Sister-in-law!

My wonderful brother-in-law has found true love and we are thrilled that Lily has joined the family.  They had a super fun wedding with a beautiful formal church ceremony followed by our favorite wedding reception theme ever:  ICE SKATING!  It was truly unique and we had a great time celebrating their marriage.  Here are a few shots of the wonderful event.

Getting Ready

All dressed up

Lily making her heart-filled and very moving vows to Sophia.

The Braniff Contingent

Aren't they lovely!

First Family Skate

Cutting Jenna's amazing cake creation

Happy New Year!

Gotta Love California Christmas at Swanson Acres!

New Year's Eve Walk on Baker Beach

A Year of Many Family Visits!

At the Top of Mt. Tam in September

Hiking at Phoenix Lake with the WW's.

Thanksgiving Stick Throwing at Pumpkin Ridge, Mt. Tam Park.

Enjoying our closest state park, China Camp

New Year's Day Hike....Gotta Love California Winter!

We've had quite a good year.  We are now settled in our new home in San Rafael and enjoying all that Marin County and living upstairs from Sean and Saci has to offer.   We have also welcomed many new friends and little ones into our lives. Other news includes Phil having a successful first year of business as both a Marriage and Family Therapist and an Children's Expressive Arts Program Director.  And most exciting of all, we are officially entering the process of trying to become adoptive parents ourselves.  Much to look forward to in 2012.  Love to all!  Kate & Phil

Our New Home

Wow--moving is such an ordeal. I really hope that I can suppress my annual urge to relocate and spend my energy doing something less stressful! I have lived in 22 homes over my 38 years and I'm getting a little tired. 5 of those have been in our 10 years of marriage (which we are celebrating TODAY!) --so we both could use a break. But, we did it and I am so glad we did. Our new home is awesome and we are truly thrilled to be here. Erika and Daniel were our first house guests and we have had so many shared meals with Sean & Saci.

The final moments in our SF apartment-sure made it look small. Of course our Weglarz sign had to come in the car with us en route. I needed a huge egg and bacon breakfast after a grueling moving day, here I am on my way back home from Trader Joes (only 3 blocks away) on our first morning. Being greeted daily by Aunt Saci's dahlia's is one of my new favorite things....

What a couple of weeks.....

The amazing whirlwind of hosting family, moving, remodeling at work, hosting friends, unpacking...it all started 2 weeks ago with the arrival of Caryn & Madeline in San Francisco.

We had so much fun taking a break from packing and playing during our last weekend of being San Franciscans.

I have to remember the city is only a ferry ride, bus ride or drive over the Golden Gate Bridge away.

Change is afoot!

Well, the time has finally come. We are taking the plunge and moving to Marin County to live in Sean & Saci's lovely upstairs apartment. We have denied their offers before, but this time we decided to go for it! We are so excited to live in San Rafael and be surrounded by loving family and good vibes. Gardening, hiking, hot tubing, home-brewed kombucha, the BEST Farmer's Market, and many family fun nights....here we come!








Here's the lovely house....that will be our big picture window upstairs (more photos coming!)
Sadly, the one thing Marin County DOESN'T have is an ice rink. We are slowly and painfully breaking in our new skates this month and will try to find ways to keep skating in San Francisco and Oakland.

Maui May

May began with a warm and lovely visit to Dad & Dori's new Maui home. The food there was fabulous! This is Dori's delicious Chinese Chicken Salad....one of many great meals we had out on the lanai.

This time we decided we would make the effort to drive up to see the sunrise at Haleakala Crater. Sadly Phil had to play the part of the sun at 5:45am in the freezing fog.

Back down the mountain (13,000 ft down), we found sun at Baldwin Beach Park.

Our giant stand-up paddle boards....how fun! We even got Dad out there. This is definitely my new favorite Maui activity. So peaceful just gliding over the crystal clear waters.

The happy couple...this was our outing over to Lanai where we did some amazing snorkeling and had a rocking and rolling trip home on the ferry!

We went to a fundraiser for a local hula school and enjoyed listening to the choir and watching the dancers.

The bittersweet moment when Phil has his last ice cream cone of the week (a daily ritual) at the airport. Back to the Mainland and a busy, busy month.

Caryn & Scott Visit (Madeline too!)

Caryn & Scott in Pacifica at the Beach. We are so thrilled to have them visit!

Madeline's big day out in the city started with a visit with our friend Tim at Blue Bottle Coffee to get the city's best brew along with Maple Bacon Donuts. Yummmm....

Fueling up our transit card and getting some snacks at Walgreens.

Whewwwww....walking up all these hills is tiring; let's take a little break.

Lunch at La Mediterranee and delicious mint tea with Caryn.

The best Goodwill in the city always offers some great finds.

Tired Legs...time to take a crowded city bus and meet some cool new friends at the bus stop.

Waiting in line for dinner at Anchor Oyster Bar....best little place in town!

Back at home relaxing with some tea and chatting with Scott.

Love those pajama pants and, boy, is that ice cream good!