A memorable Memorial Day weekend! We did a couple of outings - one to Sanborn park in Saratoga on Saturday. I had never been there but Matt manages a property up in the Saratoga hills and passed by it. If you ever want to get away and go camping or have a party outside this is the place to go! It is beautiful and not crowded. We hiked a round a little and Timmy found the perfect walking stick but I don't have pictures to show for it. Then on Sunday we drove to Half Moon Bay. We stopped along Highway 1 that looked like it had good tide pools and it sure did. We saw all kinds of things and the boys had a blast. We even saw seals! It was so fun and relaxing walking on the rocks and enjoying the ocean and each other. Tyler found a lot of "treasures" that he brought home.

Check out my new specs! I decided it was time for a change from my old specs and I am hoping the new look is kind of "funky" and not completely "ridiculous".

Meet the newest member of the Nichols Clan- Zachariah!

Baby Z was born on Thursday May 18, 2006, 9 lbs 7oz 21 1/2 inches long! He was a big baby and it was rough for his little Mom to deliver him but Pricyla and John are doing great and proud parents!

Look at all that hair and he has the longest toes and fingers! He sure is a cutie and a welcome addition to the bunch of cousins we have!

Eh Hmmm....it's that time of year for me to get on my soap box. Wait a minute...okay... here I go! The sun is NOT your friend! Oh yes it may feel so nice to be out in the warm sun soaking up rays and thinking how much better your clothes will look with tanned skin but it is not so nice to hear words like Melanoma, Basal skin cancer, age spots etc. It's been two years since I was diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer. It had been a spot on my arm that for 4 years and 4 Dr. visits later finally got tested. I had 4 different Drs tell me that it was nothing until finally I insisted on getting tested (thanks Matt and my friend Wendy for pushing me to keep going). So when I got the call at work that I had the beginning stages of Melanoma I was not a happy camper! Melanoma is a scary, nasty cancer and once it has reached a certain stage recovering is unlikely. Thank God it was at the stage where they could cut it out and it was not deep enough to require chemo and radiation! The follow up Dr I see now every 6 months said I was very lucky and boy do I know that. But it is something I am reminded of every time I look at my 4 inch scar on my arm or go in to get screened and have to get another area biopsied.

So when I hear of people rushing to the tanning beds or laying out I have to cover my ears and hum a song! PLEASE do not take the sun or tanning lightly. Wear sun screen whenever you are in the son even if you are riding in a car! Always wear facial cream that has an SPF of 15 or more. You may never have to deal with skin cancer but at least it will help you get less wrinkles and age spots.

So that is my soap box talk thanks for listening - I'll get down now!

I had a great Mother's Day weekend! Not only did I get to go on a date with my husband Friday night, I also got to go on a Mother's Day outing to the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park. It is a tradition in my husband's family that all the daughters and Mothers (all in-laws included) get together and enjoy some kind of Mother's Day event. This year it was a lovely luncheon and a stroll around the gardens while we peeked into the artists' shops. This year my nieces joined us for the first time! I would totally recommend this to anyone that would like to enjoy a nice outing with either their Mom, sisters or girlfriends.

Then on Sunday, Matt, the boys and I went to Chinatown and walked all over the place checking out the weird stuff that is for sale in the markets and all the beautiful silk items.

BUT ... what started off the whole fantastic weekend was officially being asked to be a GARAGE GIRL for Bay Area Scrappers. I had been a Guest Garage girl for 2 months so I was thrilled when some openings came up and I was asked to be a part of the team. So I am looking forward to future layout projects and getting to know some awesome scrapbookers!

I started a new project! It is knitty.com lace knitting project which I have never done before. I tried purchasing yarn from knitpicks because I had heard the prices were very good. It was hard to choose from all the colors but I am happy with the quality of their yarn and it was like $4.00 a skein - cheap! It took me a while to get the hang of it but now I am on a roll. I was nervous at first because it was coming out wobbly (first picture) and then I reread the instructions and it says that the pattern opens up when you block it (steam iron it between towels) and I did and the second picture shows more of the pattern. It should look like this when I am done. I liked this project because it is so versitile. There are button holes alond the edge that you can use homemade button cufflinks in to wear it a whole bunch of different ways. Can't wait until it is done!

In honor of National Scrapbook Day, here is my last round of layouts for Bay Area Scrappers. It was fun to be a Guest Garage Girl for the last two months. It gav eme the chance to scrap pictures that I have been wanting to do for a long time but have not got around to it. It also stretched me creatively to use products and sketches that were assigned. I hope I get the opportunity to do it again!

This is how much of a nerd I am!

I know this is a couple of days late - but with being sick this week, I have no sense of time! Anyway, I am a BIG LOST geek. I mean BIG! I watch it every week and then I go back and look at message boards and threads that further feed into my LOST addiction. BUT that is not why I am blogging about it. I am blogging about it today because on last Wednesday's episode I think they really knew I was one of their biggest fans and made a personal shout out to me! (just play along okay?) When Hurley was asking Sayid for the transistor radio so he can hold it over his head and win back his girl (but after her father foes to jail)- he was making a reference to one of my favorite movies from the 80s - Say Anything with one of my fav actors - John Cusack! When he said, that my husband looks over at me because he knows this about me and even bought me the DVD for Christmas. Isn't he sweet to indulge his wife in her weirdisms? So thanks Lost creators for making that obscure reference that only some people would get.