thanksgiving recap

This year, like last year - we went to Modesto (the other Mo-town) for Thanksgiving. This year we skipped on the Alcatraz visit and spent more time with family. It's really amazing to think how quickly this past year went. Just last year, Ashley was in her last trimester and we had no idea what our little guy would look like.

George is growing up fast - so fast we let him drive our car on the interstate.

Lots of time with cousins

Ashley's cousin Megan, married a man named George who's an awesome photographer and has the fanciest camera you've ever laid eyes on. George caught some great pictures of George. Try to tell (ha) the difference between pictures taken from a professional grade camera and my iPhone camera.

Thank you George for taking such incredible pictures, and sharing them with us!

George & Ashley pre-feast

George was so focused during dinner, and a total gentleman. He put down generous portions of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Two happy guys after dinner

George the newsie enjoying the beautiful fall foliage

Every part of our trip was a success. George was really great in the car. We had amazing food, beautiful fall weather, tennis on a crisp Saturday morning, and I got to see one of my cousins that I haven't seen for over 20 years. We felt incredibly blessed to be in California and in proximity to such loving family.

a saturday ride...

Saturday we went for a ride to In and Out. It was a really nice afternoon. I should've made a route adjustment prior to leaving (discussed here). Even that didn't spoil the mood. It is so liberating to bicycle for transportation as a family. George always loves it.

up in the air

Our friends Leslie & Keith are taking a photography class. For one of their projects, they had to "capture motion" and thought that George would be a good model. While George's mobility (consisting of rolling, scootching, twisting, etc.) is impressive - it's not quite what they were looking for in terms of a "photo op."

They thought it might be fun to take pictures of me throwing George up in the air. Most of the time (and when George gets really happy) he sticks his hands in his mouth to stifle his glee. Some of the shots turned out really great. Thanks Keith & Leslie. Leslie shared some of her pictures with us - so I thought we'd share them with you. Behold, George in flight:

Falling out of a tree

Happy George

George was sent from heaven - just like this

All this modeling made George tired

George is a really good boy.

pulsipher update

Today our family came to a long expected fork in the road, only to find it closed. For quite a while - we anticipated the news that my firm would be selected to work on a project in Denver. As soon as the thought of winning this project and moving back to Denver seemed plausible, it was hard not to think that any other outcome was possible.

This morning I got the unfortunate email, notifying my firm that we were not selected. When I read the email, I couldn't help but feel disheartened as our return to Colorado would somehow be delayed or worse - prevented entirely.

When I got to work, Ashley had composed a wonderful email listing all of the things she loved about living in Los Angeles. It made me take a step back - and think about all of the things I had quickly put aside, thinking (mistakenly) that I wouldn't miss them.

Some of them included things like amazing year round weather - seriously, until you've lived it you don't know what you are missing. I promise. The fact that LA is so vast - and full of wonderful things yet to be discovered. And of course, our friends who we cherish and I don't think we could ever find equals on this planet.

A wave of nostalgia has since sunk in, and made me remember all of the things I love about being here. Here's a trip down memory lane:

Catching the ballet downtown, we're so into high culture

Fancy parties where you get free iPod touches in the goodie bag

"This is where I long to be La Isla Bonita..."

thinking we're close to being done on an insanely long day of riding

Seeing "beautiful things" - eh Marissa?

Concerts

George

Family

Kaiser

Gnomes

I must admit - the inner defiant in me loves the fact that so many people have such strong feelings against LA. I love - loving a city that people bag on all the time (those people need to be riding bikes more).

We also love that Los Angeles seems to be a place that people are visiting all the time, we've hosted nearly all of our siblings combined, their families, our parents, friends, etc. This is a great place to stay connected.

While we still want to end up in Colorado, I'm finding myself very content with where we are, everything we've done... and future adventures and memories to be made.