The last part of 2009...we're getting caught up!

We are finally getting around to posting again. A lot of festivities have passed so please enjoy the highlights.

Thanksgiving....
We spent Thanksgiving with the Monleys. We started the celebration with a 10k run to feed the hungry. It was great to have so many Monley siblings and cousins representing. We were soon back to Woodland to spend a little time with the Monley's for the annual Christmas Caroling and an early Christmas. Bill was able to join us for our Christmas. It was fun to have him. Here's Finn enjoying his gift from Uncle Josh.
Selah is showing off her mom's new hat. It is fun watching our nephews and nieces grow up and enjoy opening gifts more and more each year. After a few days in Woodland we were off to Berkeley to celebrate with the Bornsteins. We congregated at the Peytons, awaiting the arrival of baby Peyton. We unfortunately didn't get to meet him then, but Benjamin Peyton has now entered the world and is healthy:). He was born on January 1. Joe and Krista were generous in finding us a place to stay while we were there. We stayed at the Freel's house and dogsat their dog, Moonunit. It was a fun time for Mark and I as we walked her around Berkeley frequenting all the local Peet's coffees. Moonie was quite a puller. Reading a book with Riley.Mark and Bernice by the Berkeley Marina.

We celebrated NYE (as apparently it is called now:)) with some friends and lasted until about 10:30. We decided to ring in the last of the new year at home with a good bottle of wine. January first we headed out to Anza Borrego to enjoy some outdoor goodness.

On our way home we took the hidden desert tour and ended up at the Salton Sea, a new experience for both of us. It was an interesting place, stinky with lots of dead fish skeletons, but worth the little tour. Here is Mark on the salty beach.

Mark got a digital camera book for Christmas and has been practicing his photography. I think he has taken some great ones so I've posted them. The first is from Anza Borrego and the last few from the Salton Sea.

Anniversary Weekend

Lina and I took off on Friday night, fought traffic out the 91 and landed in Temecula wine country to rest and to celebrate our very first year of marriage. We had a wonderful time doing very little at all. We did take a run on Saturday morning to get ready for our Turkey Trot 10k that we are doing this year. But other than that it was all sleeping in, resting by the pool and enjoying a little wine tasting. We both can't believe it has already been one year. So much has happened. They always said that once you get married you can't even remember what single life was like. Well, I actually do remember what single life was like... and I am so glad that I am now married to Lina. What a good thing we have!

Bornstein / Peyton family picture day

Bornstein / Peyton Family picture day:
So on the one year remembrance of dad passing away we decided to have a weekend together to remember him. It started with a dinner on Thursday night with all of his favorite food... Pistachios,Rigatoni with Kielbasa sausage, Salad, and my mom's amazing cheese cake for dessert. We watched his memorial video and I was reminded of how much he thought of Lina and her family. On Friday we all got together for family pictures and Chinese food, another one of dad's favorites. Today we are heading off for a special church service together. It has been a really great time of remembering and of being together... we are all so richly blessed!

Santa Barbara

So... first of all, thank you to all the bridesmaids who chipped in for us to be able to have a absolutely wonderful weekend up in Santa Barbara. If you will remember back, Lina was scheduled to have her bachlorette shower in Santa Barbara and all the bridesmaids chipped in to get a deluxe house up there. Well, with fires and my sick dad things fell through. So they gifted it to us for a first year getaway. It was wonderful. The glorious cottage style house was just a short walk from the Biltmore Wall right close to the center of Montecito. It was a great weekend for us to getaway from our busy classrooms and all the other stuff that life has been throwing at us.





















Do you ever feel like your faith is like this boat? They had it roped off, but people were still all over it checking it out.

























Yes, teaching first grade does give you a Mr. Roger's complex.













































Dinner at the Enterprise fish house is a must when in Santa Barbara... along with a breakfast at Summerland Beach Cafe.