Silver Oak Children's Cookie Party

The Sunday before Christmas, Silver Oak hosted a Children's Christmas party. The highlights of the party were decorating (and eating) cookies and a visit from Santa Claus. It was a great party and I totally enjoyed. It was nice to have something for the children to do that they really liked and didn't require too much supervision. It was a very low-keyed, relaxing party.

Each of the kids made cookies. Cooper tried to just lick the frosting and eat the decorations.

Grace was thrilled to sit on Santa's lap and tell him how all she wanted for Christmas was a Barbie doll.

Emma Jo didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but she really wanted one of the Target gift cards that he was giving away.

Cooper was terrified from the moment Santa walked into the room.

Mommy was the mean one who forced him to sit on Santa's lap (just for one second).

What a Week!

This whole Christmas season is tough! Not only is work crazy with so many people buying gifts they want shipped to arrive before Christmas, we've also had holiday events every night for the past week.

It started with the Silver Oak Christmas party last Saturday. For the first time it was an adults-only party which meant we left the kids with a babysitter overnight for the first time ever! They've only ever spent the night with their grandparents. Cynthia has been babysitting them since Grace was a baby, so I wasn't really worried about it. Jason and I had a good time watching everyone in their 70s outfits for the Disco themed party.

Sunday was the Christmas party at church. We started with getting our Christmas tree in the afternoon, then had dinner with Grammie and Grampa. After dinner we headed to Church for carols and cookies.
Monday evening Jason and Emma had a father-daughter date. They did their Christmas shopping and then went to Applebee's for dinner.

Tuesday Emma Jo's Girl Scout troop had their Cookie-Making Holiday event. All the girls and their families were invited to decorate and bake cookies. Emma Jo and Grace had a great time covering their creations with as much sugar as possible.

Wednesday is Awana night and this week was caroling for the big kids and movies for the little ones. We didn't get home until after 8:30 that night.

Thursday was Windsor Christian Academy's school Christmas play. Emma Jo was the reporter on camera and a member of the chorus. She did a fantastic job!

Friday was Pina Napa Valley's holiday party. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Casino night. Katherine made a great meal and it was fun playing Blackjack with Jason, Mom and Dad.

Saturday Grammie and Grampa were nice enough to watch the kids while Jason and I finished our Christmas shopping. We finished quickly after just three stores, so we went to John Ash for dinner to finish off the night.

Today was church and the Silver Oak kids party. Thankfully it was at Twomey West and was a low key cookie decorating party. The kids enjoyed putting as much frosting and sprinkles as possible on their cookies and then eating as many as possible. Santa came to the party and each child got to sit on his lap. Emma Jo was "too old" but relented when she realized it was the only way to get one of the $25 Target gift cards he was passing out. Grace eagerly told Santa how she wanted a Barbie for Christmas. Cooper was terrified and wanted Grampa to save him. The longer Santa was there the more relaxed Cooper became, but he still definitely did not want to sit on his lap. Finally after everyone else had a turn, I took Cooper and plopped him on Santa's lap. He only hesitated a moment before he was all out crying trying to throw himself at papa. Jason said it was torture, but I'm sure we have pictures of all the other kids crying on Santa's lap, it wouldn't be right to deprive Cooper of his opportunity. Later on tonight Cooper was telling us that he sat on Santa's lap and told him that we wanted a race car.

First Ever - Twomey Release Day!

We are so excited to be hosting the first ever Twomey Release Day today! Today marks the official celebration of our new Pinot Noir program. In 2007 we decided to begin producing appellation specific wines. Ben Cane, our newly hired Pinot winemaker, was tasked with finding the "best of the best". He search throughout Northern and Central California. Grapes were sourced from some of the most famous appellations and vineyards known for producing exceptional Pinot Noirs. Our end result was producing not only our traditional Russian River Pinot, sourced from our very own Westpin Vineyard, but also a limited quantity of Santa Baraba, Anderson Valley, and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs.
Today we will be releaseing each of these wines along with the 2007 Syrah and 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. Each of the wines will be paired with foods prepared by our Winery Chef. Everything is available to visitors for just $20 per person. We will also be tasting our 2005 Merlot.
We're a little disappointed by the rains which are promised for today, but we're still so excited about this very special event.
Hope you can come out an join us, I'll be at the Healdsburg winery all day.

Random Picture Challenge 5.0

Hopefully Brittany over at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins won't mind that I'm a day late this week. Here is the 5th picture from the last from March 2008.

It seems a little ironic that I was working at Silver Oak's Release Day yesterday and this random picture chosen by Brittany is of Grace working at Pina Napa Valley's Release Day last March.

