Good times with good friends!

Oh how we miss all our friends in San Mateo! Peter and I were so lucky to have found such a great group of friends when we moved to the bay area. Last night the Kings had a farewell party for the Michael's. (not so sad for us, they are moving to Concord!! yay!) It was so great to see everyone. Peter and I were talking about how close knit this group is. Everyone, as different as they are, are still the best of friends. They are the kind of friends you could call anytime and count on being there for you. Max had a great time seeing all his old buddies too. Thanks so much Kristina and Tom for opening your house up to all of us! (sorry about the mess) :) It was so much fun.

(sorry this was only about half the people there...I am bad about remembering to get my camera out until the very last minute!)

This and that...

Just a few photos of the last couple weeks...enjoy! :)

Happy Birthday to me...
This was just one of the highlights from my birthday. Thanks Jenny!

I watched James and Katie while their mom went to the inspection on their new home. Yeah!!! They will be living about 5 min. from us now! (and yes Max and Katie are caught on camera smooching! I was trying to take a picture of James as he was running up to me, it didn't work so well, but I did catch the two love bugs behind him sneaking a kiss) Peter and I also took Max to a model train museum that night. Max thought it was so cool. He especially thought it was cool that "Santa" was there. (before Max even saw this man, I told Peter that he was going to think Santa was here. Sure enough about 5 minutes later Max said "look Santa!" as he pointed to the man.)

Six Flags...

This is one of Max's favorite places. He LOVES to visit Jocko (the walrus from 50 first dates) and loves to ride all the rides. He also had a great time in the bird house.

This is Max trying to hide in his closet while going #2.

Fairfield Fieldtrip

This is Max at a carousel at the mall with his friend Kate. (after her mommy and I enjoyed a yummy chick-fil-a lunch)

Sunset Beach
Peter and I went to Sunset beach last Saturday with the youth from our church. Yes, Max is trying to steal a kiss from Kate in the bottom picture. (Thanks again for the pics Jenny) (:

Poll Results...

So 4 people voted none of the above...Peter and I would like you 4 to reveal yourselves so we can decide whether or not your vote means anything to us. LOL J/K
but really, who was it?

Baby Name Poll...

Peter and I can't see eye to eye on what baby #2 should be named. We are pretty sure on a boy name. It is the girl name that is giving us trouble! We would like to see what everyone else thinks of the names. (vote on the right) :)

2008 Gjennestad Olympics

So major catch up again! We have been super busy the last month. Here are some highlights:

Peter's parents came to visit us. We had fun just relaxing and hanging out. We decided to go to Borges Ranch and take Max to see the animals. On our drive out there, I spotted a snake right off the side of the road. I was scared to let Max out of the car so when we got to the animals, we did not stay long. (there were a couple people there when we got out of the car and they even warned us about rattlesnakes being out) That was a big enough warning for me, so we headed back out. On our way out, Peter's dad decided he wanted to see the snake I spotted up close. We stopped and he got out to look for it. It was hiding under a log and after examining it for a couple minutes, the snake started shaking it's rattle warning Peter's dad to back off! He did manage to get a couple pictures of it.

(Max is getting very brave in the water!)

My sister and her family came! We had such a great time. I had not seen her or her kids since last Thanksgiving. We went to jungle safari, six flags, Santa Cruz, swimming and just enjoyed each others company. While she was here we drove out to Utah for 5 days to visit the rest of our family. Considering we drove all night, with 5 kids and no A/C I think we deserve a big pat on the back! The kids were actually great and we were able to keep the trip to minimal stops.

When we were in Utah we put on Olympic games for all the nieces and nephews. We had opening ceremonies where we introduced all the kids individually and assigned them a country that they would be representing. (we chose countries that our ancestry was from) After we announced where they were from we handed out uniforms (shirts) with there name on them and a picture of the flag from where they were from. We had them march from my sister's house to my mom's house, (about a block) while my dad drove along side of them playing the Olympic theme song. We also made individual flags for them to hold. We made my mom hold the torch and lead them. (thanks for being such a trooper mom!) Throughout the next couple of days, we held different events for them to participate in. (hurdles, sprints, distance, trampoline, shot, long jump, gymnastics, music, etc) As they participated, they earned tickets to spend in the "Olympic gift shop" each night. I hope the kids had a great time and will always remember good times spent with each other.



And last, Max has now upgraded to a big boy bed. I wanted to get him used to it before the baby came. Last night was his first night in it and he did great. He did not get up all night and slept in till 8:00 this morning.

THE BABY IS A....

Healthy baby! :) Come on did you really think we were going to give in last minute and find out what we were going to have? Sorry but you all have to wait till December! Good news is that the baby looks perfect. They even said that the baby was measuring about a week bigger than what he/she "should" be. Maybe we will be having a baby a little early!!! :) (or I will be having a 10 pounder!)

Max's Birthday

Max started off his day with a car ride with some of his favorite buddies, Tate and Solomon. Kelly (my friend/their mom) was driving back from LA on Wed. and her tire blew out. She had to be towed to the next town (Newman) for her car to be fixed. Her car was
ready on Friday so we gave them a ride. Max loves Tate and Solomon and was asking where they went the remainder of the day.

When we got home Max went swimming and played in the backyard. We later had to run a few errands and then waited for a couple of his friends to come help him eat some cake.

Max LOVED his train table!! He played with it non-stop until 12:00 that night and everyday since. (I have been able to get a LOT of organizing done around the house.) :) Here are a few pictures from the day.

(Peter putting the table together)

Peter and I were up till almost 1:ooAM putting Max's table together. It was like Christmas!! :)

ONe mORe DaY!

I have been waiting for Max's birthday to come for 2 weeks now. He has become crazy about Thomas the train lately and I got him a train table for his birthday. Every morning (for the past two weeks) when he wakes up he says "Thomas, mommy." We have to watch Thomas first thing. Then all day long he asks me to take him to the choo choo store to play with the train tables. When Peter gets home each night, he asks his daddy to build a house for "Molly" and trains out of his duplo blocks. (Molly is one of Thomas' friends. Peter bought Max Molly to hold him over until his birthday.) He takes Molly everywhere and even has to sleep with her. This last week I kept asking Peter if we could pretend that it was his birthday that day so I could give him his present. :)

(Molly's house and one of the trains Peter made Max out of duplos)

Watch now that I think I found the best present for Max and am so excited to give it to him, he will probably end up liking the wrapping paper better! ;)