Thirty-fun.

Lake Tahoe

My family spent the week in South Lake Tahoe to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday.  What a blessing it was to have us all there under one roof as this doesn't happen very often.  Mom had us going nonstop with a fun adventure everyday...gondola ride, shopping, eating, bike riding, eating, paddle boating, eating, parasailing, trout fishing, eating, MS Dixie tour, hiking, putt putt golfing, eating.  This was typical Chao fashion - nothing but the best and LOTS of yummy food. 

Brad and I were the last to leave.  As we sat outside eating our apples, we over looked serene lake and just thanked God for giving us such a beautiful setting to share sweet memories.

Until Christmas...

Happy to the 4th

Last weekend we spent fourth of July cooking out with friends, watching Lesnar choke out Carwin during UFC 116, playing beer pong like we were back in college and soaking up some sun in Sausalito with the fam.  Couldn't have asked for more!  Well, it would have been cool if it were a clear night so we could actually see the fireworks.  The burst of lights through the city fog and loud bang, whizzes & cracks were all San Fran had to offer.

Wine-O-NO!

And all he wanted was some wine with his cheese and crackers.

The culprit (and maybe a little frustration).

We died laughing and then ever so carefully cleaned up the mess.  This morning we still had wine dripping from our cabinets.  AWESOME!

One year

I know, I have totally been slacking on this blog.  There's just been more to talk about that involves baby Fine than our own lives.  And it's going to get even worse when he arrives.

So the only thing worth talking about is the celebration of our one year anniversary.  This was on May 23 and yes it's a little late, but better late than never.

Since Brad and I were in two different states for our anniversary, we decided to celebrate a week later which was over Memorial Day weekend.  We celebrated with a couples massage, a 5 mile hike in the Muir woods followed by Outback (which I begged to go to) and also a late night dinner at Fresca.  It was perfect!  Unfortunately we never got around to eating a slice of our wedding cake, but maybe we will have another special moment to celebrate...like in September :)

I can't believe how fast a year flew by.  I thought I could never love someone more, but each and every day I grow to love/appreciate Brad and find something new to love about him (if you can believe that)!  He's a special someone.

Miami MAYhem

Brad and I (along with 11 other friends) took a vacation to Miami Beach this past weekend.  We had planned this long before we knew we were pregnant and we were so glad we did!  It obviously was a different trip for me, but I still hung in there like a trooper.

We ate some of the best food at Prime 112 (where we missed Bill Clinton by one day) & Sushi Samba, danced the night away until 2am, lounged in our cabanas, watched the sunset and soaked up as much sun as we could before heading back to the arctic tundra.  Oh how I miss being able to walk outside for 5 minutes to then be drenched in sweat.

It was so great to be surrounded by some of the most amazing people.  This is what made our trip.  We feel so fortunate to have some of the coolest people in our lives.

His words

I was going through some old emails today and came across these sweet words written by my baby back in August 2003...

"As you explore different areas of interest out here I want to be someone you can bounce ideas off of and expect nothing but an honest answer, as well as someone you can just be stupid with and have fun.  I think God has blessings for us that are beyond our wildest dreams.  Ephesians4:1 tells us to live a life that is worthy of our calling.  That is a short verse, but has big impact.  God has blessed us with some valuable traits that people cannot learn or fake .......  we just have it.  We have no choice, but to use our talents to glorify HIM!  How fun to help encourage each other along the way."


Love this man sitting next to me.