Silver Oak Release Day

Today's the Day! Silver Oak is releasing their 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet and hosting the Grand Opening of the new Oakville Winery. It promises to be a very eventful day. There will be food from local chefs, Cindy's, Mustards, AKA, Barber's Q to name a few. There will be live music and plenty of wine, including the 04Napa, 99Napa and Twomey Merlot. If you are in the valley and looking for something to do, come check it out. I'll be working in the wine pickup area so stop by and say "hi".



You can find more details on the website. Hope to see you there!

First Official Weekend of the Holiday Season

This weekend kicked off the Christmas season for our family. Friday was the big Silver Oak family party. Then Saturday we went on the Polar Express.

In celebration of the completion of the Oakville rebuild, Silver Oak hosted the family Holiday Party in the new winery. The place was beautiful with white lights, red linens, a huge white tent and plenty of fabulous wine. There were activities for the children and a great buffet and dancing for the adults.

Our kids weren't sure what they were most excited about, staying in a hotel, getting their first gifts of the season at the party, or riding on the bus to the winery. The girls were beautiful in their Christmas dresses. Cooper was very handsome in his plaid shirt and sweater vest. He did well at the party but finally pooped out and fell asleep in Jason's arms.



Mommy had too much going on watching the kids and enjoying the party that I forgot to take a family picture.


On Saturday we joined other families from WCA's Girl Scout troups and went on the Polar Express. We departed from Old Town Sacramento on historic train cars. We travelled all the way to the North Pole and saw Santa and his workshop. Santa even came on-board and handed out bells to all who Believe.

Sorry, no good pictures of Grace. She has decided that she doesn't like to have her picture taken.

On the Polar Express Cooper John discovered that he can have a huge audience when he claps. He had a blast clapping for each and everyone who would watch. It is fun to see how people of all ages get a smile from a cute little kid.

Silver Oak Vintner's Gala

Last night was the first Grand Opening Party for Silver Oak's new Oakville Winery. We celebrated with an all-hands-on-deck party for winery principals and other VIP guests. The night was beautiful despite the wind and chill. I wish I had remembered a camera to take pictures of the winery. It was all decked out in harvest colors of orange, brown, red and yellow. The lawn was scattered with bistro tables covered in silk tableclothes, upholstered benches for relaxing and propane heaters to ward off the chill. There was a flamenco troop to entertain at the top of the hour and a string quartet to set the mood throughout the night.

I was lucky enough to be assigned the responsibility of serving champange on the red carpet to our guests as they arrived. Everyone seemed to appreciate the grand effort that was put in to the Gala and the special effect of walking down a red carpet flanked with champagne. I only dropped one tray and that was in the very beginning of the night before too many guests arrived. By 7pm, I was an expert at holding a tray one-handed and passing out flutes with the other.

After my dinner break, I volunteered myself to pass out our party favors. Guests seemed impressed with our attention to every detail when I handed them baby Oak trees and Bouchon chocolates. At least one in three guests had to ask if the seedling was a Silver Oak but I believe it was actually a Valley Oak. My understanding is that Silver Oaks do exist, but they are native to Hawaii, not California. It was fun to talk with guests about there impression of the new facility and I only heard very positive comments. It was also nice to have a job that happened to be right next to a heater.

While I was working, Jason was home with the kids. They did just fine without me and even baked home-made pretzels.

Another Great Weekend

We started our weekend early with Kortney's wedding on Friday night. She was an absolutely beautiful bride and looked so happy! The ceremony was outside, but the rain held off until we got under the tent for dinner. It really started coming down around 9:30, but by then we'd had enough wine that no one seemed to mind:).

Saturday's soccer games were rained out. Emma Jo was bummed, but I was a little relieved. It made it much easier to do our errands, get Cooper a nap, make a ladybug, and go to Breanna's birthday party.

Sunday we had two soccer games. We played hard the first day but fell curse to the "no banner daemons". The banner was back in the afternoon and we did great! The girls were jazzed to finish the weekend with a 5-1 victory.

Jason assures me that the rain had little to no effect on this years crop, "just washed off the grapes." It was a little dreary looking out my window at work on Friday and only seeing grey, but I think I'm just about ready for the rainy season. It will be nice to wear sweaters and be warm in our office, for once.

This week brings us the usual ballet, gymnastics, and choir. We also have a parents v. kids soccer game on Tuesday, scrimmage against the competitive team on Wednesday, and regular soccer game on Saturday. Then Saturday night is the Vintner's Gala Grand Opening at Silver Oak. It is an "all hands on deck" celebration and I get to pour champagne on the red carpet. I'm sure it will be a long night, but hopefully it will be fun as well.