the man in red...

The jolly man in red is good once again... the past 2 years Santa was GREAT from a far but this year.. he was great far and near. Originally Heather and I ventured out on Sat to our cities library for "Santa's Party" but she wasnt so sure about Santa right then. We did run into a friend and heard AMAZINGLY great news!! so that made the trip totally worth it! Sunday I had to get my yearly ring check up and such and we had 2 hours to enjoy. While at the mall across the street from the jewlery store Heather decided she wanted to say HI to Santa.. next thing you know after a short line she ran up gave him a hug told him what she wanted for Christmas and even what kind of cookies and treats we were leaving for him.. that's probably what put the big smile on Santas face too LOL. Next thing I knew she was on his lap and smiling and giggling and very excited to take her picture with the man in red.

 after the pictures, we grabbed some yummy pretzel bites and played in the little playground area. Heather of course went straight for the car.. she's sooooo like her Daddy!!

it was a great afternoon spending the day with my little girl! And Kevin was almost in shock when I told him we didnt buy anything while spending 2 hrs a the mall.. I must admit I was a little surprised too. We just got caught up looking at all the decorations and even the few stores we went in just looking around was fun! what a great way to spend a rainy day!

 

a thankful weekend...

What a great Thanksgiving Holiday!! This year was the first year we went to San Diego for turkey day. We went to my Aunt's house and hung out with the cousins and it was so beautiful down there!! Having a wonderful family is something we are thankful for every day! Over the long weekend we also went to the circus!! Kev and I hadnt been since we were kids so this was really cool for all of us. My friend Lisa told me it was in town and was taking Zoe so it was fun that Heather got to go with her bff too. You arent suppose to use flash photography so the pics arent the greatest from my phone but hopefully you can enjoy a little too.

the hoola hoop girl had probably about 20-30 hoops and she even was "flying" in the air while spinning them..

motorcycles rode in the sphere.. the mom and dad both were in at once and then their son went in after.. the whole circus is families.. generations of families.. very cool!

I've always loved the trapeze

the tight rope guy was amazing!

this is the guy they shot out of the rocket! great finale!!

over the weekend I celebrated being 25 (again) =) heehee and as you can see someone was very excited about my carrot cake.. I LOVE carrot cake!!

my cousins!!!! we grew up together..every summer we were together for a few weeks.. my cousin Dean is holding his arm out where my sister would be. Since she is out of state Im going to add her to the pic =)

my two loves

this little one has a thing for Marines..

One of my Aunt's pups.. his name is Bentley. He's a newfoundland and is so fluffy and sweet

2 things we are always thankful for.. the American Flag and the USMC flag. Always thankful for our freedom and those that protect it!

 

Heather and Zoe were very happy at the circus and were beign silly about us trying to take a pic of them together.. silly girls!!

this was the first year my cousin carved the turkey.. My Uncle would have been so proud!

My Aunt had friends in town that celebrated with us too. Matt had just graduated boot camp the Wed. before thanksgiving. His Dad has served with my Uncle. They are from LA and added some cajun dishes..we didnt ask what was in them but they were sure yummy!!! dirty rice is great!

What a great weekend.. we definetly could use more long weekends!! Now for the fun of Christmas to begin..

dont mess with the honey crisp...

We are very excited honey crisp apples are back in season!! Love, love, love them!! Someone really enjoys her apples and doesnt like Mommy taking a picture while she's eating it.. can you tell?? LOL!!!

this was last weekend on our way home from the arboretum.. she was talking and eating her apple one minute, the next.. she was pooped out!!!
Im glad she chooses apples as her favorite snack!! and if you havent tried a honeycrisp.. you are missing out! YUMMY!!

Tis the season for .. being creative..

Ive been doing better about letting my creative side run a bit free especially during the holidays.. there is just so much cute stuff to make and try. Not all turn out exactly as planned, but we enjoy the fun of it all

the other night we made breakfast for dinner..sometimes it just sounds good! this is a baked omlette... pretty yummy and now that I've made it once I think Im going to try adding some other stuff to it..mmmm

Heather just loves when I do something with her food.. I have large cookie cutters for her sandwhiches and such but I found these mini ones that are just perfect for making cheese animals..

My little girl loves dressing up so I get excited to make tutu's for her and her little friends! These two are for Heather and her little friend Shelby

some people dress up for dinner.. Heather dresses up to make dinner =) tutu's are so versatile like that haha

Here is little Shelby! she was excited to have a tutu like Heather =)

 she's only 5 months but already loves dressing up too!

Here is a close up of Shelby's tutu.. I had run out of green so I added the bow because it needed a little something

I have more tulle on the way and cant wait to make a few more tutu's for her little friends! Dress up is so much fun! I love being a Mommy!

Finally made it with the bff!!

For over a year and a half Lisa and I have tried to plan a date to go to the arboretum with our girls! We finally made it this weekend and had sooo much fun! Every time we would try to plan our little adventure someone would get sick or something would come up. The weather man tried to tell us it was going to rain this weekend but it didn’t.. it was beautiful and we took advantage of the great day! Zoe and Heather are best friends.. and its funny because if you ask them “who’s your best friend” they will tell you its Heather and Zoe!

Friday night we had a small fire in the fire pit and Kev asked Heather to put on a thicker jacket.. well I got out her snow jacket and she insisted on putting on the snow suit instead.. she was plenty warm for sure! and then picked out her gloves, mittens and hat

all bundled for some swinging

the peacocks arent shy a bit.. they greeted us at the door

these beautiful boys were hiding in the bushes

she was patiently waiting for Zoe to change her shoes    =)

Freedom!!! we had to let them run a little free

they really liked the geese

a long walk to the waterfall was totally worth it!

I would love to have this in my backyard

we stopped for a little snack by the pond

bff’s

they were playing monsters.. rrrrrr

they kept knocking but no one was home.. the Queen Anne cottage is so beautiful

we had to stop and check out the huts

We even got to see Santa riding on the tram! It was a great day and the girls cracked up because Santa really is watching all year =)

A great day with great friends!

Family Voting..

We voted last night, hope you did too! Heather was very excited to vote with us.. she was able to put our ballots in the counting machine and they even gave her a sticker! You are never to young to be part of what makes our country great! Our personal political views may be different than the majority but we did our part and voted for what WE believe in and what would be best for our family's future.

Fort Time at Grandma's

Last friday was family dinner at Kevin's Mom's house.. its always fun and the cousins entertain us well! This time they decided to build a fort...thankfully Grandma Diane has lots of cushions on her couch and a big fort building blanket.

Daniel and Heather had a little fun bouncing the pillows off of each other too

and then boucning on them

Katt (jessi's bf) climbed in too for some fun =) the kiddos just LOVE playing with him

the perfect fort

 

and a little game of tag.. Katt was suppose to be "it" but they had so much fun just running in circles about 20 times before they realized no one was chasing them anymore. It was pretty funny for all of us

Its really nice that we can all get together often for family dinner and since Heather and Daniel are pretty much the same age its nice they can play and grow up close together. Family time is Fun time!!