Life Guard Tower Day...

March 26th is "Life Guard Tower Day" for the Zakaryans. And this year was the 5 year anniversary of the original Life Guard Tower Day. Five years ago Brent sent me a text message while I was at school (teaching in Los Alamitos) saying to meet him at the life guard tower #74 in Newport. It's the very last one, almost to Huntington Beach, near the river jetty. That night he told me that he wanted to start dating again and that he wanted it to be exclusive! And 3 1/2 months later we were engaged! Wow... that was fast. Then less than a year later we were married! And now here we are celebrating 5 years since that night. On the original night Brent brought his guitar, dinner from Baja Fresh, and a rose for me. It was so sweet. This year he surprised me with sushi from a place we like in Newport. It was a yummy surprise, and such a beautiful day at the beach. It was sunny and pretty warm (for March). We sat on the tower and talked and laughed. It was wonderful...

It's a tradition now that when we are done eating Brent attempts to throw our bag into the trash can while standing on the tower. It usually takes several attempts as there is a lot of wind to contend with...

It amazes me that he will throw it, miss, and go all the way down to get it...

...then he'll climb back up and try it from the same spot again. Boys are so weird. But he really enjoys it... and I like to watch him be so funny.

Finally!
I love this man!

Girls Weekend...

We try once a year to get all the amazing women in our family together for a long weekend. We had such a great time together this year. My mom and I traveled up to Pleasanton on Thursday evening. I got to spend Friday with just the twins... a real treat, let me tell you! We went shopping and visited my beautiful cousin, Jen, at her office. She was looking hot in her outfit and we enjoyed seeing her new place (she just changed jobs recently). On Friday night my uncle Walt ook us to his golf club for dinner. My mom wasn't feeling very well (thus the strange expression below) but she made it...

Jen and I left a little early to go pick up my aunt Val and aunt Chris, who came from Portland!

I spent the night at Jen's new house that night... I LOVE IT! She has it decorated really cute. I enjoyed teasing her about the amount of white pants she owns and the fact that she has the luxury of dedicating an entire drawer in one of her dressers to ONLY white pants. She is so cute!

The next morning Jen and I went back to the airport to pick up Kate and Annjanette, so we thought! To our surprise, CAROLYN was there! Annjanette decided at the last minute to bring her and we were so happy. It was a surprise for her "nana" (my aount Chris). The mom had already left for Fresno so we got right on the road to head there ourselves. Sweet Carolyn took a little nap in the car on the way and was drooling like a champion!

We surprised "nana" at a little antique store in downtown Clovis where the moms and Laura and little Paige were shopping...

Needless to say, Nana was overjoyed!!!

They got to spend lots of time together...

And I, of course, tried to get my fill of little Paige. She is such a doll! Look at that hat!

... and her sunglasses!

I got to spend lots of quality time with Carolyn too which was wonderful. She is an amazing little lady. So sweet and well behaved and fun!

We ate dinner at Mimi's Cafe and then headed back to Laura's house. It was very exciting for everyone to see her new house... it is so great!

Caroline love Jen! Jen read her a story before she got in the car to drive back to aunt Marilyn's with Nana!

Before they left we all got to enjoy seeing Paige eat her dinner!

I slept with Laura that night because Aaron was working (he is a fireman) and around 4 in the morning we were joined by Paige in the bed. I woke up around 7 to Paige making adorable little sounds... what a way to wake up! It was great! Laura brought her out to the family room to spend some time with aunt Fifi!

Paige played and ate and napped all morning while all of us girls talked and laughed and hung out. Aaron came home early and we got to spend some time with him also. It was great to see him and see him with his little daughter. Aaron and Laura are such good parents!

This one is my fav... she's waving hello!

Late in the afternoon we left to go back to Pleasanton and reunite with our moms. My mom was throwing gang signs at me here, as you can see, along with my aunt Val! She only called me "Val" once or twice this trip which is pretty good for her!

We also got to see Jen's sweet dog, Izzy! She is so cute! Jen adores her.

The next day Jen, Kate, and I went out to breakfast together in downtown Pleasanton. It was nice to get some time with just them. I love my girls!

After that we went shopping downtown, visiting all our favorite shops and then having lunch at a little place aunt Marilyn likes. It was so yummy!

After lunch it was time to go for many of us. We did a little shopping at the mall but my mom and I were the first flight so we had to go pretty quickly. aunt Marilyn cried as she dropped us off and I felt truly sad to be ending such a great weekend. We had so much good conversation and bonding time, it was amazing. I am so blessed to have a family like this. I don't think I would be half the woman I am today without all of these amazing women in my family. How many people get to come from such a great heritage of women. It is a true blessing in my life and I am so thankful. I love you all ladies!

