We are grateful...

Since we had no family around this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with, we decided to take off to Orange County for a week of some fun in the sun!! And boy did we ever find some!!

We walked along Huntington Beach Pier and watched all the surfers catch some waves. The girls enjoyed peeking in to all the buckets of the fisherman along the pier and seeing different kinds of fish and starfish and a guy even caught a sting ray right in front of us! The girls thought it was pretty cool!

Since neither Mark nor I were really in the mood for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, (and we would rather be out having a great time than slaving over a hot stove all day!) we decided to stop by Duke's (one of our fav restaurants in Hawaii) and have some yummy dinner--and it couldn't be TG dinner without HULA PIE!!!!

We took a ferry over to Balboa Island, which the girls thought was great. "Our car is going on a boat?!" Ellie couldn't believe it.

We also drove around and sight saw and then got out and walked around Corona del Mar and oohed and ahhed over some really nice houses over there.

Unfortunately, our little enjoyment was stopped short when Maddy decided to find out what would happen if she stuck a Gobstopper up her nose.... "hehehe! that was funny dad!!"

Our BIG adventure was paying to go to the Irvine zoo only to have Maddy throw up immediately ALL over herself and her car seat!! Our first experience with this sort of thing--EVER!!

And a trip to OC is never complete without a trip to my favorite--SPRINKLES!! YUMMY!!

Besides having colds, Maddy's tummy trouble and not having family around, I would say it was a great week for our family. Mark got to go golfing with a buddy, Alicia slept in and then did a little shopping, we watched some movies, ate out, played, went to the Irvine Spectrum and rode the carousel, went to the beach again a few times more and just enjoyed being with each other. Happy Thanksgiving!

STEP ONE---WE CAN HAVE LOTS OF FUN!!!!!

At last...a childhood dream of mine can now be crossed off my list---Attend a New Kids on The Block concert!! I was a HUGE fan of these guys back in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade when we were living in Virginia. I never got to go to one of their concerts, but my girlfriends and I knew every one of their songs by heart, learned all of their dance moves, watched their videos every weekend, and dreamed someday of marrying them. (My friend Maria even named her puppy after one of the boys!). So, when I heard rumors back in March that they were reuniting, I told Mark that I thought that it would be fun to go to their concert if they came to our neck of the woods. Well...lo and behold, November 25th they came to the Cox arena and I was FINALLY able to see the NKOTB---LIVE!!! Truly a dream come true!!

They grew up quite nicely.... (Even if Danny IS still "Ape Face")

I was able to talk my good friend Victoria in to going with me since she had also been a big fan when she was younger. Later that night, we met up with two other friends who also went.

My beloved Joey doll--may he R.I.P.

So, we actually had some cheap tickets to the concert, but our other friends we met had gone all out and spent $$$ on their tickets (floor tickets and a meet and greet with all 5 guys!!), so they were able to sneak us down by them on the floor. Well, we were kicked out of the really good seats early on, but we were able to remain on the floor until the last 15 minutes of the concert when we were discovered--Whoops!! We were soooo sneaky!! :)

The concert was AMAZING!! These guys have really aged well and put on one darn entertaining concert. We didn't know any of their new stuff, but that didn't stop us from dancing the night away. The best part was that they came out and danced and sang right in the middle of the floor--only 10 feet away from us! (Not a bad view for $20 tickets eh??) Picture this: We were standing on our chairs screaming and singing as loudly as we could (me--Ms. Big and Prego!)--along with every other 20/30 year old woman there reliving their childhood. What a blast!!

Jordan was always my first love....

But Joey was not far behind....

Can you tell we were having a great time??!! I was already losing my voice going in to the concert (I had a bit of a cold, but that couldn't stop me from going!!), but by the end of the night I could barely even whisper!! On the video Victoria did, all you can hear is me screaming hoarsely in the background--pretty hilarious!!

Oh yeah--and he SOOO did this!!! And it was as cool as I remembered!!

An awesome, nostalgic night for me!!

I'll be lovin' you FOR-EV-ER!!! Now if I could just find my old tapes, buttons and videos...

Maddy's Garden Party

We threw Maddy a party at the park for her 2nd birthday with some of her friends. She had such a blast! We played bean bag toss, bowling, decorated a take-home cup, played on the swings and slide, had a safari treasure hunt complete with fun prizes, played a ring-around-the-rosies parachute game and ate cake--truly a 2 year olds dream come true!

