So maybe I was hoping Will would read my post, feel sorry for me and offer a number generated official pick…Alas, he told me I should have asked and he would have done it for me.  Of course my pride is now at stake so the fishbowl method with ensue.  Give it a good shake, shake shake and…

Gift Certificates are headed to:

1.  Rachel

and

2. Michelle

That’s correct!  I decided to give two away.  I almost sent all of you one, but then reconsidered.  I might lose my secretarial position at Frevophtos and you know how difficult jobs are to come by these days.  How else would I ever find a job where I had to pay them to let me work?  There’s food for thought and yes, I did say that correctly.

A note for those of you who didn’t win:  I’m sure I’ll get bored in another few months or so and do another giveaway so stay posted…all in good time for the holidays.

So Will and Jessica gave me free reign for managing and advertising  for their photography business, Frevophotos.  After some deliberation I decided to take some liberties with my job and do a Giveaway.  I never really have anything to offer and I’m not worried about numbers for my blog site so I have never been interested in doing a Giveaway.

But, my mailbox recently presented a stack of gift certificates to me for their business.  I see them on occasion sitting so nicely on the shelf. So yesterday I thought to myself,  I think I just want to give some away.  So JUST FOR FUN, I’m giving Will and Jessica away in the form of one of the following: 1.) Family photo shoot, 2.) Engagement photo shoot, 3.) Child/Children photo shoot or 4.) High School Senior photo shoot.  The gift certificate will include an hour long shoot accompanied by a CD of at least 10 digital proofs.  Keep in mind that they shoot in the Greater San Diego area only.  If you are out of town and want in on the deal you will either need to: 1. Grow wings and fly, 2. find an alternate way to get down here, 3.) take an hour or so to smile for the camera when you are out here on your next Disneyland trip.

Leave a comment on the blog and I’ll enter you into the drawing(up to one entry per person).  Using a random number generator, I will pick a winner.  Okay, okay so maybe your name will end up on a scrap of paper.  That paper may just find itself going for a swim in an empty fishbowl.  Ready…Set…May the longest name win…no just kidding…Go!

Will and I headed to La Jolla for our date this weekend.  We had a little excursion sea kayaking…and we never capsized.  We went to the La Jolla caves and enjoyed a little jaunt through the kelp forest and yes…I ate some – kelp that is.  We also got to see the Seven Sisters and Sunny Jim‘s caves(This one has a cool story by the way and we may extend this part of our date at a later time).  By the end we paddled around 3 miles.  It was a nice little workout and I wasn’t fatigued at all.  Will says it was due to the fact that he was paddling so much.

We saw a massive sea lion dismembering a white sea bass.  The sea gulls were all about trying to get a piece.  It was quite the scuttle.  All I kept hearing in my head was, “Mine….mine…mine…mine.”  Oh, Nemo!  The tour guide said it was the biggest sea lion he had ever seen and after having us all paddle closer; informed us that should the sea lion choose, his bite was strong enough to easily rip my arm or leg from my body.  Let’s just say I stopped paddling toward him at that point.  It was relaxing and so fun to surf the waves back.

I’m sure you were all hoping that a swarm of bees had finally gotten the best of me.  I’m sorry to disappoint you.  Will was the one who fell victim this time around.  He got in a fight with a piece of glass and lost.  I had a bag that had some broken pieces of glass in it and Will took it off the door handle.  I think he forgot about it because he then stepped on the bag on the way out of the room.  He says he heard a loud pop and thought it was the bag, when in fact the sound came from the glass puncturing the arch of his foot.  All I heard was, “Jessica can I get some help?”  Once I assessed the situation and realized that Will was getting light headed, we all hopped into action.  Annie was getting pillows and rubbing Will’s forehead.  Hudson was good to ask Will a series of math problems to keep him focused.

Hudson: Dad, what is 1+1…how about 2+4…what is 4+4. etc.

He took his job very seriously, which gave me time to administer enough first-aid to get him mobile and on his way to the hospital.

Our friend, Jessica(what a lifesaver!) was good enough to let me drop Hudson off after that so I could get Will taken care of.  Annie and I watched as they gave some painful shots. The cut was only about an inch wide, but the doctor did say the injury was significantly deeper than it was wide.  I didn’t doubt her as she pried his foot open looking for glass shards.  5 stitches and a roll or two of gauze later, we were on our way back home to let Will rest.  He says he feels like he is walking on a spiked softball.  I can’t help but wonder if he needed more stitches.  His stitches bled for a good 5 days after.  Is that even normal?!  Stitches come out this coming Monday and then hopefully life will be a little more back to normal.  We love you Will!!

The pictures are horrible, but I only had my point and shoot.

