First day in house

Movers are coming tomorrow so we are just moving little things. Yesterday was our first day in and we just cleaned up a little bit. We will slowly but surely change things, like flooring and kitchen stuff. I see the dollar signs already! haha
Here are some pics-click to go to picasa gallery to see larger photos, if you like.

Our New House!

What a month August has been! Allan's studio was acquired by a great, big gaming company called THQ and we are permanent San Diegan's! Allan's new company (THQ-Carlsbad) is next to Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. We are SO happy to stay here. We have the best of everything down here, from weather to activities! AND, a few weeks ago Allan and I found a house! We close escrow September 18th. That means by near end of September and right before my birthday we will be proud owners of a new pad. Our new place is about 6 miles from Allan's work (no freeways) and about the same distance but opposite direction to the Foxes house! It's on the Shadowridge Country Club golf course (in Vista) and we have a pretty view out back.

Allan's early birthday cake

I made a mud pie for the first time yesterday. I was so proud of myself. I copied my favorite from Baskin-Robbins. I bought 2 quarts of Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream, bought Hersheys Fudge, a graham cracker crust, whipped cream and salted almonds that i crushed in the food processor. It came out tasting exactly like Baskin-Robbins,however it didn't cost the $21 bucks. Allan's birthday is on Monday, but we started early!

Our 1st Anniversary

Allan and I went to Newport Beach for our anniversary weekend. We stayed in the same hotel as our wedding night and cruised aboard John Wayne's 'Wild Goose' yacht. We had a great time!

More UK Pictures (click for larger pics)

If you are interested in captions, you will need to click on a picture and it will take you to Picasa...

Allan, brother John and their parents

Taken outside the Hayburn home. Perth, Scotland.

Aberdeen Boys. Click on pics to make larger.

These are Alison's children: Aaron (age 5) and Andrew (age nearly 2).
In Westhill, just outside Aberdeen,Scotland.

Newborn Elephant at SD Wild Animal Park

This baby was born just 24 hours before we saw it yesterday.

My Week in Santa Ynez and Baby Caralyn

I went to visit my family this past week as Allan was very busy with work. I wanted to let him do his thing and stay as late as he needed to without feeling the pull of wanting to come home to see me. His game is on a deadline and we are leaving for the UK in six days! I am very excited to visit his family and see Scotland. Allan and I are also excited to be able to visit Craig and Vanessa in London for five days after our stay in Scotland.

I took some photos of the baby. She was so precious and sweet. All she does is smile and laugh;she is so happy. Thank God her colicky phase is long gone. So...here is another slideshow.

p.s. stay tuned for updates on our trip as we traverse through the Scottish Highlands.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Allan gave me a DSLR camera last week and I shot over 600 photos on our outing to the San Diego Wild Animal Park yesterday (Feb. 26). It was the first time we had been there and Allan really, really enjoyed himself, as did I. It was a very peaceful, relaxing day for us. The weather was perfect and for anyone who has been to the Animal Park in the summer knows how HOT it can get there! I uploaded this slideshow from Picasa. I will be using this a lot as I think it's easier to view. If you run the mouse over the pictures you can speed up, pause or even click on the picture. Enjoy...

Torrey Pines Beach and the state reserve!

Allan and I drove down the street to the beach today. We parked in a residential neighborhood and walked across the street and under a bridge to the beach. We could have paid eight dollars to park in the state reserve parking lot but when free parking was so close by, we decided not to. The beach was beautiful. I would have to say it is the best looking beach in all of southern California. Santa Barbara beaches are cluttered with debris, both natural and foreign. Oh, and dad, NO tar!! We made sure to check our shoes and they were clean. That is not something that happens when you go for a stroll in SB! After about a half mile to a mile walk down the beach, we saw stairs from the beach going up to the reserve, so we went up. We were so glad we did. The views were gorgeous. When we finally made it to the top we heard live Hawaiian music! My favorite kind! We thought it was a wedding but when we went into the parks museum they told us it was a retirement party for a park ranger. The whole afternoon turned out great. It was dreary in the morning and we figured it would rain all day. It cleared around noon and that's when we decided to go down the street to the beach. I took lots of pics....hope you enjoy.