The Napa Valley

Janay and I were raised as orthodox Mormons, therefore our parents never took us to see Napa Valley because Satan himself was known to reside there...or it might have been that both our families were poor as all get out and couldn't afford the luxury of a trip to Napa. (But that doesn't make sense because Napa is a little over an hour away, and I do remember countless trips to Utah which is much further away than Napa. The trip to Utah seems even longer when we have to smell vomit that is having the heater of a Volkswagen Vanagon blown full blast on it, thank you very much Sarah) Janay's family much prefered Disneyland as their vacation of choice.

Janay and I decided to venture off into the unkown, even if it was only an hour away. We were delighted with the beauty that Napa has to offer. We first went to a couple of wineries and enjoyed the views they had to offer, but couldn't take the tours because no children under 14 were allowed. I guess they think that our 11 month old would turn into a raging alcoholic if she were allowed to see the wine making process.

After the wineries we headed to downtown St. Helena, filled with cute "shoppy-shops" as Janay would say. Here we found the most delicious olive oil known to mankind. For all you Mormons out there, go to Napa for the olive oil tasting, forget about the wine! We bought a bottle of roasted garlic and parmessean olive oil, that if my cardiologist would approve it, I would drink with my Italian meals. There were some other cool shops, like a little chocolate shop and kids boutique store that Janay enjoyed.

For lunch we went to Taylor's Automatic Refresher, as featured on the food network's Drive-ins, Dives, and Burger Joints. Good burgers, amazing garlic fries, and shakes that were simply "top of the line, top of the line."

We'd like to take this moment to thank Tammy for opening our eyes to the splendor of Napa. And thanks to Ethan Michael Butt for being such a good boy on the trip.

We left Napa still feeling worthy to hold a temple recommend, and recommend to all of you a visit to this gem in our own back yard.

San Franisco Parking!

For the Easter weekend, we went to San Francisco with our friends the Newcomers. Parking in San Francisco is an expensive pain in the neck. We had two places we wanted to visit before we went to a baptism for (Mackenzie's play buddy...Ethan)a friend of ours. One place was by Fisherman's wharf, and the other was by Union Square, the two worst places in SF to try to park. We first went to Fisherman's wharf and like a diamond in the rough found a free two hour parking spot a block away from the store we wanted to go to. We did our shopping, gave thanks for the parking spot and sadly left it for dinner, knowing this truly was a special spot. Next we headed to dinner near union square. We came upon our restaurant and hunted a parking spot like a cheetah hunts its prey. Lo and behold, as we pulled up a car was leaving directly across the street from the restaurant, I parrell parked black beauty with the aid of sensors and my wife, and we were moved almost to the point of tears at our luck. Once again, free for two hours. We had a most delicious meal of chicken tika masala and naan, then headed for the baptism in Burlingame. Our friend warned us that the parking at "St. Paul's Church" could be nasty, but I knew this day was special. I drove towards the church with a sense of hubris only a naive young man could possess, determined to conquer all bay area parking. We pulled up to the church, and without a hint of surprise, there was one spot left, directly in front of the entrance to the church. I parked and stepped out with a bit of a swagger, for I knew today, I was a champion. Mere mortals only dream of days like this...

New Golf Pants and Polo: $38.67
Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan: $15.00
Parking: $0.00

Spending the afternoon in San Franciso and walking no more than 150 feet from storefront to steering wheel...priceless.

Easter

1.The first pic is Kenzie in her Easter Dress
2. pic is the Koutz fam enjoying the Easter goods
3. pic his Kenzie enjoying the Easter goods with her Dad

St. Patrick's Cupcakes

I decided to test a new baking creation for St. Patricks day (and for 2 of my friends b-day)...the shamrock cupcake. It was pretty easy to make, but it took a lot of time.

Springtime is in the air!!

As many of you may know, spring has officially arrived in California. The weather has been gorgeous, the sun hangs in the sky a little longer, bees are buzzing, birds are chirping...and evidently suffering with some major diarrhea. I came out on Saturday morning to find my car violated and victimized like I have never seen before. I guess this is the price we pay for living in the City of Trees. I look forward to the day when my cars will be garaged. Maybe I'll put a copy of the Reader's Digest, or the daily paper up in the tree so these birds can have some nice reading material (but the sports section stays with me).

Kings Game

We took Little Mac to her first Kings game and she absolutely loved it! She clapped her hands, danced, and smiled at everyone around us. She was quite the distraction for everyone around us because they couldn't resist her smile. She is truly her daddy's girl becuase when the refs made a bad call she screamed, "Hey wefs! Pawish your glass eye!"

Music

Due to your request, I finally changed our music option. Instead of our music coming on automaticaly, you now have to select it to listen to the music. Enjoy!

Little Mac Can Waive

Little Mac has discovered the art of the waive. She is now really good at waiving goodbye when I leave the house now. The other day was the most impressive though. She did her usually waive good and then amazingly said, "Peace out home skillet" and gave me a peace sign, then went back to babbling and playing with books.


Dan