Thanksgiving Weekend

So maybe I should have perhaps done these in order. Oh well. Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun. Scott's sister, Susie, her husband, Adam, and their daughter, Isabella flew in for the weekend. Scott's parents flew them down to spend Thanksgiving with all of us. We couldn't have been more excited when we found that out.

This was on Thanksgiving right after we got back to Linda and Dave's house (Scott's parents) after picking them up from the airport.

Happy Thanksgiving, Daddy!

Courtney loves holding Bella.

So do I!!! She wanted to be a cruiser all around everything. So cute!

Oh the things your uncle teaches you.

Ahh that was some good whipped cream with my pie.

The next night the girls all stayed with their grandparents while the 4 of us (Scott, me, Susie, and Adam) went out on a double date. We went to Pat and Oscar's and Golden Spoon. It was fun to get away and have adult conversation. We got the idea to have an impromptu sleepover. The kids could be in their own sleeping beds (their camping mattresses) in the other room while we all played games until who knows when. We had so much fun playing Apples to Apples this night.

The next morning we did family portraits at JCPenney. Afterward we went to Red Robin for lunch. Then back to the house where the visiting with lots of family and friends continued.

Precious Bella

A cute one of Susie and Bella.

Ahh we can't wait to do it again. It was so nice being able to see them every day they were here. What a great weekend!

Disneyland and New Moon

Strange combo, but who cares. I'm getting caught up. :)

I took the girls to Disneyland by myself this time because Scott's annual pass has expired. We can't renew it right now so in the meantime we are still going with whomever has a current pass. Right now it's the 3 of us.

I was so excited that the girls were going to get to see Santa this year. This doesn't happen every year so this was exciting for me too. Courtney told Santa that she wanted a "cheerleader outfit". Skyler told Santa that she wanted a "treat candy cane". He looked at her and smiled. Then said, "Well, I can give you that, right now." You don't even know how excited she was.

They got to meet Mrs. Claus too. And we got to see Santa leave. As he left he told Mrs. Claus that he needed a break to eat some cookies. :) The kids loved that.

One of the girls' current obsessions is "The Nightmare Before Christmas". When we walked by this we just had to take a picture and go in the "Jack Store" (as Courtney calls it). Now she wants some Jack Skellington gloves from there that don't even cover the finger tips. I guess it's all the rage, but looks silly to me. One of the boys in her class has them.

In front of the tree at Disneyland. Eventually their heads will actually meet the tree.

A fabulous group of us went to see the movie, "New Moon". New Moon is the second movie in the Twilight Saga. And based on the second book in the Twilight Series with the same title. We went to the earliest show the day after it opened. Most of us had gone to Christmas Presence the night before so we got up early to go see it.

Can you tell how excited we are?? Scott was being so funny texting Shauna back and forth before the movie about Edward. My phone had just lost battery.

Aww it's my mommy

Tamara, Lori, and Olivia

Tamara and Mom were very excited about their souvenir cups. Hey, why not for just 25 cents more?

Need I say more? Na. Now, I'll give Jacob the hot body award, but it's still about Edward.

How lame. They didn't have a poster for New Moon out. So we found the next best thing. Eclipse is coming out in June. How exciting! I'm so glad that we don't have to wait a full year. Nice surprise.

Christmas Presence

I thought I would get all caught up blogging about certain events that have been happening. Christmas Presence was one of them that was very special. It's an event that our church holds that is a fancy dinner night for the ladies. Well, one night was casual and one was fancy. My mother-in-law got a table for all of us to go to "Fancy Friday" (as people started calling it). There is also a boutique to enjoy. This year every table was hosted by a woman and they decorated the table however they wanted to. It was fun seeing so many different creative tables. Then there was dinner, dessert, raffle prizes, and a speaker (who were also singers). This year was "Crimson Bridge". Here are a few pictures from the event.

One of my BFFs, Shauna and I


The second part of Christmas Presence is to share with others. They request that you bring an unwrapped gift for a child. Then on a different day many families from the community come to pick out Christmas gifts for their children. Most of them this is the only way they are getting anything for their children. While the parent(s) are shopping the kids are having fun with our kids program. And the kids are making a gift for their parents. It was amazing how many gifts were there. They just kept coming in too. At the end of the day, they had so much left over that they donated them to various charities. What an amazing event.