A couple of videos to enjoy... Paige eating her rice cereal. The second one I just thought was so funny that we were all crowded into the kitchen watching her eat, that IS a lot of pressure. Poor girl. She really doesn't seem to mind though!!

Hauns in the OC

We had a wonderful long weekend when the Hauns came in February. The weekend was to celebrate Casey's birthday. He was turning 8 (a leap year baby)! We started the weekend with In-n-Out and Casey bought another t-shirt, but of course!

Brent had A LOT of work, sadly, during the time they were here but when he was finally done we went to our favorite little sushi place for dinner one night... SUSHI Z has the best TNT roll, my favorite.

Casey and Brent were really into the Flying Concords (Cheryl just corrected me, apparently it is
"The Flight of the Concords" not the Flying Concords... ha!) during this trip. This is Casey reinacting a part of one skit, obviously inappropriate but... they were DYING laughing... just look at Brent in the next pic. :)

On Friday night we went to the Spectrum for dinner and a movie...

Marci joined us there and randomly we ran into my parents!!! It was so strange. Casey just went wondering around the restaurant while we were waiting and saw them celebrating Paige Fullmer's birthday. It was so weird! But great to see them. After dinner we went to see U23D... awesome! Those are my only words about that. If you haven't seen it, do, well if you like U2 that is! It was amazing.

We spent some time at my parents house the next day playing the Wii and going in the hot tub. We went to church together on Sunday and then they had to leave. We were sad to see them go as always, but we are hoping to see them again soon! We love you Cheryl and Casey.

It's been a while...

Life has gotten busy and there just hasn't been much time for blogging because of it. Finally tonight while our friends Cheryl and Casey, and Brent are all sleeping, I decided it was time to get some new blogs up. I've heard several complaints, or maybe just concerns, from our fans. To all, I apologize for the delay. :) I do love blogging, it just takes time. In the midst of Brent starting a new job and embarking on a crazy schedule we are well. The Lord has been so good and faithful to us in the process. It's not easy to do what he's doing, yet the Lord has sustained him beyond what I've prayed for. I am grateful for his new job and for mine. Overall, things are going well there too. We are starting to get ready for summer already. Spring is always such a busy time at work, but really fun too. So many new and old faces. I truly enjoy it. Love to you all. Enjoy the new blogs!

Paige Panfilio...

My cousin Laura, and her husband, Aaron, also came in to OC for the weekend. And with them comes little Paige these days! She is getting SO big, 5 months old now! After all the busyness of Adam's party I got to slow down a bit and spend some time with Paige. She is so much fun, making adorable little noises and entertaining all the time. I spent the night with the Panfi's at my parents house on Sunday night (no work on Monday) and had lots of time to hold and play with Paige, it was great. They put her in this swing on Monday morning while we were sitting in the family room talking and she entertained herself for a while sucking on that toy, spinning, and talking to herself (screeching, see video below!!!). It was awesome!

Just look at that little face... mmmmmm!!!!

Adam's Birthday Party...

The idea for Ashley to come out here in the first place came from this little book. For Christmas she gave this cookbook to Adam and that gift birthed this idea of have a Texan feast for his birthday this year. And was it ever a feast...

Fried okra (yes, we actually purchased a mini fryer of our own), Chicken Fried Steak (which I did not try), Liver and Onions (definitely did not try), mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean bundles, macaroni and cheese, salad, and poppyseed rolls... just the way LUBY'S makes it! I must say that the mac and cheese was great... and so were the green bean bundles (Thanks Karen)!! I liked those items but Adam LOVED it all... and that's all the matter since it was for his birthday. He had a bunch of friends to my parents house and we just hung out...

LOTS and LOTS of cooking was done... so much that you really couldn't see much of the counter afterwards as it was covered in dishes.

Jill and Ashley enjoying all their time together!

It was great to see Huy and Holli. Brent and I got to talk to Huy for a while and it was awesome to catch up... it's been a long time.

It was a great time... and I believe fun was had by all. We had to say goodbye to Ashley that night. She spent the night with Jill in her new apartment in Long Beach and then went kayaking with Adam and Dani the next morning before she got on a plane back to Texas. It was a really quick trip and we were SO grateful that she made it. It was such a treat! We love you Ashley! Come again soon... even if we are just eating CA food! :)