Happy 10 Years!

To celebrate our 10 year anniversary and Mother's Day, we took our first road trip since we've lived here.  Destination: Monterey Bay and Carmel.  One word: WOW!!
The drive was gorgeous.  Mountains, orchards, groves, rivers, lakes, oh my!
First stop, Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The open sea feeding was a highlight - saw them feeding tuna, sea turtles, sunfish, and sardines.  Also loved the seahorses and jellyfish!
Took a walk to Lover's Point.

Saw the Harbor Seals and their pups.

Had a blast at Dennis the Menace park!

Looked for whales at Point Lobos (but didn't see any this time).

Drove a section of the "17-mile drive" along Pebble Beach and Carmel.
Got our toes wet in the chilly Pacific!

 How are we going to get through our bucket list when we already want to go back to this one?!!

 What a gorgeous place!

Acura mauling

It started out as a regular day.  Last Thursday morning, I went to my regular 5am workout and arrived back home just after 6am.  I parked Erik's car in the driveway as usual and went in to take a shower.  Erik came out at 7am and promptly yelled into the house, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CAR?!!!!"  My response, "What do you mean?"  He continued... "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CAR?!!!!"  This is what we saw...

I was able to briefly look past the fact that Erik accused me of doing this to his car and not telling him to try to figure out what happened.  After a visit from the police, a bear biologist, appraiser, and friends, we have come up with our best guess.  A rabbit (which are plentiful in our yard) ran under the car to escape a coyote (which are common in this area), and the coyote was not going to let an Acura get in between him and his breakfast.  Other suggestions have been that either a dog or mountain lion was to blame.  I guess we'll never know! 
In case you are curious, the damage has been assessed at $3700.  And Erik is currently looking for an appropriate apology for his falsely accused wife.

Patty and Rooty come to the Valley!

Welcome Patty and Rooty!  This was Rooty's first visit (and Patty's 3rd!), and we were so excited to have them here.  Rooty knocked himself out with projects galore, and Mom helped me launch my 31 gifts business and was a huge helper around the house.  And yes, we managed to find some fun along the way!
First, a trip to the lake to show Rooty the beach and Emerald Bay.  It was a little chilly, but still beautiful.

 Our old pal, Kyle Petty came to Reno with his annual Charity Ride.

The boys loved sitting on his bike.  And of course, Gunnar asked at least a million questions.

Kyle entertained us with his story from Willett, California.  Apparently it's the "green" capital of the world, and the mayor shared some of his "green" with Kyle.  Ask me details.  It's awesome!

Herschel Walker was on the ride and was one of the nicest people we have ever met.  Gunnar promptly told him that he liked to ride his Gator, to which Herschel replied, "I'm a Dawg fan... don't know about those Gators!"  Haha!

 We capped off their visit with date night on the Safari Rose cocktail cruise.  The crew was amazing, and we had the boat almost to ourselves!

We even went a little crazy and stopped by Montbleu to try our luck at the casino.  No luck, but good entertainment!
Thanks, Patty and Rooty for a wonderful visit!  We love you!

(Picture is of us testing out our newly hung porch swing.  Another successful project!  Thanks again Rooty!)

1st Annual Pierce / Rheutan Easter Egg Hunt!

Almost the entire gang was together at last!  (sadly missing the Hamilton crew)  But this is sure to be a repeat event, as much fun was had by all!!
Thank you to the Easter Bunny for kicking things off right...

Ready, set, go!!

And the crowd cheered!

That's our adorable Goddaughter...

We think all the eggs were found...

Thank you to Patty, Rhunell, and all the helpers for a truly memorable Easter!