L to R: My Mom, Marcia, Me, My Mother-In-Law, Linda

Some of our table

I was so glad that Tamara could join our table this year.

Linda's beautiful table decor

Since Linda had an extra ticket (that she already paid for) we told her to put the other ticket in the raffle. Good thing she did. She won twice!!

Anniversaries

We have had so many monumental anniversaries this year. 10 year anniversary of being married. 15 year anniversary of dating (this time). 20 year anniversary of our first dance. (23 years since we have met.)

That's right. This month when I was in 6th grade and Scott was in 8th grade we went to Hillview Middle School to a Christmas dance. This was the first time we ever "went around".

This is where Scott was sitting (on the stage) when I asked my friends to go ask him if he would dance with me. They both ran over there (Mindy and Rebekah K. I believe). I quickly was attempting to stop them out of embarrassment. It was too late. And THANK GOD it was. This was the beginning of it all. Or at least the beginning of when we started liking each other. We just had to take a picture on the stage.

Boy how we have changed. I need to find the picture from that dance. I know I have it in a frame somewhere.


What a whirlwind of emotions being back at Hillview. So many memories at this school. Some of my favorite years in school happened here. I was involved in student congress and spirit squad as well as many other clubs. But it's really the ASB where it all happened. I was the Activities Director so I was planning all of the events at school. I have so many great memories from my times there. Scott and I were there together for only one year. We remained good friends even after we broke up (again and again). What a fun time it was to see the school again. We live so close, but to actually be inside it was bringing back so many memories. The girls will also go to Hillview. In fact, they will go to all 3 Whittier schools that we went to. Orchard Dale, Hillview, and La Serna.

Proud Mama

I am so proud of my girls. They just had so many performances. Courtney is in choir at church and both girls had performances for school. Skyler will be starting choir in January since she turns 4 and will be eligible. One awesome thing is that they have the same director that I had when I was little and singing in church choir at WACC. I thought I would add some pictures from the performances.

The performances start with Courtney's school performance for Orchard Dale (which was held at Hillview).

I couldn't resist these 2 cuties.

The kindergartners were on the ground. Who had that brilliant idea? We couldn't see them. It was by some miracle that all of the heads parted ways to get this photo.

They did a poem and Courtney is holding the L.

So proud of my big girl. (Are we related or what? I swear we look so similar in this picture.)

Courtney with her teacher, Mrs. Maldonado.

Our family on the stage. (Story to follow in another blog entry.)

Our family

The next performances (4 total) were for Courtney's choir at church. The "Joyful Noise" choir. They played hand bells and sang.

(Oh bummer I accidentally deleted the picture. Oh well. Picture a bunch of kids.)

Courtney and her BFF Kate.

Courtney exiting the performance with her hand bell.

This is a very similar pic to the one that was deleted. lol

Courtney hamming it up.

The next performance is Skyler's performance for school. She's in the back row.

Skyler did an amazing job. She wasn't feeling well and still was able to do all of the hand motions and sing. I was sooooo impressed that she knew ALL of the words and choreography. No stage fright with this one.

Skyler with one of her teachers, Ms. Wagg. Skyler was a shepherd. (Her dress is peeking out from under it.)

Both of my beauties after Skyler's performance. After her performance she went home and slept. Poor thing.

Monster Mash

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Innocent Love

Since the start of a brand new school year we have heard many tales of love in the air. Including our own children. They are so cute when they talk about it. Such innocent little hearts.

Just today Skyler's friend Jonathan was telling his mommy that Skyler is his friend and holds his hand. I asked Skyler and she shyly said that yes, she holds Jonathan's hand. So cute. We are actually very good friends with his parents. :)

Courtney on the other hand has told us that she is falling in love with Nathan. And here we thought they were so cute at the "Math Night" at school. Courtney says that Nathan tells her that they should fall in love together.

How precious they are. Sweet little ones showing love to their friends. But ahhhh this is how it starts, right?! I keep thinking about the fact that I was 8 when I met my husband. Not that many people can say that. Of course, at that age we didn't know each other in that way, but still. Oh how they are growing up so fast. I was just telling Skyler the other day how I wanted her to stay little forever. She kindly told me no. haha They are just too sweet for words.