I wanted Will to begin his third decade of life with a bit of a bang.  My line of thinking eventually led my to a surprise party.  There is nothing better than food, games and fabulous friends, right?!  After weeks of planning we pulled it off.  I so patiently, kicked Will out of the house to go to photo club.  Will was supposed to be taking night pictures at the temple, but  an intense downpour had my friend Jessica hopping to keep Will distracted at her house for a photo club meeting(to which no one actually showed up).  Thanks to Brandy we were able to helium fill at least 70 balloons for the party, decorate and rearrange my house.  Yes, we even took apart my couch.  Amber so sweetly swept my kids away, brought food and returned my kids – putting them to bed for me.  She even lent out her husband to fill more helium balloons.  Maren helped cook food.  I feel so blessed to have so many friends willing to help.

I’m sure you might be wondering my obsession with helium balloons by now.  I really wanted this party to be all about Will.  I love him so much and he does so much for me.  I just wanted to celebrate him.  We took the helium balloons and grouped them all over the house.  I then found some of the first pictures he ever took…back when he was realizing how much he really loved photography; and clipped them to all the balloons so everyone could see them.

Dinner included all of his favorite foods from sweet potato fries and kabobs to Pat and Oscars bread sticks.  I was sure to remember the Dr. Pepper.  For dessert, I couldn’t make up my mind.  He isn’t really a cake person so I decided on a mountain of ice cream scoops(Girl Scout Thin Mint and Samoa, double chocolate fudge, cookie dough, spamoni, etc.-8 gallons maybe?) sans candles of course.  That many candles would just be a fire hazard not to mention an enemy to ice cream at it’s finest.  The picture you see here is our family eating what was left the day after.  Our kids thought we were the coolest parents ever…score!

Will loves playing games with friends so I brought a mean game of Family Feud to the table.  He fared quite well when everything was said and done.

On a side note: Maybe I am getting better.  I found a screaming deal on plates and glasses for the party.  24 white, porcelain plates= $6.  24 glasses = $3.24(Even this part is about you Will.  I hear your budget pleas…and I’m slowly reforming).

As for the surprise.  I got him good!  He had no idea.  There was quite a bit of shock when he realized just how many of us had been so sneaky.  I sneak because I love!  Happy 30th Birthday, Will!!

Will’s partner, Jessica, did a practice shoot on our family.  It was a bit windy, but we had so much fun.  I figured I would post just a few of the photos.

Belmont park had some fun places to see.

Would you believe that a car caught fire while we were there?

What kid doesn’t love balloons?!

Little Annie lost her balloon.

I’m pretty sure the beach was the kids’ favorite part.

Roses are red; daisies are white;
Valentine, you make every day a delight.
Violets are blue; daffodils are yellow;
Valentine, you make my heart jiggle like Jello!

By Joanna Fuchs

I love you Will!!…Forever!

Will and I took the kids up to Disney for a couple of days this week.  It’s always nice to get away from the day to day to mix things up a bit (Will might argue I leave the day to day a little too often).  Everyone was most excited for the Matterhorn since Annie is finally big enough to ride.  Can you believe she is tall enough?  Annie is only half an inch from being able to ride on everything.  She has become quite the roller coaster junkie.  Too bad they shut it down every year in February for maintenance.  It won’t be open again until March.  I guess we better schedule another visit.

We had a few mixed emotions through the day.  No, really it was only when I made them stop to take a picture.  The feelings are pretty apparent in the picture, wouldn’t you say?

The park was empty both days so we thoroughly enjoyed all of the rides.  We have another fun family adventure to add to the bank.

Will took me on a great date this last Saturday morning.  I know you’re thinking, morning?!  Can they be any crazier?!  In reality it was one of the best dates.  We were headed to Richard Walker’s for breakfast, but the wait for a table was out the door and down the block(I do plan on making it back there another morning though).  We found a cute little bakery in Seaport village instead.  All the drizzling rain made it that much more cozy to enjoy my waffles and hot cocoa.

We then spent the remainder of the morning wandering through the Museum of Man.  I always appreciate these little breaks from everyday life.  What a fun surprise to find out the museum only charges half the normal price on Saturdays from 10-12.

I can’t claim this pictures…Will took it:)

Will and Jessica shot their first wedding together recently.  I love that they both love what they do.  I’m not referring to myself in the 3rd person either.  I’m talking about Will’s partner for Frevo Photos.  They seemed to enjoy the challenges of shooting a wedding, at least maybe in retrospect they do.  I did hear they let loose at the end after guests left.  These are their pictures in the photo booth.

A few people said they were shocked at Will’s alternate personality that he pulled out to charm people in the photo booth.  The funny thing I find is that Will is almost always his charming vibrant personality around me.  I think he just plays up the awkward engineering type when we are around lots of people so he isn’t always forced to socialize.  So don’t let him fool you if he acts all engineering…it’s just an act.

I digress, did you enjoy the bird walk about Will?  Those two are always kind enough to let Tony(Jessica’s husband) and I give input.  My favorite part of this wedding was the photo booth.  The above pictures are Jess and Will standing in it.  I laughed at how many people were so comfortable letting loose and taking a crazy picture or two.  I don’t plan on getting married again so the photo booth isn’t really helpful for me, but it sure did look fun!