Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We did! We went to Northern California - Auburn actually. We spent it with my in-laws, everyone was there. Aiden just loved playing with Colton and Skiddie (Sydney) and they loved playing with him. It was a great time. We went up on Monday and went wine tasting on Tuesday, it was a great time. We bought lots of wine, some to age and some to enjoy now. We've filled our wine fridge again, or close to it.

Wednesday and Thursday we stayed in and hung out. Thursday morning I let the kids sleep in until 8:00 am, it was amazing they did. They first opened gifts from Santa and then it got crazy with all the gift exchanging that went on. We are all thankful for all the wonderful gifts! My mother-in-law made a wonderful prime rib dinner and then we followed it up with delicious homemade lemon cheesecake and a variety of cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory paired with a wonderful port. It was the perfect ending!

Sydney and Uncle Justin

Skiddie and Aiden hanging out

Colton and Aiden best buddies

Colton, Skiddie and Aiden

Group picture (L-R) Colton, Justin, Amy, Aiden, Dawnell, Sydney, Dan, Me and Eric...

Group picture... the grandparents and the grandkids...

We had a great time and a wonderful and joyful Christmas!

An Early Christmas

On Saturday, December 20th we celebrated Christmas with my family. Santa even came early, he brought the kids new bikes and a new Wii game. He also comes and makes his deliveries on Christmas Eve too!

My parents; my 2 brothers and their girlfriends; and my sister and brother-in-law also came up with my beautiful niece. Her first early Christmas. We had a small Christmas dinner and then we finally opened gifts. Everyone enjoyed their gifts and were very happy with them all. Colton and Sydney were very excited and thankful for them all, as are we. But more than anything, we are happy that we were able to celebrate and share Christmas with everyone.

Thank you for sharing Christmas with us, it is one more wonderful memory!

It Snowed All Day!

It snowed all day long, we have so much snow. I think in some places we have a foot of snow. Our trees are bent over touching the ground with so much snow. It is such a beautiful sight! The kids were playing all day long in the snow. I had the fireplace on all day to warm our bodies and drinking hot cocoa.

The snow just kept coming!

One of our many quail friends came out.

My Angels making snow angels.

In the snow with friends.

Snowball fight!



Here the kids are ending the day making s'mores in the fireplace.

What a fun and terrific day!

Snow!

It finally snowed! We have been waiting and waiting for the snow to finally arrive and it did about 5:00 am. I got the kids up at 8:00 am and we have been in and out all morning. I have the fireplace going to keep our toeies warm. It is such a fun day for the kids.

The kids are having so much fun...lets see how long this lasts for...

Holiday Wine Tasting

Last night we hosted a holiday wine tasting party. We chose to taste wines from around the world. Everyone brought a different type of wine from different parts of the world. We tasted 7 different types of wine. It was definitely different than our usual wine tasting parties.

Dan & I enjoying some wine...

Keith & Hollie having some fun...

Steve & Tami enjoying a some wine...

Shan & Stephanie enjoying themselves...

The girls...

And the guys....

So what were our conclusions you wonder, well.... No one liked the South African - Goats do Roam wine, it left almost a smokey aftertaste in your mouth. The Zenaida Cellars (Paso Robles, CA) - '06 Cabernet, The Las Rocas (Spain) - '05 Garnacha; & The Reignac (France) - '02 Bordeaux were the top winners.

It was a lot of fun, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the wine!

A Birthday Lunch

Today we celebrated my friend Elaine's birthday. We started this tradition a couple of years ago and always look forward to it. No matter how busy our lives get, we always make time to celebrate. We went to Claim Jumper for lunch and spent 2 1/2 hours there. I'm sure the waitress couldn't wait for us leave. That's alright we enjoyed ourselves and that's all that matters.

Birthday Girl!

The Girls....Nancy, Me, Elaine and Hollie

I feel very blessed to have the friends that I do. I'm looking forward to the next birthday - Hollie!

Christmas Parties

This past Wednesday was Colton & Sydney's last day of school before winter break. They are off for 3 1/2 weeks, a little shorter than normal. They go back January 5th. The kids had a day full of fun and good cheer. Sydney's class did a gift exchange and Colton's did an ornament exchange. The kids had a great time!

Here is Sydney looking so darn cute!

Sydney with Miss Hulsey...

Mister Handsome...

Colton with Mrs. Hansen...

What in the world are we going to do now for 3 weeks? We are going to do nothing but have FUN!

Christmas Decorating

Have you started decorating yet? Are you finished? I started mine last weekend I just have a couple of finishing touches to do. The kids and I decorated the tree last Monday when they were off from school. I can't believe it's already that time of year again. I love this time of year...all the decorations, the Christmas movies and carols. I have Christmas music playing all the time. It's all that joyful holiday spirit that I love!

Here are the kids decorating the tree.

Colton's Trophy Ceremony

On Monday, Colton had his trophy ceremony for soccer. He was very excited to get his trophy. This was his first year playing and he had an awesome season! He mainly played forward and almost scored some goals throughout the season. We are very proud of him! He wants to play again next year and we can't wait!

Our 11th Anniversary

Last Saturday was our 11th anniversary. Wow 11 years. We have shared a wonderful life and experienced many changes throughout the years. We have two beautiful children to share our life with. Dan is a wonderful man with a big heart. He is always making sure his family is well taken care of. I really couldn't ask for much more (except to win the lottery). I look forward to our future!

Thanksgiving Update

I know I'm a few days late in posting about Thanksgiving, but I had too. We went to my mom's house for Thanksgiving. The food was delicious, we couldn't get enough! Thanks Mom! We all had a lot to be thankful for, but this year I did something a little different, I had the kids make a "Thankful" book. From time to time (it was hard everyday to do this) the kids would take a picture of something they were thankful for and then write a sentence or two about it. Here are some of their thoughts. Sydney wrote I am thankful for...my mouth, so I can talk; ...my eyes, so I can see; nature, it makes outside pretty. Colton wrote I am thankful for...my legs, so I can run; books, so I can use my imagination and learn new things; my house, because it protects me and gives me a place to sleep. We are also very thankful for the usual...family, friends, our health, and the food on the table, but we are also very thankful for the new addition to our family, baby Isabella!

We are thankful for Dad, Mom, Dan, Colton, Me, Frank, Sydney, Nate, Isabella, Gia, Keri, Cory and Steven. We are also thankful for the family that couldn't be with us, but are in our hearts.

Sydney is measuring up the turkey, lets see who's bigger...

Cotlon, Sydney and Isabella.

Anyone for Golf

On Monday Dan and Colton went golfing here at Cascades Golf Course. They went with some friends, Shawn and Riley. They had a great time. This was Colton's first time playing golf. The dads were a little rusty. Colton tried not to laugh at dad as his golf balls went flying everywhere. It was a super "guys" day out.