Two thumbs up!

I hope this post finds everyone

enjoying their holiday break.

I hope that everyone enjoyed Christmas day with

friends & loved ones too.

Did 'Santa' bring everything you wished for?

Did you stop to think about the true meaning of Christmas?

My son Carsen, amidst all of the unwrapping of gift's

said (with a gasp), "Today is baby Jesus' birthday!!"

Made me so proud that my 8 year old son was thinking

of something more....something bigger than himself.

Last evening got quiet real quick in our home.

Ben took the 3 little ones with him to spend this week with them

Christy and her boy's had to head home.

Suddenly the house became too quiet.

Lunden & I decided to hit up a movie.

We went to see...

'New Year's Eve'

It is such a WONDERFUL movie.

You can't really go wrong with a Gary Marshall movie, right?

I give it two thumbs up and highly recommend it to everyone.

Until next time....

"Before we pop the champagne and celebrate the New Year, let's stop and reflect on the year that has gone by. To remember both our triumphs and our missteps, our promises made and broken. The times we opened ourselves up to great adventures or closed ourselves down for fear of getting hurt because that is what New Years is all about- getting another chance.

A chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more.

 And stop worrying about what if and start embracing what would be.

So when that ball drops at midnight and it will drop, let's remember to be nice to each other,

 kind to each other. And not just tonight but all year long"

-- 'New Years Eve'

Christmas festivities

Hi!

Happy Christmas eve!

Is it seriously Christmas eve already? Sheesh.

We are in the midst of wrapping and

 waiting for my sister and her boy's to come up for the night.

Oh!And we need to decorate cookies for Santa!

Lot's 'O fun!!

So, the week leading up to Christmas is always a blast around here.

Lunden's birthday, traditional birthday trip to Disneyland, shopping, baking,etc.

I have way too many photos to still go through and edit and not enough time to do it.

So, for now,  I am posting (picture wise) some random photos of the past few days.

 I will post more photos soon!

We picked up Grandpa at the airport.

 He flew in to town for Christmas!

 Yay!

My babies

We always make a trek to Bass Pro shop for their

Winter Wonderland activities!

Hunter and Logan

Logan checkin' out the 4-wheeler's.

He totally fits the part.

Such a stud.

DISNEYLAND

We stood in line to see Alice

and Emersyn became the center of attention.

The White Rabbit as well as the Mad Hatter

both came over to show the love to Emmy.

So special!!!

 

Lunden

Lunden & Brennen always get to pick out

a birthday hat at D-land. It's tradition!!

This is the one she picked.

 

Emmy sat with Grama and got popcorn

while we went on the Matterhorn

BUT...they came and found us in line and shared.

:)

 

Lunden and Steve

Matterhorn

Lunden Hunter and Steve ( Lundens BF)

They got their tea cup spinning FAST!

My Girls in New Orleans square

Lunch at our fave

Mexican place next to Thunder Mountain

Ok, I'm still adding photos so keep checkin' back!

Until next time....

"Tomorrow is Christmas! It's practically here!!"

 

17

... the # of years I have been blessed to be in these TWO amazing kid's lives!

 

Have a FABULOUS birthday!

I love you so much!

(Brennen, we MISS your face!!)

XOXO

BLOW OUT THE CANDLES ON THE CAKE

AND MAKE A WISH!!

The icing on the cake

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Like my fish face?

Yeah, it was completely taken by accident but I was kinda diggin' it so..there ya go!

Is everyone having a cool yule so far?

I'm tellin' ya, I LOVE Monday's!!!

Most people hate Monday's,. It's the start of another week...

You have to wait a whole 5 day's until the weekend begins....

And there's even a song sung by The Bangle's about a  'Manic Monday'. 

The reason I love Monday's ?

 I get to spend the whole day doing something..

anything... with my two girl's.

 Lunden doesn't have school on Monday's so we decide what we will do

and we go do it. Sometimes we take a little road-trip, sometimes its just to check out a new mall, we've even gone to Downtown Disney. Regardless we ALWAYS have lunch together.

{Victoria Gardens}

Today, we chose to do a little Christmas/birthday shopping

and we went to Lucille's BBQ for lunch.

It was pouring rain. Do you think between the three of us we had an umbrella?

