Happy Holidays!

Love~ Andrea & Robby

Napa Valley

The pictures above are all of vinyards in Napa Valley. It is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. It is really neat how the climate in a certain place can be so good for growing something that the land becomes over taken by that product. It is as if the enitre town was built around wine! The bottom picture is of me infront of the giant containers that the wine is stored in during the fermenting process. Making wine was nothing like Robby and I thought it would be. I have to be honest and say that we were both a little dissapointed that we didn't end up in a wine celler like Edgar Allen Poe wrote about! Wine making is very high tech now. After we toured the vinyards, Robby and I were fourtunate to get to see the Christmas parade through downtown Nappa. It was a grand parade with lots of cars Uncle Jackie would have loved, High School bands, beauty queens, tap dancers, horses, and lots of candy throwing elves. Robby laughed at me for running into the street with the children to pick up candy! It was a great day. I wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow. It is much more fun to play! Happy Holidays everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Robby and I were just about to go out after our first familyless Thanksgiving dinner and get some coffee. We just wanted to say hi and tell everyone that we miss you very much and we love you! Let the holidays begin! Tomorrow we are going to go shopping and then we are going to spend the weekend in Napa Valley. Have a great night! ~Dea

Point Reyes National Park

Sunday, Robby and I went on an 11 mile hike at point Reyes National Park.View from the left of the Mountain side at Point Reyes of the Pacific Ocean We stopped and ate lunch on the mountain. This is the same view as the first picture, just looking right. Robby was still hungry for some GIANT slugs! Albino deer???!!!

Sleep Sweet, Angel

Thomas Christopher Brakefield

The Twins are getting so big!

Harrison (left) & Hudson (right)Hudson (left) Harrison (right)

Happy Birthday Mom!

~Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, even by dozens and hundreds. There are plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends - but only one mother in the whole world. I love my mother like the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights~

My Hospital!

Alta Bates Medical Center, Berkeley, CA. I love the ivy growing up the wall!The view of Berkeley and San Francisco from the ICU on the west side.The same picture zoomed in on San Francisco. We do have some fall trees! The Golden Gate bridge from the ICU on the West side of the hospital; if you click on this picture, you can see Alcatraz Island infront of the bridge. This time of year the fog isn't as heavy, and you can actually tell that the bridge is red. The view from the ICU is incredible. Some of the people there say it is the reason that they have stayed at Alta Bates working so long! I'll have to get you guys a picture of the sunset too, wow.... Sometimes I find myself just staring out of the window. The people on my unit think it is funny how taken I am with the view. They think that the pictures I showed them from the back of Mary and Tom's house are more beautiful. I guess it is just what you grow up with. They are two totally different views of two totally different worlds, and I think that each view does a great job of summing up the beauty and the personality of each place. Well, Robby just woke up so I am going to go make breakfast! I just finished a long stretch of three 12 hour shifts, so I have a couple of days off to play! I love you all and I miss you so much ~Andrea

A Great 25th Birthday!

Thanks to everyone who helped make Robby's Birthday special! He really got some nice gifts and cards in the mail, and the phone calls (and text messages) were great too! We had a fun filled day! We went shopping for CDs at Amoeba, and for this new hat Robby is wearing in the pictures above (for some reason he just didn't want to wear the one I made for him all day!). We saw Prestige, which is a really good movie that is kind of strange..... and then ate a great dinner at a place called Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers! I gave Robby lots of options of places to eat and for some reason he really just wanted a good Hamburger. And we found one; this place has the biggest hamburgers (and vegie burgers) I have ever seen, and the menu is like three pages of different burgers you can order! Now, we are about to have chocolate lava Birthday cake, so I will talk to you guys later. (Oh yeah, and just a side note.... If you click on the picture of Robby and I above to make it bigger, you can see the black pearl necklace he brought me back from China!!!!) Love ya~Andrea

Happy Birthday Robby!!!!!!!

Don't Forget!!!!

Hey guys, I just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow is Robby's 25th Birthday! Don't forget to call him and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! We miss you all very much and I know that Robby wishes he could spend his special day with you. ~Andrea

Briones Park

View from Briones Park I love to hike!Robby's hair is getting long! I like it! Where we ate lunch. Baby field mouse we saved from being squished! Well, I hope that everyone had a great Halloween filled with lots of fun and candy! Robby had a lot of school stuff to do and I was tired from work, so we just stayed home and handed out candy to the kids in our Village. Sadly, not too many children would come to the older apartments, so we actually just watched all the kids in costumes running around outside! It was still a good night! So far Robby and I have had a pretty good weekend. We just spent yesterday relaxing, and today we went to Briones Park and hiked around and ate a picnic lunch. I am turely happiest when I am hiking or running! Being outside is just incredible. God created such a breath-taking masterpiece for us to enjoy, He didn't have to make everything so beautiful, He just wanted it to be that way. That is pretty cool to me. On the way home from the park, Robby and I stopped by the Pixar Animation Studios. He is the person in the picture! It is only about 5 miles from our house. Rumor has it that you have to know someone on the inside to get a tour. Robby and I really want to go inside, so I am going to start asking all of my patients if they can get us in!! Just kidding, well, not really! I put in my "wish schedule" for Christmas at work Friday, we'll see how it goes. I will be sure to let everyone know if it works out. I have Thanksgiving off. I don't really know what we will do, we have talked about going on a road trip. That would be fun. Maybe to wine country! If it doesn't all burn up before then! I miss you all terribly. I look forward to seeing you all hopefully very soon. Love~ Andrea