Dan is So Smart!

Dan has been doing an amazing job in his MBA program! He's almost done with his fourth semester, with just two more to go. Last night he was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society. It's a pretty big deal, since this means he's in the top 10% of all graduate students at Fresno State and is recognized nationally for his academic achievements! Norah and I are so proud of him!

Norah liked playing with her Daddy's medal

Other than Dan's ceremony last night, we've been keeping busy with lots of activities. We got to take Norah to her first baseball game last week. Dan's office has tickets season tickets to the Fresno Grizzlies (Giants AAA team). It was kind of a cold night, but Norah enjoyed watching the game (for at least the first few innings).

Go Grizzlies!

This past weekend, I traveled to UC Santa Cruz for a competition with our MESA students. Dan and Norah met me over there and were able to enjoy some beach time while I was working. While I had fun with our students, I was still totally jealous of Dan and Norah getting to spend the day at the beach! Now we're looking forward to some time at home this weekend so we can get caught up on our gardening and projects around the house.

Santa Cruz

Indoxination

Yesterday we headed up to UC Davis to visit Maggie and attend Picnic Day. It was a beautiful day, so we had a lot of fun walking around the campus and checking out all the events. Norah had her first (small) taste of ice cream at the Food Science Department's exhibit (she loved it, of course!), and we got to see where Maggie has her classes (nice, brand new building).

Picnic Day at UC Davis

While we missed the cockroach races and goat milking (Dan was totally disappointed), we did make it to Picnic Day's premier event- the Doxie Derby. It was a dachshund lover's dream, with 70+ doxies of all sizes and shapes racing each other! For those who have never experienced the Doxie Derby, picture a greyhound race, then replace the greyhounds with dachshunds, dial down the speed just a little (then a little more), and take away the part where all the dogs run in the right direction. The results look a little like this:

Norah loved pointing at all the dogs (pointing is her new thing right now) and thought they were pretty funny when they took off running. We figure after another couple years of Picnic Days, Dan will be ready to get his very own dachshund. (Or maybe not, but he did have fun watching the races.) Norah, on the other hand, is already ready for her own doxie puppy!

Norah and her dachshund gear

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Love, Dan, Kristin & Norah

Beach Baby!

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading my blog. I've been really busy lately, so Mom and Dad have been taking care of it for me; I'll try to do better. Anyway, this weekend was a big one for me. I got to go to the beach for the first time! Mom and Dad packed up my things on Sunday, and we were off to Santa Cruz. We got a little lunch once we got there. The restaurant is on a pier, so I could see the ocean from our table. After that, we walked around the pier. Dad helped me chase the birds around. It was fun, but I was ready to get to the beach.

Get me out of here... it's time for the beach!

We loaded up our chairs, towels and toys and we headed down to the beach. It was really exciting. I had never tasted sand before. It's a little hard to chew, and it kind of gets all over, but so does the rest of my food.

Just getting a little sun on my legs

Mom and Dad got out my toys, and I watched them make sand castles. They were all right at it after I gave them a few pointers.

Hold the shovel like this... make sure you hit the top of the bucket

Finally, I was able to get Mom and Dad to walk with me down to the water. They were worried about how cold it was, but I just wanted to get my toes in a little.

Let's go dad... look at the cute little feet!

Put me down, Dad!

Dad and I finished up our trip with a walk down the wharf. I saw sea lions playing in the water, and some really big birds.

I can almost touch it!

It was a great trip, and I hope I can go back soon. I'll have to talk Mom and Dad into it, though. Well, thanks for visiting. I'll talk to you again soon.

Love, Norah

Baby Shower!

This past weekend we headed up to the Bay Area to celebrate my cousin Stephanie's baby shower. It's always so fun to see everyone at what is becoming an annual tradition for the Klas family. Stephanie looks great and seems totally calm and ready to be a mom. Her little one- a boy- will be arriving in April. Norah got to meet a few new relatives, including her second cousin Liam, who is 19 months old. In Norah's generation, she's going to be totally outnumbered on my side with Liam and two baby boys-to-be (my cousin Julia is also expecting a boy).

The Ladies... and the Gents


Liam and John and Norah and Dan... and Norah's silly glasses

Finally, we have two quick updates to some earlier posts. First, regarding our family challenge- see below for a pictures Norah and me wearing the same dress.

Kristin (12 months) and Norah (9 months)

Second, lest you think that Norah was the only one who got all dressed up for St. Patrick's Day, we wanted to share our latest family photo. Dan and I aren't sure if Norah is going to be more embarrassed by the outfits we put her in, or by the ones she sees her parents wearing. But then again, what are parents for, right?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Have a great St. Pat's Day. Don't forget to wear your green!

Norah's Many Hats

I know Norah's going to hate us for this when she's older, but there aren't a lot of things that are more fun than taking pictures of her with silly outfits on. In this installment, we bring you Norah and her many hats. Luckily, she's a good sport about it all right now.

We've all be staying quite busy. I had an event at work last Saturday and have another one tomorrow. My mom has been a good sport about watching Norah for some extra hours during the week, and Dan and Norah have had some good times together on the Saturday's that I've been working. Things should quiet down for me again after tomorrow. Dan has midterms next week, then a week "off" for spring break at the end of the month. Somehow spring break is a little different now that he's working full time- no trip to the Bahamas this year for us! I actually do have the week off, since Fresno State is closed for both employees and students this year due to the state furloughs.

Dan was recently featured on the grad school website at Fresno State in one of their student profiles. You can see what he had to say here. He's really doing an amazing job in his grad program and is happy to be getting ready for his final year next year. Norah and I miss having him home on the nights he has class, but we know it will be worth it in the end. Love to all!