Globe-trotting Grovers: June 2016

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!

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Boys 1st Time Camping, Sportmans Club Clam Bake, The Last Day of School, and Book Club Scavenger Hunt

Our family's first camping experience overnight at our friend's property in Panama. It was rustic but with modern day tiolet and bathroom, and running water! We basically had a sleepover outside out in the safety of our friend's property, along with many other tents! We borrowed the tent and sleeping bags and I must say it was great trial run for first time camping with our little boys. It was a chilly night though, and we were happy and much more comfortable being back in our beds the following night. Maybe we can try camping again sometime out in the wild, but it has to be warmer and fewer bugs, lol!

Buggy ride

Sportsmans Club Annual Clam Bake

Last Day of School- Picnic

Mrs. Kinal was Taj's favorite teacher!

Book Club Scavenger Hunt! This was our end-of-the-year celebration party event I organized thanks to an Eventz by Scott, for my fellow book club ladies. It was my first year running the book club, and we had a ton of fun getting together every month at different restaurants! Some special book club nights were Movie Nights and a Spa/ Medium Reading at Paula's salon in Jamestown. This Scavenger Hunt was themed with some of our favorite books we read. Being able to include husbands and a couple extra friends, while dividing up in teams and running around the village completing challenges was super fun! We had our finale group dinner at the very end of the activity at the new EBC restaurant in Bemus.

Boys' favorite babysitters: Ellie

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Memorial Day Parade & Taj's 1st Piano Recital

Bemus Village Memorial Day parade... boys got to ride their bikes and dressed up for it! Daddy Brad was out in North Carolina visiting a friend, so it was just mama and her boys! I think we were quite festive for the occasion, what fun! The boys can now say they've been in a parade.... though they probably enjoy being the audience so they can have candy thrown to them! I walked behind them in the parade and threw candy into the audience!