Nope!

Lunden loves drinking out of a mason jar. So do I!

It kinda reminds us of South Carolina.

Diet coke. Mmm! Lunden always teases me at how slow I drink.

My Lunden {and her twin brother Brennen} turn 17 next week.

Where does the time go?  It all goes by so fast!

One minute she was Emersyn's age. The next...a young,sweet and gorgous young woman.

 I wish Brennen were here enjoying this time with us.

 Still...

 We giggle, we talk, we eat, we take silly pictures...

we just enjoy the time together!

Emersyn always makes thing's interesting.

Yesterday, she told me I was on the naughty list for being silly.

She does and say's the silliest thing's.

My girl's. This is what it's all about.

They are so cute together.

Lunden enjoyed fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

Her veggies were quite delicious. I stole a few.

 I love their Pulled pork sandwich. SO yummy!

Emersyn found a funky french fry

Ok, so now for the ....

ICING ON THE CAKE!

The 1st snow fall of the year!!!

We've been expecting a "winter storm" to roll in today/tonight.

We've been crossing our fingers and hoping that the snow level would actually drop

to OUR level which is roughly 3000 ft.

 As we were driving down to our destination,the Cajon pass {Elevation 4000+}

was already foggy & rainy.

 We kept our finger's crossed in hopes that old man winter

 would actually make an appearance in Southern California.

And HE DID! 

As we were driving back up "  the hill" .... 

Little by little the pouring rain turned to big fluffy snowflakes!

Lunden & I  were giggling with delight. Just in awe of the white stuff.

After all, we haven't seen it since last January!

Lunden was snapping photos from the car

and we cranked up the Christmas music a little bit louder.

Once we reached the top of the pass I told Lunden that we

 HAD to take the first exit so we could stop and enjoy the falling snow. 

And of course...take pictures! It was the perfect photo op!

If you know me, I am always snapping pictures of the kid's

and anything we are doing. It's important to me and always has been.

Emersyn had been asleep so we woke her up. We wanted her to see the snow!

We parked the car at an abandoned gas station off of Oak Summit exit

 and we let the snow fall down all around us.

Lunden even got a taste.

It reminded me of the 'Charlie Brown Christmas' special.

where the characters/ kid's are all outside catching snowflakes on their tongues 

and  Lucy say's, " I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January!"

Well, we will be eating December snowflakes because we might not see them in January!

It was a VERY good day and we hope to see more snow tomorrow morning.

We'll see!

Until next time...

"I wanna wash my hands, my face and hair with snow"

- White Christmas

All is Merry & Bright

Happy December 10th!

Are you finding yourself singing the song

"We need a little Christmas {RIGHT this very minute!}"?

Well, I have just the rememdy and you will be in a

Christmas-y mood in no time flat.

The Christmas season holds a special kind of excitement and anticipation.It's spending time with family and close friends. and  often, these Christmastime traditions are associated with cold weather and the fluffy white flakes that people experience in the North.
In Southern California, where the ground stays green, we find ways other than enjoying snow to make the Christmas experience something altogether memorable.

 In my little part of the world there is an area that has become pretty famous for a few blocks that go all out with their Christmas decorations. It's in Alta Loma on Thoroughbred Street where decorating houses has become a tradition in this neighborhood and it draws people together to experience the festive spirit of Christmas, all without the white stuff.

Turning onto Thoroughbred Street  any time between early December and Christmas is big pain in the derierre BUT sooooo worth it!
It has slowly evolved into an experience that is like stepping into a different world where Christmas spirit hangs in the air and where houses that line the street are carefully covered in shimmering lights and shiny bells, and where Christmas music plays around it all. The whole scene exudes the festive excitement of the holidays! 

The story of the Thoroughbred Street neighborhood {at Christmas}...

Since 1986, decorating houses has become more and more of a Christmas tradition on Thoroughbred Street and now, nearly every house is completely covered in lights and decorations.

