!!