Nacogdoches

Dain and I needed to get away so we spent a weekend in Nacogdoches. We took the steam train and it was SO much fun! We drove up on Friday, then on Saturday morning, we jumped on the train which chugged along the forest for 1.5 hrs. At one point, the trained slowed down because we were held up!

They started firing at the train then managed to get on board. It was really cute. They ended up going up and down the train cars asking for donations for a charity. But they did it by offering to "throw that good for nothing man in your life off the train". ha ha

At the other station, when we arrived, there was a big party waiting with signs. We had pre-ordered lunch, so we had a picnic while we waited for the trip back. We took the chance to walk around the area and take pictures. The area is so pretty. It's in the middle of a forest of pine trees.

It was such a nice getaway and so close to home!

Italy!

Dain surprised me with a trip to Italy where we went to celebrate my birthday and our 10th anniversary. I need to make a collage of photos because I have way too many!!!! We spent time in Italy in Turin and the valley of Aosta (our fave), a day in Chamonix, France, and a quick trip to Martigny, Switzerland. We so want to go back and spent a ton of time there!!!!!!!!!!!!! We loved the Alps and spent a day skiing Bardonnechia, one of the resorts for the 2006 Olympics.

Washington DC

Took the family to Washington DC last week. We flew Alyssa up from SLC. On the way there, our flight from Houston was diverted to North Carolina where we spent the night. So we arrived in the DC half a day later than planned. Alyssa got to DC as planned so she checked into the hotel and spent the first night alone (which I think she loved). ha ha ha We had a suite so the whole family was together. In the past, we've split the kids into their own room.

We loved the monuments and museums. And yes, we walked and walked and walked. One of our favorites was the Ethiopian restaurant pictured below. Yummmmmmmy! I have been wanting to try it since the movie "Along Came Polly".

My ALC BFF's

I'm in Austin for an industry conference. These two have been my friends for the last 7 years and I LOVE going to these conferences just because I know they're there! Great friends the other 11 months, too. :-) I just love this picture.

Sandy Dupleich (owns Dynamic Languages in Seattle), Marla Schulman (owns Schreiber Translations in DC) and me

St. George and Vegas

Misc pix of our short stop in Vegas (where Dain sent me to the spa as a mom's day gift), Dain losing $5, and the road trip between Vegas and St. George.

Seattle

On the way home from Hawaii, we got to spend some time in Seattle. We took a redeye from Oahu and got into Seattle at 6 a.m. We rented a car and went to Pike Market for breakfast and then drove to our favorite Seattle overlook to get a picture of the city. It was so clear that day we even got pictures of Mt. Rainier. The world's first Starbucks.
See Mt. Rainier to the right of the city???

Hawaii Part III

It was such a cool trip. We hiked a ton. One day, we did an 8 mile hike on the Na Pali coast to a waterfall (both pictured above). We kayaked into the ocean. We spent one day on Oahu visiting friends who made this guava cake for Dain. On the way home, our flight was delayed so we ended up spending half a day in Seattle. I'll do a separate Seattle post.

Hawaii Part II

Some random pix. This first one is the sunrise from our lanai.

Overlook to Na Pali from the Waimea Canyon. We actually hiked a couple of miles around the rim to the top of a cliff. Pretty cool.

Top of Waimea Canyon

Hanalei Taro fields

Aloha Birthday -- Part I

April 13 was Dain's birthday and we decided to celebrate it in Hawaii. He thinks he was meant to be born in a Polynesian family and ended up on the wrong continent. ha ha ha. We've been to Hawaii many times and this was our third trip to Kauai. We explored and explored and did some things we love there and found new places to enjoy.
On the lanai after a long flight ...

Land! I see land! Honolulu where we transferred to Lihue

Long flights have this effect on Dain.

My trip to Sacramento

This is me doing the presentation in Sacramento. There were 3 of us flown in by American Express. Gina owns spas in New York, I'm in the middle, and Cynthia owns an RFID company in Austin.


The 3 of us with the lady from Amex.


The California State Capitol. Very pretty.


Ahhhnold's Office.


These cops were happy to have their picture taken ... I think. LOL

Miami-Key West

I forgot to post our Miami-Key West pictures!!!! It was beautiful ... and it's always awesome to spend time alone with my Sweetie.