Family Photo

Thanks to Kiasa's talent and camera, we have some fun family pics.

Married to MacGyver

If you've ever wondered what a PhD in engineering can get you, look closely. Jon kept our water filter functional (until the replacement arrived) with only rubberbands, a rag, a container lid and his brains.

Olivia's Blessing Day

It was an almost "warmish" January afternoon in CT for Olivia's special day. For more pictures, go to the girls' blog sabrinabambina.blogspot.com

The Dissertation Defense

That's right, folks. Jonathan successfully defended his dissertation at the beginning of the year. Now nothing stands between him and graduation. I guess you can start calling him "Dr." now. ;-)

Christmas '08 Part I

A little sunset from our window

Family on the Fire Truck

at the NASA Ames Holiday Party

I love my girls!

Four generations

A special weekend trip to San Luis Obispo.

Hayride Through Field of Flowers

Grease is the Word

Angelina was a beauty school dropout & Jonathan was her greaser boyfriend for Halloween.

Halloween Witch Family

New Baby Girl!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our healthy baby girl, Olivia Marie! She was born just after midnight on October 3rd, weighing 8 lbs 10 ounces and stretching out to 20 1/4 inches. She is an absolute angel and we are so grateful to have her in our family.

For more photos, go to her and Sabrina's blog www.sabrinabambina.blogspot.com

Two Days Before the Due Date...

...Three days before the induction and four days before delivery.

Mama, Daughter, Belly Shot

Uncle "Jame-es" and Carie

Treehugging with James and Carie

Big Basin

Redwood Cross-section

I have no idea what Sabrina is doing, but I'm sure she's okay.

Train Ride

Big Trees Train

When Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, we took the Santa Cruz Beach Train through the redwoods to the boardwalk. Lovely!

At the Tidepools

Howdy!

Cable Car Family

On the Cable Car

We took Brian and Paige to San Fran and tried to hit all the major spots. A good cable car ride is always a favorite.

Belly shot at NASA

7 1/2 months.

Another Flight Simulator

This is an actual cockpit of a passenger jet with computer screens for windows. It really gives you the sensation of flying--even without the vertical motion turned on.

Sabrina in the pilot's seat

When Paige and Brian came to visit, we toured NASA and got to play with some pretty fun flight simulators. Hey--isn't that where Schwarzenegger sat?

Jon Meets the Terminator

OK, so he's officially the governor of California, but he'll always be the Terminator to me. It was on state business that Schwarzenegger dropped by Jonathan's work (He was there to thank them for lending a UAV in the firefighting effort). In this picture he is sitting at probably the smallest flight simulator at NASA. Jonathan's desk is just over his left shoulder. And yes, Jon got to meet him.

Gelato in Palo Alto

Here I am sporting that belly! I'm about 7 months here.

5 Blissful Years

We celebrated our 5th anniversary this week! For the day of we went into San Francisco for dinner and symphony. But we celebrate everyday! Here is Jon in front of the classic Stanford Movie House where we went to see an old pic.

Our Thriving Balcony Garden

Matching Bellies

Just how is this enforced?

Biking Daddy

New Favorite Bike Trail

We biked the 5 miles of Camp Sawyer Trail up to the San Andreas Dam (and fault) and back. Gorgeous! But I think it is the last bike ride for me since they don't really recommend biking this far into pregnancy.

Thinking Stumps

These were in the South Africa section of the UCSC Arboretum.

Picking (& eating) Olallieberries

They are some sort of blackberry-raspberry hybrid and are just fantastic on icecream!

Low Tide--Worth getting up early

We went to the tide pools near Moss Beach and saw amazing sea creatures.

She Gets Around MOVIE

We Heart Carousels

Another Great Bike Trail

The Los Gatos Creek Trail. We rode it from Campbell to Vasona Lake Park to Oak Meadow for more carousel and train rides.

"Arg, Matey!"

We took another trip down to Monterey for Jon's birthday. Sabrina has a thing for large fake people, so here we are.

As close as we got

We're pretty sure they don't let bicycles along the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, so this is as close as we got this trip.

Biking West Cliff Drive

We biked from Natural Bridges to the Santa Cruz Wharf and back on the lovely (if too popular) West Cliff Drive pathway. Not bad for a pregnant lady.

What's left of Natural Bridges

They are down to one natural bridge in the Natural Brides State Park, Santa Cruz. Still a lovely spot for a stroll.

Cherry Tree

We got a special tour of the Heritage Orchards in San Jose with the Orchard gardener--just the four of us. She answered all our questions as we tromped through it and even handed us cherries from the trees. Yum!

Anyone for a game of Monopoly?

We challenge anyone who comes to visit us to a game in the park.

Walking the Walk

We headed out one early Saturday along the Guadalupe River Trail in downtown San Jose. A great idea that appears to have had good funding that ran short of maintenance. We still enjoyed the Monopoly board, Carousel, Heritage Rose Garden and Orchard, and being out in the city.

The Touch Pool

The Monterey Aquarium. We got to pet sea stars, sea cucumbers and (Jon's favorite) bat rays!

Jellyfish

I could watch these guys all day.