The tradition of decorating homes on Thoroughbred began as a competition between two neighbors to see who could put up the most lights, and slowly, over the years, the competition brought more lights that started to cover not only the front trees, but the entire house, all of the other trees, and sometimes even the grass. Soon more and more people in the neighborhood were becoming involved and those who didn’t decorate started to find signs in their front yards that said “scrooge.” Now, while it is not mandatory, and while it is not a competition of any sort, nearly every house in the neighborhood is elaborately arrayed with Christmas lights, Santa Clause figures, nutcrackers, elves, angels, wise men, snowmen and gingerbread men all which line the homes and streets for our viewing pleasure!

As it gets closer to Christmas, Thoroughbred Street becomes progressively swamped with cheerful viewers.  Police have come on especially busy nights (and there were a couple cute ones checkin me out last night-haha) to direct traffic and to keep people moving through.
 It was estimated that last year 15,000 people went through the street in a single night, and that it took cars an average of 4-5 hours to drive a car through the neighborhood!

Over the past 10 years we have made this a tradition for our family and  we have seen the growth in numbers and the length of time it takes to drive thru the neighborhood. Last night it took us two hours! We started at 9:30 and didn't finish until 11:30. The three little ones fell asleep before we even got started. Aw.

Now, not only do you have the viewing pleasure of twinkling lights but your tastebuds can be tempted with many sweet treats while you walk or drive through the neighborhood. In their drive-ways,the neighbors have begun selling hot chocolate, churros, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. This year we even saw cupcakes, bbq and carmel apples. Oh! The commercial-ism!! Even NBC Los Angeles was in the 'hood last night.
 Most drive-way's also have the glow of portable fire-pits keeping home owners warm and cozy while people watching.

Needless to say, your senses will be tickled in every way and we make it a tradition every year. And we definitely go more than once!

So for those who will be in California during Christmas and might be having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit without snow, going to see the lights on Thoroughbred Street { Or one like it in your neck of the woods} might be exactly what you need. You won't be disapointed!

Enjoy the photos!!

Until next time.....

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful"

April's *+*+ FAVORITE THING'S+*+*

Hello! Hello!

Or maybe I should say, Ho! Ho! Ho! Right now?

I got the idea for my blog today from an annual Oprah event.

You know the one? The famous holiday show where she shares all of her

"favorite thing's" and then gives them to everyone in the audience?!

I love to give. I love to put a lot of thought into what I purchase someone. 

I pay attention to what they say they like or wish they had. I am of the mindset

it is always better to give someone what they want or ask for instead of randomly

picking something out they might not use or like or possibly re-gift to someone else!!

It's the thought that count's BUT if you put absolute zero thought into

what you are giving someone, why bother?! 

I love to give gifts that pamper and indulge—and make a person feel really special

So, below are a bunch of 

 April's "favorite thing's"

XOXO

iPhone

{This is an obvious one. The iphone has the funnest gadgets and covers too}

 PINK perfume by Victoria's Secret

{My favorite perfume!}

 SONOS wireless sounds system/player

 {The coolest new *portable* stereo system for the home/office}

American Eagle  

{I buy MOST of my clothes from this store. Great jeans!}

iPad

 {This is just an awsome gadget. Computer and itouch in one. Considering I dont have a computer...}

Hollister

{Another place for great clothes}

UGG's

{The only boots I truly wear everyday. Like slippers, I tell ya}

Nirve bicycles

{ I seriously want a cute beach bike w/basket from this company}

 Victoria's Secret make-up

{Love their make-up. Flirty and sexy fun}

FOSSIL

{They just seriously have some CUTE purses right now! Love this one.}

 Gym membership

{I seriously love being in the gym. Working out is a must}

Cookies by design

{I give these sweet baskets to close friends and family all the time. THE BEST cookies!!!}

Victoria's Secret gift card

{ Do I really need to explain?}

Favorite salon gift cards

 {This is the salon I go to for my hair. In Los Angeles. It's always nice to get gift cards for the salon}

Pottery Barn

 { I would decorate my entire home from this store if I could}

Jewelry- Hello Kitty- Bling

 { I am a girly girl. Hello Kitty is adorable and still "in". I have always loved this silouhette necklace}

V.S. Pink fuzzy hoodie

{On the V.S.2011 fashion show runway. So soft, warm and cozy!!}

Bath and Body works candles

{I always have one or three burning in the house. They smell scrumptious!}

Until next time.....

"A joy that is shared is a joy made double"