{purple} thumbs

 Look what I found while I was gardening!

Favorite thing to do with cauliflower:

Steam it for 5 minutes, then roast it in a cast iron with wing sauce.  Then when it s ready, dip it in a combo of 2 T of mayo, and sriracha and lemon juice to taste with a pinch of salt.  

Vaccinated...

 January 2, 2022, the kids got their second vaccine for Covid.  

We are hopeful and grateful and I am so proud of these two!

Raclette with our Biola Family 2022

 This last weekend, we got to be with our Biola family and share our annual Raclette meal together.  We didn't do it last year with the stay at home orders and people hadn't been able to receive vaccine.  This year it was SO good to be together!

These kids are just getting so big!  Jack, you will ALWAYS be missed...

The kids got very special servers:

(Uncles are the best!)

Best friends, Ryder is 10 days older and Hank is 10 inches taller... 

Dinner is the best...

...but the family catch up time will always be my favorite.

We've walked a lot of life together, from standing with each other in our weddings, to saying goodbye to our Jack...  We link arms and hold on tight to the family that has been created in this space...  

We love this Biola family SO MUCH!  

Anniversary Date...

 Last week we celebrated our anniversary by going out to dinner to a place that we hadn't been, but had heard so much about: Porch and Swing in Irvine.  We got dressed up and everything...

We also are at the phase that Ryder can be in charge.  Because when your son is a 30 year old, old soul stuck in an almost 12 year old body, you trust them...

Te place was really special...

They gave us champagne to celebrate our anniersary...

The food was really tasty too!

It was a great night.  I plan to date him for the rest of my life!

Happy New Year 2022

Happy New Year from the Rae's!

On New Year's Eve, we went on our annual bike ride with our Zamora's in Newport, then to our Mexican food spot, and then finished with ice cream:

We love these people so much!

Then it was time to ring in the New Year with tacos and really sweet connections with our close friends.  These two families are our all time favorites!!!

2022, we are excited that you are here and for all the memories that we hope to make in the coming year!  We are not anxious about what it holds, because we know Who holds it...

So welcome 2022.  The Rae's are ready for you!

Time together is the best...

We had a day where we just enjoyed being together, and eating our way through our Christmas break.

We started a day with breakfast at Cowgirl Cafe:

Then we headed to San Clemente.  Our neighbor opened a restaurant, Super Bowl Express by the San Clemente Pier.  It was SO good! We made an afternoon/evening outing of it!

Then we headed to the pier.  There has been so much rain so it was so nice to have moments that we could enjoy being outside!

Days like these were so good for all of us.  We headed home and watched the movie "Encanto" all snuggled up together...

Christmas 2021

On Christmas morning, I woke up to one of the kids with our bunny Baby Girl.  So the morning started with coffee, cinnamon rolls, reading the Christmas story from Luke, and opening presents and stockings...

Then we headed to Redlands:

we played games and ate lots of food and then opened presents and stockings:

My mom outdid herself and made not one, but two quilts made of our girls clothes and special blankets:

We love this new keepsake and treasure...

It was a relaxing evening:

We had a dinner of "crackers" and music with our little whistles:

We had so much fun all being together:

After all of the holiday festivities, we spent the day wandering around downtown Redlands...

And we headed to the library to see where Mia and Papa volunteer:

Then we ended at Mia and Papa's for cooking a meal together and to learn a new game, "Seven Wonders."

The time was so good to be together and to just spend time relaxing...