Family Christmas Party

We had our annual family Christmas party the Sunday before Christmas and of course fun was had by all. Especially when the special vistor showed up! My girls were so excited to see him and tell him what they hoped to get.

Kennedy chose to wear her "clause" outfit so she could match Santa. Boy, oh boy do we get good use out of that dress!! Next year, it will be Syd's so maybe the tradition can continue. ha.

Carter took the pics and I was filming w/ the video camera...I was telling Syd to smile and maybe the confused her...in all the pics she was looking my direction. :)

Alex at this point in her life is a professional having her pic taken...however, I don't think Santa was quite ready for his pic.

Random family photos at the party....enjoy.

Happy Birthday Mykalin! I thought having a 9 year old made me an old woman, but having a 13 year old is really pushing it! I can't believe little Mykee is 13 today! Where has the time gone? She was just two years old when I met her and she became a part of my life. It is really crazy how life speeds up so fast. Here are a few things I admire about my Mykee...

~ She is very talented in the performing arts! She loves to sing, dance and entertain.

~ She loves kids and is a fantastic babysitter!

~ She is always mindful of other people's feelings and wants everyone to be happy.

~ She has a beautiful singing voice.

~ She is polite.

~ She is thoughtful.

~She is creative.

~She is outgoing and a born leader.

~ She is the best big sister the girls could ever ask for!!

We love you Mykee and can't wait to see you tomorrow!! We hope your day is as special as you are! xoxo

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours...

Carter and I laughed for a good half hour at this pic and Kennedy's face. She looks 10 pound heavier due to the double chin face she is pulling. She is quite the character, that one. We gave serious thought to it being our card but then opted for a different one. However, it is too funny not to share. So here it is our Christmas present to you....a good laugh!! Merry Christmas!

Kenny Clause

When it came to picking out her outfit for the day Kennedy suggested her Santa dress, so she could look like Santa for her class party. I love it. Alex dubbed her "Kenny Clause" this morning and it stuck. She even bundled up to keep warm (because it is freezing today!) in our Santa sack. Here she is doing her best "Ho, Ho, Ho" and attempting to have a big round belly.

Chopping Block

Syd desperately wanted her hair cut short, so I promised her I would take her to do it after Halloween. She didn't let me forget.

Before....

And the after...

She had a good 8 inches cut off. She loves it, though the other day she was staring at a pic with her long hair and she said she wanted long hair again. :) Oh, the fickle four year old!

We had fun last weekend going w/ my mom to her work movie party. The girls always enjoy the show, treats, and of course a visit w/ Santa! Not to mention the fun goodie bags they get to take home.

Catch Up

I am a bit behind in blogging these days...but thought I would try to
blog some of what we have been up to the last month or so. Carter had his 20th high school reunion this past October in Arizona ( i know, he is old! ). We had a great time seeing our older kids, enjoying family, and attending his reunion. We had a great time and he enjoyed meeting up w/ old friends and I enjoyed meeting new ones. . I think my favorite part of the night was when we were headed over to the dessert bar and Carter recognized a girl he wanted to say hi to. Well, this girl had had a little too much to drink and so did her friend. Sooo, the friend grabs my arm and says "I know who he is...he is the singer..tell him to sing me that song"...I am like um no..he is not a singer. "YES, he is..tell him to sing me that song". Um, I have no idea what song you would like him to sing..and trust me I don't know if you want him to sing. ;) I am finding all this very comical and so not to be rude I turned my back toward the dessert bar so I could laugh w/out them seeing me. Then, the other girl grabs my arm and says" You can tell me the truth...is he that singer from Rascal Flats?? You can tell me I am a cop!" I burst out laughing saying NO he is not the singer from Rascal Flats, and are you really a cop?? (turns out she was). In hind sight I should have just said yes and offered them a photo opp and an autograph. :) Anyway, it was a fun night he had a great time and that's all that really matters. .

Here we are w/ the kids for Sunday lunch at Chelsea's..Bryton loving the cupcakes.He stuffed a whole one in his mouth for this pic

A pic from the reunion ..Carter w/ his friend Natascha who did a great job planning the event. The rest of the pics didn't turn out so good..so this is probably the best shot I got. Bummer.


Our date night w/ Mykee....we went to Some Burro's and the opening night of HSM 3. Oh ya.

Mykee and I were really excited about having dippin dots.mmmm good! Below we are trying to re-inact our faces when we realized we walked into the wrong theater .... we were scrambling to get out of there b/c it was a scarier movie... there was something loud and scary I of course jumped then screamed, forgetting that I am the mom and should be brave. ha. We were laughing so hard!!

