Weekend in Yosemite

We spent the last weekend in the magical national park called Yosemite, located 200 miles east of us. It was a nice break we all needed. While in the mountains, Ivan's Blackberry ceased to recieve data, so he could no longer read his email (yay for no work!), and Becca could no longer switch channels on TV while doing her online job, since there is no wireless internet in the Yosemite Valley. Maks also enjoyed the break from the confines of our small Silicon Valley home, and he experienced huge waterfalls and miles of open space for the first time in his life. I wish you all could see him look around in amazement at new horizons he never before imagined. Finally, our 1 year old Camry experienced frost on its windows for the first time ever. We all enjoyed many opportunities to hike, to sleep, to drive around on windy roads, to see amazing waterfalls that are at its peak volume right now, to take lots of pictures and to simply enjoy the breathtaking views and crisp alpine air of this Paradise in the Sierra mountains.

Below is one of the memorable moments of the trip. As Saturday was coming to an end, we were finishing our hike from the Mirror Lake (2 miles round trip), but Maks could no longer handle the strains of his first outdoors experience. He turned himself off completely and fell into deep sleep, despite the fact that he was hanging from Becca's backpack while she was walking and talking to me. It was one of those moments in life when I felt very lucky to have my camera nearby.



To see more pictures from the trip, stop by Ivan's photo blog, where more images will be posted in the next few weeks.

W-O-M-A-N

I have some great news for you all! I finally have a purse, yep that's right. No more soccer bag slung over the shoulder; my gym/diaper/purse bag days are over. Ever wonder why I never participated in that purse tag? Well, because I was so embarrassed about my Adidas soccer knapsack a.k.a. purse. And I always felt so silly going out with my shopping buddy, Tish, carrying the bag on my back like I was some junior high school girl wearing those little back pack purses back in the mid-90's.

So, luckily, my favorite (and only) sister-in-law, Stacy, is selling these AWESOME bags/purses called Miche bags. I am SO excited, because I can change the color of the purse to match my clothes (since I'm always concerned about looking so chic 24/7) without having to empty my purse and transfer the necessities to another purse all the time. All I have to do is change the shell, and -- voila -- a new, "way cute purse"!

And I really like it too; I've already used it like twice. And it has plenty of room for everything, even a diaper and a few wipes. Since I am pretty much a "plain Jane" and never like to take fashion risks, I ordered the black and navy blue solid shells. I will leave the greens and pinks and stripes for the rest of ya. There are supposed to be some new colors coming out this summer, so maybe I'll get daring by then. Check out the link if you're interested.

Enter 111105 for free shipping.

Becca Joins PwC!

One of the reasons I joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Jose was because they had a lot of sports team sponsored on the office level (it's actually pretty expensive to play on organized leagues here in the Bay area, so it's nice that the Firm pick up the tab). Ever since I worked there, I played soccer and Becca has been a great friend in coming to watch my games. She does it less now, since most of my games are past Maks' bed time, but when I have earlier games, she comes along with Maks.

However, watching me she always wanted to play on a team as well. My company was kind enough to allow Becca to join women's softball team. It's kind of strange to have some of my co-workers come to me and say, "I've met your wife last week, and she's cool!" but kind of fun too. And most importantly, Becca is enjoying being young again and being part of the team. She even hit a home run last week.

However, Maks didn't particularly enjoyed the photo shoot I was doing last Tuesday. He's at the age when he no longer likes to hang out alone. That, or he is like his father who prefers European sports.

New Sharks Fans

As most of you know, NHL playoffs just started. One of the reasons we moved to San Jose was to live in a city with a hockey team playing in the NHL. I grew up staying up late at night to watch the games, and I played hockey in high school. Soccer has been my favorite sport to watch growing up, but the pro-soccer scene here in U.S. is pathetic, so I switched to hockey. We've been going to a lot of games this past year, and we attended many of these games together as a family. Luckily, Maks gets in for free. In fact, at a recent game they were giving away fan towels, and Maks got one as well.

