3 years ago we gladly welcomed Reagan into our family!!

She quickly stole our hearts..

And found a place amongst us all..

She keeps us smiling, and makes us laugh on a regular basis!

Happy Birthday to my Princess!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Here's a Christmas TAG!!!



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift Bags.. only because I am lazy!!!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial 2 big huge pain to put up ones!!!
3. When do you put up the tree? 1st free weekend in December!!!
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years..
5. Do you like egg nog? Love it, love it.. mix with skim milk and nutmeg!!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Purple phone and matching tape player!!!
7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband.. he has everything he wants..
8. Easiest person to buy for? The kids
9. Do you have a nativity scene?Yes.. the untouchable one, and the veggie tale version.. though there is something a bit off about a baby Jesus carrot!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail as of last night!!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? One year my brother and sister got something really fun.. and I got a sewing machine.. yipee...
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Christmas Story .. oh.. fuuudddggeee
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes Yes Yes.. sorry
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chocolates and chocolate covered things
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? WHITE only...
17. Favorite Christmas song? Mary did you know
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Seems we have been traveling the last 2 years..
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Absolutely
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Both have Angels
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? one present on Christmas Eve(pj's of course), all the rest in the morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Having to tell the hard working hubby how much I spent on everything!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love the silver and red tree we have, but I also love the tree with all the ornaments from the kids and ones we collected!
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I love the Thanksgiving feast over again.. the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry.. But I do love the non traditional way my in-law do it.. lots of favorites!!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Spend quality time with kids and hubby!!

Now I tag, beckie, naked, nobody, and April!

Check out my Slide Show!

Homemade Gingerbread

Stir a bowl of gingerbread,Smooth and spicy brown.

Roll it with a rolling pin,Up and up and down.

With a cookie cutter,Make some little men.

Put them in the oven,Till half past ten.

Okay so maybe this is a store bought kit, but the idea is the same.. yummy gingerbread.. and really its all about decorating the house with candy!!!!

Another home improvement!!! I guess when you have been in a house for a while the old starts to show.. the pool tile.. as much as I love the early 90's Aztec design, was starting to fall off.. little tiles here and there.. we figure it was time to update the pool. So here's the progress.. the start...

Now I am not saying it looked horrible.. it was fine, other than the tiles falling off.. we wanted a change and to make the spa a little more separated!! So they took off the brick coping and gone went the tile... Here's a close up in case you didn't get the picture...

So here is the end result.. we love it!

We had Oklahoma flagstone put on instead of the brick and a more neutral tile to finish the look!

Yes its December, and no we wont be heating the pool anytime soon, but the spa is heated for the winter, bring a suit and towel!!!

Melekalikimaka

is Hawaii's way To say Merry Christmas to you
Its December!!!! Nothing starts out the Christmas Holiday Spirit than a Christmas parade!!! Our brownie troop along with the other troops from our Elementary school, decorated a Hawaiian Christmas Float.. or trailer.. and participated in the local Parade. We left home at 6:45 to get our float in line and than enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast.. yum.. yum.. then we got ready and waited and waited for our turn to walk the route and pass out holiday candy!!!

We may not have won a prize but the girls had a great time walking the parade, handing out candy and enjoying the Christmas festivities!!

So much for snow angels!!

The mountains were bare, but we still had a great Thanksgiving with all the family!!

Yummy turkey, ham, pototoes, you know.. all the fixin's to enjoy!! We exchanged some late and early birthday presents.. Reagan wanted to try her new tutu and slippers on..

The main reason for our trip was for Adam and Donis Wedding!!

Congratulation to the Bride and Groom!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

The Best of Both Worlds!!

Addison's team, formally the Jellyfish, now the Blue Thunder wrapped up its great season of soccer. The girls had a blast, learned new skills, and really got into it this season. The coaches were great and we can't wait till Feb. when it all starts back up again!! Go Blue Thunder!!!

Sometimes I don't even know how to explain the things my child does. She really thinks on a whole different level then the rest of us!! As usual we put the kids to bed and hear nothing, but when we come upstairs to go to bed.. we find Reagan, who has taken the 11 pillows we have, some are decorative only, and has arranged them in some sort of fort fashion.. I don't know if she thought she could hide or disguise herself. We laughed and photographed..

When the cats away .. the mice will play.. or in this case.. Sleep!!!

