Jamaica's stateside!

Jamaica's back from the Congo, and we jumped at the chance to see her while she was in town...off to Pasadena we went....baby, dog and all!

Nearly 21 months and definitely won't be long 'til this little fish is swimming solo

Lemons float...who knew?!

Levi's 1st diving board jump, which took next to zero coaxing

cookie bandit (homemade)

Jamaica and her lovely mom Lisa

Despite Jamaica and I bouncing around the world these past couple of years, we've managed to see each other quite a bit. Each time I see her, I'm reminded how much I adore and admire her. Now, she's off to Phili to get her PHD in Demography...

Hiking in Mammoth

Hand fed blueberries by Levi

Devil's Post Pile, Mammoth (check out the legs on those two! Yea!!)

Baby Poppy's 1st hiking trip

Levi at nearly 20 months: active, happy and a little mischievous!

Levi and Hank...still BFF's

It didn't take long for Hank and Levi to become friends...

They both watch out for the other, making sure that the other one is always in sight

Mammoth with Mumsey & Papa

Levi and I were completely spoiled by having several days w/ Mumsey and Papa in Mammoth!

We're definitely cherishing being back on the West coast and being w/ our families!

The perfect set up

Last night I invited 4 girlfriends out to dinner, none of whom knew each other, but all live relatively close together.

Christina (the lovely Australian) meet Jen... recent transplant from SF.

Laura (my favorite southern belle) meet Miriam, my neighbor!

New friends, but feel like old

Dear friends in London and now reunited in LA

By the end of the dinner, we'd all swapped phone numbers, sent Facebook friend requests, and planned our next adventure...Santa Barbara here we come!

P.S btw, how fun would it be to swim w/ this guy?
P.P.S. How great are Christina's shoes?!

Hiking in our backyard

6 months after arriving in LA, Christina, Levi, Hankand I decided to explore Temescal State Park. Who knew the Santa Monica Mountains were so beautiful and so very close!

Huntington Dog Beach with a Farewell

We finally made it to the dog beaches of all dog beaches. Unfortunately I don't have any good pics to capture the mayhem of hundreds of K9's racing about, but you get the idea. We also went to say goodbye to my cousin Sally who just got her PHD in science and is off to to the South w/ husband Kit to get her post Doc.

Levi got his 1st baby...we named her Poppy. She's up there w/ his 2 blankies and is making the rounds everywhere!