Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmastime in California


We thought about sending a Christmas card with this photo on it, saying something super clever about how we've started our own "California Adventure" this year. (For those of you who are Disney-challenged, the amusement park where we had this picture taken is called Disney's California Adventure). Alas, it is already the week before Christmas and anyone we would send a card to can just look at this blog! So, here goes...

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE KOLBABA FAMILY!!
Posted by Picasa

Monday, November 26, 2007

The Move


Perhaps because we have moved to a different state, we think it's time to catch up on our blog. Life has thrown us a little curve. Nate was laid off by Toll Brothers and found a new job in California. The company that he works for, RQ Construction, builds mostly for the military. Nate never thought he would go into commercial construction, but like our life those thoughts have changed. He is enjoying the company and is learning the very different side of commercial construction. We will end up in Carlsbad, where the company is based out of, but we are going to be living in Barstow for the first 16 months because the project Nate is heading up is on Fort Irwin. Yes, we are going to live in Barstow, the "crossroads" of California. It is going to be an adventure for the next 16 months. Here are a couple of pictures of the home that we are renting while we're there. (Believe it or not, this is one of the nicer homes in Barstow).

Friday, June 1, 2007

Catching Up






Well, we think that the title should be the main theme of the blog. We are not very good at keeping up to date with our lives on the Blog. It is like our journals. Well we try. There has been a lot of things that have happened in our lives since April 1. The first is Dane's Race Day Birthday. For Dane's birthday in November we got him a Richard Petty Drive Along pass. Dane rode in the passenger seat of a real racecar and drove around the track 3 times. So, on a weekend when everyone could come we went to watch Dane go back at about 115 mph on the track. Before Dane got in the car Dane and Nate practiced driving on Nate's Couch. It was really fun to see Dane get into the car and drive. There was someone else that was very entertaining at the track.... and that was Cameron. Before we explain why he was so funny let me explain how we got to the track. We drove to Phoenix International Raceway and then drove into the center of the track. Racecars were flying past us and it was very loud. Cameron was so excited when he saw the cars race by. Cameron's eyes did not leave the track the whole time. Here is a picture of him. Florin loved it as well.


The next big event that happened in our lives was Nate's graduation from the University of Phoenix with an MBA. He started taking classes in November of 2005. He was very excited and could not keep the smile off his face. He felt weird wearing the interesting outfit that he received but he looked really good. Please see the pictures from the link below.



On Memorial Day we went down to Sierra Vista to go camping and hiking with some of Mandy's family. We had a great time! This was the first time we had gone camping since we got married. We went down on Saturday morning and came home on Monday. The camp site we stayed at was an old gold mining camp site. We also went hiking. What an interesting experience! It was, according to Talon, a trail that old people take all the time. So we decided to hike the easy 6 mile hike. As we were hiking we got off the trail by accident and and took a wildlife trail. This is what the trail looked like. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top. We stopped and ate lunch. As we were going down we figured out that we took the wrong trail because it took us about 1/4 of the time. By some miracle, the little ones did a great job hiking.....well, scaling a mountain we should say. The youngest was 2! Check out some of the other pictures we took.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Disney Cruise 2007

We just got back from our cruise!! It was great. Here's a quick synopsis: We got on the ship on March 24. There was a big getting on the boat party that night. The next day we stopped at Key West. We did not have any excursions planned for Key West so we rented scooters. We rode around and stopped to take pictures at the most southern point of the United States and at Ernest Hemingway's house. Here is the picture of that point. That night Mandy and I got a massage at the spa and it felt great. I had to tell my 115 pound masseuse to let up a little on the pressure, she was practically beating me up!
The next day we were at sea all day and we played games and ate food. That night we dressed up in formal wear and took pictures with the captain. This is the day that I found the ice cream bar!
On Tuesday we were going to go and swim with the stingrays but it was too windy, so we could not go on the excursion. So again, rented scooters and rode around the Grand Cayman. We were going to get leather jackets and make a gang that was called Wild Hogs but that is a new Disney movie so we decided on the Wild Dueling Bunnies. On Grand Cayman there is a Sea Turtle farm where they raise sea turtles. It was really neat so see these hunrdreds of rare sea turtles. I was able to touch them and hold them as well. After the sea Turtles we went to Hell. Please see pictures!
On Wednesday we went to Cozumel and saw the ruins at Tulum. It was incredible. The guide explained to us what the world thinks of the ruins. Then we then ran into a guy named Mosiah. He told us about the ruins from the Book of Mormon perspective. It was amazing.
On Thursday we were at sea and we played games, watched the shows, and two movies, National Treasure and Meet the Robinsons. We also spent some time on the top deck to get some sun.
On Friday we went to Castaway Cay. It is Disney's private island. We sat on the beach that was only for 18 years old and older. It was very quite and peaceful. The water was so clear! One person made the comment that it was cleaner than pool water. Then we got on the boat and went back to Florida. We stayed an extra day in Florida to walk around Epcot with Shelley and Jamie. They were good friends of ours from BYU. It was a great trip. I was completely blown away at how wonderful and relaxing this vacation was. We took lots of pictures, feel free to take a look!


http://picasaweb.google.com/mandykolbaba/DisneyCruise07?authkey=5nRoXX5xtHE

Sunday, January 21, 2007

We have a Blog


Hello World! The Kolbaba's are on the Internet. You'd better watch out. We wanted to start a blog so that we could share our lives with those we love and care about. We plan on keeping this blog updated with all the comings and goings on in our lives.

Mandy has recently been accepted to the new Accelerated Bilingual nursing program in Phoenix. She is very excited about it. The classes start on February 20th. Her classes are Monday through Thursday from 1:00 to 10:00pm. I am going to miss her oh so much.

In December, Nate was promoted to Assistant Project Manager for Toll Brothers. He is enjoying work very much and is learning a lot. He is also in the MBA program at University of Phoenix. He is going to walk on April 15th!

We bought a house this last year. It is great, we love the area and our ward. So far the house looks very white inside because we have only painted 3 walls, and the backyard is slowly getting landscaped, but we are enjoying it.

In March, we are looking forward to the Disney Cruise that we are going on. And, inspired by the cruise, we are working on losing the 50 cummulative pounds that we have gained since our wedding. I'm sure we will post an update on the blog about how the cruise went.