our story

It all began on the evening of Nov 29th 2003, at former Chat Noir French Restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA. Brad approached me [Jana] and we instantly connected; it was love at first sight. The next 4 years that followed were a whirlwind of romance, growing pains, and adventures. We circled the globe, traveling to South America, Europe, and Asia. Then one night, Brad surprised me with a romantic beachside proposal. We made it official on August 23rd 2008 with an intimate wedding at a hip art gallery in Laguna Beach. A year later we finished redesigning our home in the beach village of Corona del Mar.

On May 18th, 2010, we were blessed with a sweet little miracle of our own, our baby boy Taj Leon. He stole our hearts and took our breath away! Then, 19 months later, his incredible little brother, Jax Franz, arrived on Christmas morning (December 25th) 2011. What an amazing gift we received! In an effort to slow down the clock and enjoy our beautiful family, in Spring of 2012, we sold our CA seaside home and moved across the country to our dream lake house in Brad's hometown of Bemus Point, a resort village on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York! Even though we are living a more slow paced life, we are living a life far from ordinary!

From the West Coast to the East Coast, our Grover family adventures continue! So won't you come along and join us on this journey of love, family, and travel we like to call our La Vida Grover!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

a very grover christmas


This Christmas we received the greatest gift of all- the gift of life (our baby miracle). And ironically it was during the christmas week (Week 18) that i began feeling "flutters" and baby movements in my tummy! It makes me smile and giggle every time the little one does a little kick or somersault! We spent our traditional Czech Christmas Eve at my sister's: Czech Christmas Eve dinner (mushroom soup, fish, and special potato salad - I made the salad for the first time this year and so proud of myself!) and then us girls hid in Chloe's room and waited for Jezisek (baby Jesus) to come and deliver gifts. I always enjoy seeing the sparkle of wonder in Chloe's eyes, and reminsce how magical this was for my sister and I growing up. Although my parents were far this Christmas, they were near our hearts thanks to Skype! On Christmas Day, Brad and I surprised each other with our gifts and stocking stuffers, I made a delicious pancake breakfast, we lounged in our pajamas and watched funny christmas movies, and then took a sunset duffy cruise around Newport bay. Jezisek and Santa were very tech-y this year as Jezisek brought me a new phone and Santa Brad got me a cool new laptop! Jezisek was also especially generous to our baby Grover (thank you aunt Petra, uncle Bryan, and cousin Chloe for all of baby's christmas presents!)

In keeping with the start of new family Grover traditions, since Christmas is the season of Giving, Brad and I donated to some of our favorite charities: Toys for Tots, UNICEF, Greenpeace, and March of Dimes (in honor of baby grover). Here is a list of our old and new Grover holiday traditions we hope to keep up yearly with our growing family:
1) Roger's Gardens christmas tree picking, annual ornament, and visit with Santa
2) Newport Christmas Boat Parade holiday party
3) Elf on the Shelf. Thanks Laura for this cool idea! check it out: www.ElfOnTheShelf.com
4) Traditional Czech Christmas Eve & Jezisek
5) Christmas Day morning pancake breakfast and christmas movies in our pajamas
6) Donating to charities of our choice, and Adopt-A-Family (when our kids are older).

Click below for more xmas photos:
Grover Xmas 09
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Third Birthday tickers Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie First Birthday tickers