Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year from our family to yours!



Sorry to everyone who didn't get a Christmas / New Years card from us. I wasn't able to get as many of them out this year. Please know that we are so grateful for all the love and support that we receive from you.
May God continue to bless you in 2011 ~ xoxo

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas Eve - 2010

JACK, BENJAMIN & ANNABELLE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

So does their Mom and Dad!

Sweet dreams family and friends.
We hope your holiday was filled with many wonderful moments.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Baking with the boys

Okay, who am I trying to kid. I didn't "bake" the cookies, we just decorated them. We sure had fun though.

Jack - takes his time and is always so proud of his final product

Benjamin - plops it on and goes straight to eating part

"First Friday" Fun - Christmas Edition

The family (minus me - boo) in front of the Christmas tree on Atlantic Ave. here in Long Beach.

We were all bundled up. You know those chilly California nights (he he)

Such cuteness!

If I can be real honest for a moment - I want to put it out there that the ONLY Christmas gift I want this year is for my boys to be like this picture above - kind and loving to one another. Sadly, there has been WAY too much sibling rivalry dampening my Christmas cheer and saddening my heart lately.

We weren't expecting to run into Santa but were sure happy to snap a cute (and free) picture with him. Annabelle was quite intrigued with him. By the time we got her to look at us, the boys were pretty much over the whole smiling thing. Oh well, what can you do.

We ended our night with a Jamba Juice and our usual ride on the BIG RED BUS!!

Another fun family night. I sure cherish these super great times.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas Parade at Disneyland

Although the parade really wasn't that great it was SUPER GREAT to see the kids eyes light up as the parade went by. This was our first time going to Disneyland during the Christmas season. The park is beautifully decorated and the big pumpkin that was there just weeks before has been replaced with a really big Christmas tree.

Annabelle LOVED everything about the parade - the music and the dancing seemed to be her favorite. It was great to see her smile and waive back at all the characters.

We also got in a few rides before heading home

It was another fun family day at Disneyland!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Fabulous FALL

For those of you that have been following our family for a while know that after last year's disappointing visit to the pumpkin patch (which you can read about HERE) I was really looking for something new to do with the family during the Fall Season.

Well, I am happy to report that we did it! On Saturday, October 9th we packed up the car and headed to the city of Oak Glen which is about an hour and a half away to do some apple and pumpkin picking. It was GREAT! We had such a wonderful fun-filled day and I am excited to finally share the pictures. We took SO many pictures it has taken me forever to sort through them. SO here they, are thanks for stopping by.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING my friends!!




Yep, I put her in a basket. I thought it would be cute. I guess the jury is still out on that one but they did actually have fun filling her basket with apples. Honestly, she really didn't mind!

Check out this city boy's reaction after finding some corn.

Sure do love this sweet boy!

This was our attempt at getting all 3 kids to smile and look in the same direction - yikes, that was difficult!

Such love between them. I am so glad to have captured it on camera

It quickly just became a pumpkin free for all after that!


Getting a little crazy with the pumpkins

So many fun new things to see and explore


After picking all the apples and pumpkins we could carry we had a little picnic of fresh apple pie and cider. It was a great way to finish out the Oak Glen experience.

Of course no one was ready to do the 1 1/2 hour drive back home so we decided to have some more fun. Just around the way was an old school house and a fun little park. The kids ALL had a lot of fun and even made some friends to play with.


Annabelle was a bit tentative at first, but then started to really enjoy herself on the playground equipment

She also had a lot of fun standing and walking around the playground

After playing in the park we walked over to the firehouse where the auxiliary ladies (love that small town feel) were having a bake sale. The fire chief was so very kind to the kids and they all had a blast sitting in and on the truck. Benjamin went so far as to try and start the truck - crazy kid. Thankfully, the keys were hidden.





We ended our night getting a little Mexican food at a restaurant. For those that really know me know that it a major treat for my family. We were all pretty wiped out but all agreed it was a great night.

Oh and for the record, on the drive home Jack asked if we could still go to the pumpkin patch with the rides and bounce house - ugh!!! I guess that should have been expected.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Yes, the month is over

but that isn't stopping these two cuties from spreading the word.



My heart was so happy on Tuesday because they both proudly wore their new shirts (without being asked) just 24 hours after they arrived in the mail. This is one very proud Daddy and a Big Brother who is so in love with his baby sister.

I want to add that my Dad, aka Papa wore his shirt the same day but I didn't get his picture and Jack was at school and didn't get the opportunity to wear it because he had to wear his uniform. The shirt is in his drawer and I will gladly take his picture when he chooses to wear it.

For us, spreading awareness about Spina Bifida will not just be in October, it will be forever!


Saturday, October 30, 2010

More fun in the sun



So it seems that I am turning my family blog into an online photo album. Not so sure how I feel about that. Not sure how any of my followers feel about that. Not very exciting, but sure to make you smile a little :-) I am hopeful to get current soon but for now I am just enjoying the reminders of these special days past.

These pictures were from a super fun afternoon at Mother's Beach. It was August 31st and the reality that Kindergarten was about to start was really hitting me. I knew our days/schedule was going to be changing so I figured we should have a few care free hours at the beach - our favorite place!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Still wrapping up summer

When you have weather like we had here in CA yesterday and today (almost 80 degrees) it's hard to believe that summer is actually over. So, since I am so behind on my blogging I decided to look back at some of our end of the summer moments worth remembering.

These pictures were from an after dinner walk we took on August 22nd. It was a nice family night - definitely worth documenting.



Just a silly video of the kids


I know these are 2 month old pictures but for those of you that don't see us very often I hope you enjoyed them.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I miss blogging!

Ugh, I just can't get it together. I have lots to share, but my brain is mush by the end of the night.

I have so many cute picture of my littles - so many great memories to document.

At least I am happy to share that we are doing well. We are busy, but we are doing good.

Thanks for stopping by. Lets see what I can put together before I fall asleep sitting up :-o

Here's a short little video from a fun family visit to Disneyland (almost 2 months ago on 8-29). Branden and the boys have been going about twice a month but seem to rarely take pictures. This video is nothing special, but I liked it. This was the first time I didn't nurse Annabelle on It's A Small World so she was really able to take it all in - she loved it. I also love watching how the boys interact with her. They love her SO much and they love making her smile. What a blessing that is.



Here are the rest of the pictures from the day - it really was a great day!


I guess I could be sad that I don't document our great days as quickly as I would like or I can just accept it and be happy we are having GREAT days!!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Guess who's coming tonight

The TOOTH FAIRY!!

Yep! Our Jack lost his first tooth tonight.

He's been wiggling it, playing with it and talking about it since Sunday afternoon and now it's finally under his pillow.

We weren't prepared with one of those cute tooth fairy pillows (which my mom actually makes) so we improvised with a hand written envelope to keep it in.

If you couldn't tell, he is VERY excited about this big milestone.

Branden and I are pretty excited as well