We had a great visit with the man in red again this year :) 

at first Heather didnt want to take the picture so we had to scope him out from upstairs then.. it was ON!! she was so excited to go see him!! and we got lucky to because no one was in line =) 

Heather ran right up, jumped on his lap and they chatted for a few minutes

Heather asked if her friends made the good list, asked if they could have what they wanted too and then told him what she would really really really like =) 

what a treat to hang out with Santa!!! 

2012 was a good year for Santa too.. she was really into seeing him

It wasnt always like that though...

there isnt a picture w/ Santa for 2011.. we just said Hi, smiled and went on =) 

2010 = classic!

yes, there must always be that one picture.. priceless!!! the funny thing is that her shirt says I believe in Santa.. I guess that's only from a distance LOL 

2009 she had her pic w/ Santa and pretty much was in different to the man in red I dont have that picture handy but here is our little family for our first Christmas :) 

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!! 

My obsessions ...

I have to admit Im totally obsessed with taking pics of my daughter, our pup and the sky.. I just cant help myself! They make me smile and I just want to capture every minute of it since they all change so much so quickly!

my pup is very serious about her log! 

girl on a mission.. she found the perfect shovel for finding treasure!

Im in love with sunsets! 

just amazing

pure happiness!! she loves her plasma car! 

the neighbors were trimming their tree so the pup got a stick (a HUGE one) and the kiddos played soccer .. I cherish the moments when you and just look at your loves having fun with out a care in the world! life is good! 

super crazy the past few weekends between heading to Havasu to see our friends from Germany, Dad visiting and all the fun! As long as fun is in the mix we are happy =) life is good when you can enjoy w/ friends and family

my photog friend was teaching me how to use some features on my camera.. I've been having some fun learning :) 

my pup just loves her logs! balls dont last so she likes her ropes and logs.. good exercise too for her 

I laugh when my mother in law says she's fat.. really? where?? she's playing with birdies.. she just wants to play but for some reason they fly away...

taking care of her thirsty pup..

ready for a road trip

we love AZ! 

and Cali too! =) 

when Kev was a wee little tot he wore this vest from his Dad's trucking co... its now Heather's and she is so excited to wear Daddy's vest (even if its a bit big, but she'll enjoy it just as much as he did) 

love, laughter and a great life..

Happy Halloween

Heather wanted to be Hot Lava Girl this year for Halloween! 

she was not going to change her mind and thankfully she gave me enough notice so I could make her costume... because if you didnt know Hot Lava Girl costumes are not available in stores.. anywhere!!! My creative juices and some research via google.. I was able to create a personalized and unique hot lava girl costume for my little adventurer. (Hot Lava Girl is from the movie.. adventures of shark boy and lava girl) Heather used her lava powers to melt the hearts of the candy givers and got some extra m&m's :) 

Halloween morning they have a trick or treat stroll through the village and Heather even wore her pink wig....

which surprised me because the night before she decided she didnt want to wear the wig so I had to do the last minute store run and get some lava colored gel... its actually really cool stuff and easy to apply and is washable! No pink hands for days or pink smears :) 

2 of our little pumpkins :) 

we are ready for some serious trick or treating now

thankfully there were plenty of treats and no one had to be tricked with hot lava powers 

Halloween is so much fun to dress up and be silly and even some of the scarier houses we visited didnt seem to phase our little adventurer 

gentlemen..start your engines....

What a great weekend for racing! this was our first time going to the Lake Elsinore track and its a great venue, we all had  a blast! 

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this was Heather's favorite.. pink, purple and goes fast

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Barbie can keep her dream house.. this is Heather's (mine too LOL) 

our proud American girl!  

they were getting crazy air 

the Tonka truck caught on fire .. the driver was out quickly and safe

coming in towards the finish line

Casey was doing great

real life Tonka truck =) 

The tonka pit was great.. they set up a place for the kiddos to play in the dirt w/ all the tonkas! Heather even got one of her very own and signed by the Tonka driver.

Carl looking good in pink to support breast cancer awarness. 

Santa in the off time.. even he loves racing! 

Carl getting some air

eek!! crazy girl gone wild.. watch out ... 

We had such a great time and it was really nice that Kevin's company invited us out. The Curries are a very family oriented business and team, its really nice to be part of such a group. Its a bit different than the desert racing we are use to but its still a lot of fun!! 

Weather and racing were great.. an amazing weekend! 

Smokey the Bear says...

Only you can prevent forest fires Smokey the Bear says and thankfully we have amazing firefighters that can put out the fires once they start! 2 fires in 2 months! yikes! thankfully not so close to use that we were in danger, but close enough that we could see flames and watch the crews in action. 

Wed night the crews worked hard to put out the flames on the hiking trail behind our homes. They caught the person that may have started it also 

it took about 6 water drops to get the flames under control

the helicopters were on watch for hot spots too and they make an alarm sound so that the fire crews know that water is about to be dropped. 

it was amazing to watch them in action. 

once it was over, it was time for some mud cooking time .. YUMMY!

this is from a month ago.. and again.. thanks to the quick response of the crews the fire was under control in no time

with the commotion of the fire we looked over and saw beauty.. two gorgeous monarchs fluttering around 

it amazes me how much water the planes can drop

crazy how close they come in ...

With the fires near us and in Azusa and our neighbors truck catching on fire (no one was hurt) Heather got to see the fire fighters in action a lot over the past 2 months. Of course there were lots of questions about what causes fires and what to do in case of a fire from our little curious one.. we were able to explain a lot and use what she saw to help teach to remain calm, listen to the fire fighters and how to be careful not to start a fire and not get close to the fire. My neighbor and I decided to bake some cookies and treats for our local station so the girls could say thank you and ask some more questions. The fire fighters were amazing and let the girls check out the truck, try on the hats and gave them some goodies about fire safety. They were very excited! I did have to tell Heather she couldnt start it since the keys were in the ignition.. the fire fighter thought I was kidding.. little does he know LOL 

We are very thankful to our emergency crews and all the hard work they do to keep us safe!