Broderick is in 5th grade and our school district does a 5th grade camp. So, my boy got to experience away camp for the first time. He had a blast, he took a camera and just got back tonight so I am sure I will have some fun pictures to post from his camera. It was quiet around here without him, and it seem Reagan missed him more than we thought she would. She wanted to sleep in his bed while he was gone.. and why not!!!

On a totally different subject.. we are heading to the mountains for Thanksgiving.. and Christmas.. but first Thanksgiving. We are hoping there is snow, we want to ski.. the girls really want snow. They tried on their new snow gear and started practicing snow angels!!!!

Clay receiving his award in California!

In addition to this award, Clay was just promoted as President and CEO of Metromedia Restaurant Group!!

Metromedia Restaurant Group CCO Clay D()ver Receives Chain Leader Protégé Award

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Metromedia Restaurant Group Chief Concept Officer and Executive Vice President Clay D()ver received the annual Chain Leader Protege Award (Photo: Business Wire)
PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Metromedia Restaurant Group (MRG) announced today that Chief Concept Officer and Executive Vice President Clay D()ver received the annual Chain Leader Protégé Award. The award is part of Chain Leader magazine’s annual Execution Awards and was presented as part of the Chain Leader LIVE Conference in Newport Beach, Calif. Oct. 24-27.

The Protégé Award recognizes the nation’s best up-and-comer in the industry under age 40 who has shown measurable achievement, strong leadership and great promise.

“Clay has brought immense creativity, leadership and direction to MRG, beginning with Bennigan’s and now across all of our brands,” said Vince Runco, CEO of MRG. “He is most deserving of this award and we look forward to more great things from him in the future.”

D()ver joined Plano-based MRG as vice president of marketing for Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern in September 2005. He was promoted to chief concept officer for MRG in November 2006 and is now responsible for all strategic brand development including advertising, culinary and menu development for 700+ restaurants and over $1.6 billion in sales across all brands: Bennigan’s, Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses and Steak and Ale.

Among his Bennigan’s achievements, Dover launched Project Phoenix, a national remodeling campaign that is updating the look and feel of older units in target markets across the U.S. In addition, Dover has ushered in a huge rejuvenation for MRG launching new concepts 29 Degree Tavern and Bennigan’s Sport. He is now spearheading those branding efforts across the board.

The Chain Leader Execution Awards are given each year to three leaders in the chain restaurant industry, recognizing excellence in execution at different career stages: Legend, Chain Leadership and Protégé. Additional 2007 recipients include Julia Stewart, chairman and CEO of IHOP, for the Chain Leadership Award; and Truett Cathy, founder and chairman of Chick-fil-A, for the Legend Award.

“Chain Leader’s Execution Awards celebrate leaders who have made a difference in the industry,” said Chain Leader Editor-in-Chief Mary Boltz Chapman. “What makes these awards unique is that other restaurant-company leaders play a part in selecting the winners.”

About Metromedia Restaurant Group

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Metromedia Restaurant Group (MRG) is one of the world’s leading multi-concept table-service restaurant groups with more than 800 restaurants in 16 countries. MRG manages two divisions, Metromedia Casual Dining, which oversees Bennigan’s Grill and Tavern, Steak and Ale and The Tavern concepts; and Metromedia Family Steakhouses, which oversees Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses. Additional information is available at http://www.metrogroup.com/.

I didn't write it.. I just report it!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

What a busy weeks its been with Halloween right in the middle!! On Monday night we carved our pumpkins.. the boys did one, and the girls did the other. We had a great time cleaning them out and coming up with creative ideas this year!!!

We got the house ready for trick or treating..

We got our first round of candy at the Trunk or Treat!!! Yes.. Clay and I like to dress up too!! I have a prize to the first person who can correctly guess Who I am.. no cheating (if I already told you.. )!!

The kids had a great time trick or treating with their friends!!! At church and at home!!!

Boy scouts is just not enough for this family. I enjoy being a troop leader for Addison's Brownie troop. This weekend we got to experience our first weekend of Girl Scout Camp. We roughed it all right, with our heated cabin and meals all prepared for us!! We made candles, sun catchers, rock climbed, archery, paddled our own canoe, preformed a skit, made a dutch oven dump cake. It was great, 8 girls and 7 moms, for two nights 3 days , we had a blast!!!

Rain Gutter Regatta

Last week, Clay and Broderick worked on his boat for the boyscout annual Rain gutter Regatta. They sanded, painted, and decorated a Harley Davidson Style boat. He blew and blew his way to 2nd place!! He was pretty excited about that. Did I mention it was crazy hair day at school that day.. (the white mohawk)Way to go Broderick!!!