Yesterday we ventured to get into one of the most anticipated events here in San Jose, the first game in the playoffs. The atmosphere in the building was electric (despite the late start time, Maks had no chance to fall asleep during this one, though he did get introduced to Dippin Dots, which he really liked), but Sharks lost to Calgary Flames. Luckily, they rebounded today in a solid performance by our goalie and a fellow Russian Evgeny Nabokov, who did not allow any goals, and the series is currently tied, 1-1, with the next game in Calgary.

I appreciate Becca and Maks and their new passion for hockey. Hopefully, our first year in San Jose will also be the year the Sharks win the Stanley Cup.

Horrible Wife??

So I messed up. I admit it, but I couldn't take it any longer. Maks' hair was driving me crazy. He has had the same long hairs behind his ears since he was in my womb. Honestly, when I was 8.75 months pregnant, the ultrasound tech pointed out the wavy, corn husk looking hair, which made me think he was going to come out with tons of hair HA, yeah right! But I know those same long hairs have been there for quite a while. And lately, I've been annoyed by it. Even Ivan pointed it out the other day, that he looks like a balding old man with just the hair around the sides. So today, I did it after his morning nap. I sat Maks on the bathroom sink and let him suck on Ivan's electric toothbrush... (Yeah, I'm not as anal as I used to be. Darci you would be proud to know that even though Maks puts his mouth on the closed toilet seat lid, I don't freak out anymore).

Well, I grabbed the little scissors and went to work grabbing the long, fine strands and cutting. I know I did a very bad job when I could hear the hair "tearing" or crunching while I was cutting. You've all heard that same sound if you've ever cut hair with poor scissors and at the wrong angle. Not too bad, I thought as I held the 1 inch long strands. Okay, next side... this time Maks was a bit restless (He has a short attention span). So, I quickly grabbed the hair and cut it off as well. Luckily, there were only a few strands that I had to clean up to make it sort of even. It doesn't look that bad, but you can tell it was chopped into. I tried to blend it, but realized I should stop before I get too carried away.

I just told Ivan over IM and he is so upset! I guess he wanted to get pictures of Maks' first hair cut, but "I blew it!" I told him it was only a trim and didn't really count as the first hair cut. The first hair cut will probably happen in another 3-4 years, so he shouldn't stress about it. Still... he said, it was a horrible thing to do!

So, I still have the hair trimmings. Should I keep them as a keepsake? If so, how do I preserve them? Mind you, I don't have a scrapbook for Maks (not even a baby book) and I don't intend to have one for another 10+ years... At least until after I get my law degree. Ha ha ha. Or should I pretend this little even never even took place? Really, I can't make a cute lock with the hair it is too short. I'll try to post a pic if Ivan's not too upset to take it.

Hey! I'm 9 Months Old

Another birthday for our Little Man. We celebrated it by feeding him some Ghirardelli chocolate and then taking him on a nice sunset stroll in our neighborhood. He enjoys being outside, and his father enjoys nice light it provides for picture taking opportunities.

Happy Birthday, Maks! No longer an infant.

PS - I did not buy a Porsche for those of you who were wondering.

My New Baby

You might have seen my mention in one of my previous entries of the new car we bought recently. It is Porsche Boxter S, 2008 model, exactly the model you are seeing on the left and even the same color (though photo is courtesy of Porsche.com).

One of the the things I was taught in my American Heritage class at BYU was that anybody who lives in America if he or she works hard can achieve an American Dream. For me that meant I had to eventually get a Porsche and start my daily commutes in style. I love fast cars, and I've always dreamed of being able to get to 60 mph in 5 seconds.

My first impression is that the car is very powerful, very fast and I feel I am getting treated differently as I pull into various place in my new Porsche. It doesn't get the best gas mileage you can get out there, the insurance on it is outrageous and it's impossible to fit a child seat in the back, but we have other car for that purpose.

One of the benefits of working in Silicon Valley is that they pay us enough here that even the first year college graduate can afford a brand new Porsche if he has a full-time job here. If you ever visit us here in the Bay Area, I'd love to take you on a ride along the Pacific Coast in my new baby.