More baby B

baby pics

Muira Alicen Bornstein

So... from week 18 of our pregnancy believed that we were having a little boy. But, when the doctor pulled our little baby out we floored, and blessed, with a beautiful little girl... the ultrasonographer was wrong! Here is how our moms reacted at the news.

Valentine's day 2011

So, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day a day early. The Sunday before just seemed like the right time for us to do it. After church we grabbed a sandwich at Subway and then headed off for the first part of our day...






















Our deal was that we would both plan part of the day with the other in mind. Lina is a big quality time love language girl so mine was an easy one. A good long sit on a bluff overlooking the coast with guitar in tow for some romantic lullabies. It was a hit!


















I actually enjoyed it quit a bit as well as I sang Lina some of the early songs that I had written on college. It is amazing what comes out when you just sit and spend time together.
























After packing it up at the beach it was Lina's turn to run the show. We headed up to Sur Le Table for a little shopping spree for some new measuring spoons. Some folks will say that sounds a bit odd for a Valentine's date, but it was a home run for me. Kitchen tools!.... arh ...arh...arh... arh..






















After some yogurt and a stop at the store we came home and made an incredible dinner of seared filet mignon, squash and some incredible sour dough bread. It was a day to remember!

Christmas cornucopia

The gender party

Along with family we had our good friends Jen and Dave Costillo and Victor and Christine Chen with their little daughter Selah.











Jen is just a few weeks a head of Lina in her pregnancy.



















Our wonderful Robin Harvey not only made a wonderful cake for us, but was able to keep the gender a secret for almost two weeks.
















The big moment!

Summer Road Trip!!!

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Summer Road Trip!!!

After several summers of hiking the John Muir Trail, we decided to switch things up a bit and meandered up to Washington along the beautiful, Oregon Coast. We packed up all the essentials including, yes, lemon drops. Peg Monley has influenced the road trips. Each time she would take us as kids over to Iowa, she made sure to have presents waiting for us to open each day of the trek and always had a stash of lemon drops. My road trips are never complete without them.

Our first stop was Indian Scotty Campground and Kidder Creek. I was thrilled to be able show Mark where I spent three of my summers working. It is an incredible place, nestled in the beautiful Scott Valley.

This is a well known jumping rock at Clear Creek. Usually not super crowded, we just happened to go when there was another youth group already there.

Here I am "rafting" down the Klammath River.

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After Kidder we headed to the coast where we spent our first night at Del Norte Campgrounds in the middle of the Redwoods. Then it was off to Oregon. We traveled up the 101 for three days and were blown away by the scenery. It seemed that at every curve in the highway, there was another vista and turn out for cars. The highway itself was lined with trees and if it wasn't foggy the views of the coast were amazing. We loved the drive and the pace of the trip.