Mark was able to take off part of the morning from work and come and celebrate

Party people

YUMMY!!

I think Ellie's favorite part of the party came later when Maddy opened up her presents! Check out all the loot!!

Thanks to everyone for making her birthday memorable.

Snips & snails & puppy dog tails OR Sugar & spice & everything nice??

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Ellie and Maddy will soon be welcoming a new baby BROTHER in April!! Ellie was right. Again. She never swayed from telling us we would have a boy. Even so, I think Mark and I are still in shock, but we are all soooo excited! Our house will never be the same again...

What Are Little Boys Made Of?
Boys are made of chuckles & grins,
Tousled hair and banged-up shins,
Things with wheels & frogs in pockets
Questions, baseball caps, & rockets;
They're joy & mischief, fun & noise-
That's how it is – boys will be boys!

Celebrate good times....come on!!

While we were in Utah for Grandma Amy's funeral, Maddy turned the big 2!! She is not our little baby anymore, but a full-blown toddler!! She celebrated her big day with bananas and sprinkles for breakfast, a fun-filled trip to Chuck E. Cheese's with cousins, a turtle ice-cream cake and presents with some of my family, and then to McDonald's play land that night for an ice cream cone before bed. She was worn out by the end of the night. What a fun birthday for a cute BIG girl!!

Chuck E. Cheese's--where a kid can be a kid!!

Since all of my sisters and mom were in town for the funeral, we got in a lot of good, quality family bonding time. There was a bit of shopping done, good eating (thanks mostly to Ally), movies, game playing, staying up WAY too late,(do I ever go to bed before 2 am while on vacation?!), reminiscing, and making great new memories and we also got to meet my sister Mandy's new boyfriend! This was the first time that all 5 of the grand kids were together. Everyone got along pretty well, considering that there were 11 of us all under the same roof for a whole week.

We also got to visit my Grandma Betty for a bit while in town. She has been redecorating her house and we enjoyed seeing all the new updates.

We stopped in Ogden to visit with my sis-in-law Melanie and her kids and also got a surprise visit from Grandma Connie, who we thought would still be in Phoenix for the extent of our UT visit.

The girls had to take "Big Pete" for a spin. This was Mark's little ride-on truck when he was a little boy.

**Not pictured, but we were also able...

~to attend my cousin Shelby's little daughter Maya's baby blessing. That was such a nice way to get get to see lots of extended family.
~to go out to lunch with my sis-in-law Leanne and niece Jessica and enjoy their company while hitting a couple of boutiques.

~go to my favorite restaurant in Utah--the MANDARIN!! Best Chinese food EVER!! It was so worth the 1 1/2 hr wait--even with all 5 kids :) Thanks girls!!!

~and run into a few old friends randomly while out and about.

~And no trip to Utah is ever complete without a quick trip to Roberts crafts, and dinner at Cafe Rio!

**As always, we wished we could have seen more of you Utahans (and done some more shopping!). But you are always welcome to come and visit us...

When we arrived back in WARM San Diego a week later, even though we were completely exhausted, we had to celebrate Maddy's big day with daddy. We opened up more of Maddy's birthday presents and had banana splits. YUMMY!! Happy 2nd birthday Maddy!!

Bittersweet...

My dear, sweet Grandmother passed away on October 30. She was always such a true "lady"--one that never spoke poorly of anyone, was always optimistic, and always cheerful. She had an eye for beauty and everything she did in her life had a certain grandeur about it. I remember her always looking "put together" and perfect, and always having a smile on her face. She could talk to anyone--and she usually did :) She took delight in her family and they in her. My aunt Judy, who will truly be blessed for her selfless act of love, had cared for Grandma for the last 10 years of her life while she had been battling Alzheimer's and was in a wheelchair for the past 4 years.

The girls and I were able to fly out to UT to attend her funeral. It was very sad to finally say goodbye to her. Her funeral service was beautiful, and even though it snowed over 6 inches that day in SLC, the day had a certain charming, peacefulness to it. My happiness in all this is knowing that she is so much better off in the next world. She no longer struggles to communicate her needs and wants, her thoughts and feelings, her pains and sufferings. I know she is amazingly happy and free now. She is, no doubt, strolling hand in hand with her sweetheart of over 50 years through beautiful gardens more amazing than we on earth can ever imagine. She is enjoying being surrounded by loved ones that had gone on before her. And she is once again in our Heavenly Father's presence. Grandma Amy, you will be missed.