Globe-trotting Grovers: Red, White, and Blue 2013

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!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Red, White, and Blue 2013

This was our first *real* 4th of July at our house in Bemus Point, and we were lucky enough to spend it with Brad's childhood friend Bridget and her lovely family! Her girls are so close in age with our boys, and since they live only about 2 hours away (in Cleveland) we try to get together when we can. They were in town, and this was actually their 2nd year of renting out our cottage, so after a day of paddle boarding, boating, and swimming in the lake, we had them over for a Red, White, and Blue BBQ!!!

The kiddies loved playing together, as usual! We grilled burgers, took our golf cart down to our dock and watched numerous fireworks shows around the lake! We even had a bonfire, played with sparklers, and roasted marshmallows (SMORES!). We watched chinese paper lanterns float in the sky, and I heard Bridget's oldest daughter, Rhenna (5) whisper "This is the best 4th of July ever!" :)

It was magical for the kids, who got to stay up until almost midnight!!

There is a 10pm tradition, that right before the big fireworks shows, every lakefront property lights their flares. For about 30 minutes the lake glows red and it looks awesome with the fireworks!!! Brad and Michael lit our flares and it was pretty exciting to see it all glowing red!