Twilight Premiere

So.. back in July I get an email from my friend Abbie that her friend Melanie (who threw that awesome Breaking Dawn party) was wanting to book a theater for the midnight showing for Twilight. I was to respond if I was interested...um yah!! After months of it's going to be this or it's going to be that....it was confirmed that we would have the Thursday 7pm PREMIERE!! Not only was I able to go but I would be accompanied by 25 of my Twilight friends and be in the midst of 575 other twilight friends. ;) After months of anticipation we were one of the firsts to see it! It was such a fun night!


Prior to the premier I was talking w/my dear friend Chelsea, who lives in CA, about these tickets I was able to score. She then decides right then and there that she is flying out for the day to come see the premiere w/ all of us. Crazy, i know!!! FUn, i know!!! She did it. She flew in around 1pm we all met for lunch, shopping then the movie, then back home in the morning to be there for her hubbies bday. Best night ever!!! Though I must admit it was a little stressful knowing that I had everyone's ticket and had to find all 25 at the theater to give them their ticket. It was worth it though!



Melanie did such an awesome job putting it all together@@ She had made the VIP lanyards (above) and had giveaways. She knows how to throw a party! There was an unexpected glich though..b/c it was an earlier screening we were not allowed cameras inside the theater and our phones had to be completely shut down. There was security there making sure all rules were followed. I did manage to sneek my camera in but didn't dare take pics b/c they threatened to take it away and escort you out of the theater. However, a few of my brave friends did take some pics so here is what I have. :) Unfortunately I didn't take pics w/ Chels and the rest of the posse b/c she was taking some and I had planned on getting copies. Just found out that hers were somehow deleted. Waa. Thank you Abbie for the invite and allowing me 25 friends and big thanks to Melanie for organizing all of it!!! Like I said, best night ever!

Sally, Heidi, Brittany, Me

Mom, Me, Auntie Linda


Me, Brooke, Ashley, Taryn

Mom, Anne, Me

Oh yah, VIP's baby!


I won!

Where My Allegiance Lies..

The big game is almost here and all I have to say is Go Cougs, beat the Yewts!!! :)

I can't believe...

I have a nine year old! Today is Alexandra's big day! The day she has been counting down to..30 days..15days..10days..5days..2days..and now it is here!! In honor of her special day here are nine things I love about her.

~She is very kind and tender-hearted. She wants everyone to be happy.

~ She is the best big sister! She is very nuturing and loves to play with and read to her sisters.

~ She is smart and has excelled at everything she puts her mind to.

~ She is very obedient and respectful.

~ She is outgoing and makes friends easily.

~ She knows just what to say to make your day. She is always very complimentary, whether it be your hair, earring, necklace, purse, etc. She's not afraid to tell people how great they are.

~ She is a great performer.

~ She loves to give hugs.

~ She has an earnest desire to make right choices and to be an example to others.

I wonder sometimes what did I ever do to deserve her? I love her so much and am so proud to be her mom. She makes my heart melt. Love you Alex, I hope your day is as fabulous as you are!

Halloween Party

This year I hosted Rachelle's annual Halloween party at my house because she was off touring Europe for 2 weeks (hard life I know) and didn't make it home until the day before Halloween. She still wanted to have her party but not have to worry about getting everything ready so she asked if I would consider having it at my house so the tradition could live on. :) We had some yummy food then played "Werewolves" (a game similar to Mafia) which was so much fun and hard to keep a straight face, especially when Higgy is in the game. It was a night of fun and alot of laughter!

Dinner...

The game....

Larry King (Jeff), Princess Lea (Abbie), Pregnant Cheerleader (Alece who is due w/ her 5th in Dec!!), and her boyfriend (Gary)

The Goth Couple (Rachelle & Brandon)

My name is Earl (Mike) & Joy(Amy) enjoying some witches brew, ie IBC Rootbeer. :)

Police Detective (Tyler) and Criminal (Susie).

And us...Ricky Bobby (in all his wonder uhhmm)and race car girlfriend (for lack of a better name).

As I am blogging about this I realized I never posted last year's party...so for fun here is a glimpse. Rachelle choose the theme Hollywood Couples. The entrance...

The Famous Hollywood Couples

Burt Reynolds (Chad) and Dolly (Allison), Nacho Libre (Brian) and Nun (Sandi), Dog the Bounty Hunter (Gary) and wife (Alece), Portia DeRossi (me) and Ellen Degeneres (Carter..i know isn't he a trooper?? I loved that he let me turn him into a girl :) ), Hot Lips Houlihan (Rachelle) and Hawkeye (Brandon).