Wedding Anniversary

This weekend we finally got to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Ok, so it's 4 weeks late but better late than never. We spent the day in Newport Beach, kayaking around Back Bay and enjoying the amazing weather (especially since it was about 20 degrees cooler there than at our house!)

Later, we went to dinner at Jason's Downtown. It's an amazing restaurant, the food was perfect and the jazz music made the evening a night to remember. If you haven't been to Jason's you should definitely make it down there.

Amanda's 30th Birthday

As you might remember, while Karen, George and David were here they went shopping and to the Galaxy Game, respectively. Well, Jamie and I went to my friend Amanda's 30th Birthday party. She wanted to celebrate it with her friends doing something fun...so she decided to go bowling.

Here is Mark and Amanda.



Here's a picture of everyone. We had 3 lanes going and let's just say some of us were much better than others!

Amanda and I worked together at Billabong and have stayed in touch ever since.

Mark did a great job putting everything together for the party. He even had the hat to go with the cake. It was an insanely rich German chocolate cake, which is basically chocolate frosting on top of chocolate cake with a coconut topping. Jamie struggled but he did finish his piece. Of course, I just sat, watched, and enjoyed the smell, lol. We had a great time and realized we should go bowling more often!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Ok, Happy Belated Birthday Jamie! We've been a bit busy the last week so I didn't get a chance to post anything on his actual birthday, my apologies. Jamie's Birthday was Friday, August 7th. We went shopping at Billabong in the morning and then headed down to Newport Beach in the afternoon. Jamie, David and I rented a catamaran and did some sailing on the Back Bay and had a nice relaxing afternoon in the sun. Karen and George enjoyed the beach and the water. It was pretty relaxing without the huge waves to worry about.

That night we went out to dinner at Claim Jumper to celebrate.

We all enjoyed the food and had a great evening.

Saturday, we had another birthday celebration at the house. We bbq'd carne asada and chicken and had cake and ice cream.

Later, we brought out the pinata!

Jamie had a few good hits (I didn't get a picture of it though, doh!) Then David and George stepped up to to finish it off.

The poor bull didn't have a chance and George even managed to knock some candy over the wall into our neighbors pool, lol. Jamie enjoyed his two days of Birthday celebrations. It was nice to have his family there to help us celebrate. Next year will be a big year but for now he is still enjoying life in his 20s.

An Exploratory hole…..

We picked my parents and little brother up from LAX on a Sunday evening a couple of weeks ago. Angela and I were both at work on the Monday, so we left all 3 of them unsupervised. Imagine our shock upon returning home from work to find that my dad had dug an “exploratory hole” around the tree stump in our back garden. This was less than 24 hours since we picked them up at the airport. The line “I was only digging and exploratory hole” will be burned into my memory for eternity! The moral of this story is to never leave your parents and little brother alone in your house unsupervised, especially if you are going to have guests over for a BBQ shortly afterwards.

The now famous exploratory hole (it is the biggest exploratory hole I have ever seen)

The hired labour.....

Always read the full 300 pages of manufacturer’s instruction book before using a new piece of equipment. Those quick start guides are for cheaters! (this is a note for you David)

The after picture.....

The stump.......

On another note, I am now the proud owner of a brand new chainsaw!
Jamie

Day Trippin'

Well, Karen, George, and David flew home on Sunday. I think it's fair to say they had a great trip. Plenty of sunshine and new memories. While they were here they did a wide range of things.

David and George went to the Galaxy v Barcelona game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and had some of the best seats in the house. Galaxy lost 2-1 but they saw a pretty good game.

(Karen went to dinner with my Mom and did a bit of shopping at South Coast Plaza)

It was a sold out stadium with 93,000 fans attending.

They got a bit of California history at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Of course the visit to Disney.

They picked one of the hottest days to go to Disney but still had a great time. They also got to see the new Nightastic which I'm a bit jealous about.


They went to the O.C. Super Fair a couple of times and also got to see the Bull Riding Event!


It was a pretty awesome show and we were all surprised with how well it was put together.


It was the perfect mixture of bull riding and entertainment.

We had a great time with Jamie's family. We had plenty of day trips out, relaxing time at the house, and sunshine at the beach. Oh, and plenty of bbqing, food and being outdoors. We had a full house but there was plenty of room for everyone. It was really nice to be able to have the space for everyone to enjoy.

BBQ Steaks

It has since become a tradition for my Dad to bbq a type of meat for any Griffin's who come and visit us in California. This started with David, a very big beef fan. This is his third year in a row to come and visit us in California, I'd like to think he comes for our company and the sun but I wouldn't be surprised if the bbq was a bigger draw, lol. This time my Dad decided to bbq steaks. So Sunday we all went over to my parents house for an afternoon bbq. My Aunt Michelle (my Dad's sister) joined us as well.

Karen, George, and David had gone down to the beach earlier in the day and caught a bit of the sun but had a great time talking, relaxing, and eating.

Here are the gracious hosts.


Jamie and his Dad.



Jamie and my Aunt Michelle.

And David, my Dad and me. So that about covers every angle on the round table!

The steaks were massive. I split one with my Mom and I could still only finish half. David on the other had finished most of his. If there wasn't any fat on it, it would have been completely gone. I was impressed. I must give my regards to the chef, the steaks were amazing!

Wine Tasting

Jamie's parents and younger brother arrived last Sunday. Jamie and I worked the first few days they were here so they could adjust to the time difference and just relax. So Friday, we decided to take them wine tasting in Temecula, what better way to relax right?

When we first arrived we walked around the old part of Temecula and did a bit of window shopping before we had lunch. It was about 92 F or 33 C, so it was fairly hotter than our place. Once we had lunch we headed down to the wineries.

My parents joined us for the day. This was the group (minus Jamie who was taking the picture) after our first tasting at the Callaway Winery.

By the 4th winery we needed some food, so cheese and bread seemed to be the best choice.

I had some of Jamie's tastings as I was one of the designated drivers. I think of it as he was my screener and only the better tasting wines were past on for me to taste!

Here are all the Griffins - From Left to Right: George (Dad), Karen (Mum), David (Brother), Me and Jamie

It was a great day and we had a lot of fun. Being able to taste the different wines together really makes you appreciate the different flavors and varieties. I think by the end of the trip the flavors start to blend together but it was a fantastic day. We all bought at least a bottle. Our purchase for the day was Almond Champagne- beautiful!