We so love DisneyLand. My birthday came and I could not imagine a better way to spend it than going to DisneyLand with my kids and our friends! I got a gift card from Disney in the amount of a one day admission which I easily spent on two new watches (one TinkerBell and one Mickey) and a new coffee travel mug! I also got each of the kids a little something. ;)

Miss my friend!

This is my friend Cassandra who moved FAR away and so I never get to see her anymore. She came into town in October and we met up for dinner one night. I miss her! I really wish all my friends would stop moving away!

Way past due

I know I am way past due for a blog but things have been so busy lately! I will blog again once I can access my pics... my laptop is not doing so hot and Brian's moved all of them to an external hard drive... I just don't know how to access it!
I will be back!

Per Tanyetta's Request...

Here is an update on my blog!!! It has been far too long (about 6 weeks!) and mostly I have Facebook to blame. It's just so easy to quickly post on there.

At the end of October our search for a new 4 legged friend finally came to an end when we found Jezebel (Brian's pick) at a local shelter. She's a (almost) 2-year-old German Shepherd/Sharpei mix and she is seriously the BEST dog for our family! She's great with the kids, loves to run with Brian and so well-behaved. We love her!

My mom, stepdad, and stepbrother came out to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a great time together and dinner turned out pretty much perfect!

We took the two dogs to the dog beach (they brought their lab, Lilly with them). The dogs had a blast! It was really fun to watch them frolic and play in the water.

We went to Ruby's Diner at the end of the Oceanside Pier one night for dinner. Seriously, good 50's style food!

Mom and I also got in plenty of girly fun together, which is my favorite part. We went and saw "New Moon" and had a great time shopping on Black Friday - in the evening of course!

We also finally conformed to our practical sides and traded in our Jeep Wrangler for a minivan. Yup, I said it. I never EVER thought I would but I now drive in a fashionable Town & Country. I actually do really love it. It's extremely convenient and very comfortable.

Halloween 2009

We had a great Halloween! My friend from Utah, Nicole was in town on vacation and brought her two girls over to go Trick or Treating with us. Our kids get along so well! When Gabe woke up the next morning, he came into our bedroom and asked where the girls went. He told me that he wanted them to sleep over and stay to play with him.

Sierra looks for the good candy while Ashlyn holds the bowl.

Ready to go!

Gabe dressed as a Dragon

Ashlyn was a High School Musical cheerleader

This is Gabe's signature pose.

The kids got lots of candy (that they aren't even very interested in eating!) and had a great time TOTing. Our neighbors across the street made a fantastic spook ally in their garage and Gabe went through it twice! When the costumed kids jumped out at him, he laughed every time. Ashlyn thought it was scary, but fun and Nicole's girls were a little scared. I carried Sierra through so she and I are now bonded! ;) Somehow my camera missed Madi, but she was here too, in her TinkerBell costume. Sierra was dressed as Silvermist.

Lavender Hill Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to Lavender Hill Pumpkin Patch this past weekend to pick out our pumpkins for Halloween. The patch is a local, small organic farm and we had gone there last year. The kids picked 4 pumpkins and then also recieved tiny pumpkins as a gift from the farm. When you buy your pumpkins, they give them names. I'm trying to remember the names ours got... one was "Prize Winner" and another was "Orange Smoothie". I think it's funny that they name all of their pumpkins. The big ones had pretty funny names.

New Living Room Floors

Just about 2 weeks ago, while Brian's parents were visiting, we put new flooring in the living room. With the help of Brian's dad, brother Dan, and BIL Dan (yes, there are two) it was done in less than a day from start to finish! This is the same flooring we put in the dining room about 6 months ago. It feels so nice to cross another room off the "To Do" list!

This is the living room before we moved in.

It was actually designed as a formal living/dining room

but as we have no use for either, we decided to make it our

main living/family room. The chandelier in this pic

was replace with a ceiling fan/light.

Our living room now. I have two more pieces of furniture

coming. One is a console/sofa table that will go

under the window to the right and we'll use it as a sort of

charging station for phones, etc. The other is an

end table to go under the clock. Both are white.

One day, we'd like to add a piano.

Here's another view of the room.

The front door is there on the left.

The fixture on the couch is Ashlyn. ;)