{Life is Sweet}

We had a BLAST this christmas spending it with family in California!!! we were able to go for just shy of two weeks! nothing like feeling like a kid again at your mom's house :) we were able to relax, go in the spa... shawn dove into the freezing pool!, see both my brothers and their families!, shop, eat, got sick, parties, the mall, movies, D-land, pretend city, running in the Warmer weather, and so much more!!! here are a few pictures.... okay that's an understatement... here is an album of pictures :)


Dinner at BJ's Pizza with just us :) we had fun the first night just going to dinner and then hitting up the crowded brea mall :)


Miss Mia .... what a gem!


She slept all the way to the restraunt and then all the way through dinner :)


We were laughing at ourselves because we found ourselves texting love notes to each other while we were at dinner together.... only in this day and age right?


My sister in law Laura threw a cookie exchange party that i was able to go to this year!!! she is amazing!! the kids had fun with crafts and decorating sugar cookies while we got to exchange loads of cookies to take home in cute boxes and bags :)


maddie enjoying an ice cream cone at one of my favorite restraunts... ruby's! what a doll!


we went to the pretend city one day... it was sooo much fun, and so cool! here is the play beach :)

... and santa came to town.... look at that smile!!!! pure joy :)

and maddie with her cousin emily digging in the garden :)

Miss Mia with grandma picking strawberries :) Fun Fun Place !!!


DISNEYLAND!! we had such a magical time at disneyland :) we were able to go with my parents for a few hours and then we hung out just the warner crew for another few hours and then we took the kids home to get in bed and we were able to come back from 8-midnight ALONE!!! YAY!!! it was such a highlight in our trip to get to play by ourselves and go on a special date :) thanks sooo much mom and dad!!


grandpa with Mia


Funny how the kids love the carousel at disneyland? maybe we should have saved our money and just gone to south coast plaza?


In line for peter pan.... i was so thrilled to go on this one! it's been a while and i loved it! so did the kids.
disneyland was way fun and i will be craving another frozen lemonade until next time for sure!


grandma with her cute grandkids in their christmas jammies :)

Christmas Morning!!

Maddie with her big santa gift... a fancy dollhouse! BIG HIT!!


Mia with her big santa gift.... her princess car :)


maddie and Mason playing with their computers :)


for christmas dinner we went to laura's house.... just look at this table!!! BEAUTIFUL! again... she is so amazing.... i am trying to learn everything i can from her :)

and the food.... sooooo yummy! everything was so gourmet :) loved every single minute of it!


Shawn's newest father of the year picture :) i love the little girl on his head wearing her tutu, mink stole, hat, and coloring all while on top of her daddy's shoulders... and then little mia who looks like she is falling but she doesn't care because she is being included :) and then shawn... no words needed :)

My friend Anna and i have been walking together everyday for 3 years and here is the picture of our last walk before she moved :( ... we love our walks! we were so excited to escape our house each morning to talk about anything and everything that was on our mind. our girls are best friends and we loved to share all the funny, sweet, annoying, and messy things that they did. we would strip them down and hand them watter bottles during the hot summers and bundle them up in the winter... and on those days that were just too cold or rainy, fear not, there was always Dr. Mario :) We will miss you guys tons!! you were the all time BEST walking partner ever :)

I LOVE a project!! i am always checking out new blogs for fun things that i want to re-create and my newest favorite blog would have to be MADE (there is a button for the site on the side :) ... anyway this girl does the most amazing sewing projects... she takes di clothes and makes them SWEEEET!! so i decided i wanted to try it... i went to di.. and got a shirt and transformed it into something pretty cute :) i think :) here it is!........


The shirt i bought for a dollar :).... don't mind the writing, it doesn't show in the final product..


the final product... a cute little dress to wear with leggings, and my favorite.... maddie's leg warmers! it's way too much fun getting her ready... she's my life size barbie :)


here is the close up of the "smocking".... its not really smocking.. it's called shirring and it's soooo easy!!

i had soooo much fun trying something new.. it's not perfect, but it was a fun project and cute for a dollar!

Every year we bundle up and head on out to the mountains to get our Christmas tree! we look forward to it every year and love this tradition we have started with our family :)


yay for Christmas tree hunting :)



Maddie loved playing in the snow...... for the first 15 minutes ;) she must get that from her mother!


What a trooper... she tried walking in the snow but once she fell in down to her waist it was a ride in our arms from then on. i must also add that this was the first year that shawn didn't complain once :) usually he makes me pick a tree after the first ten minutes of walking around... he was very patient and i only had to hear maddie ask for her pajamas and hot chocolate 50 before we found our perfect tree!


Here it is... all that work for this glorious piece of nature that will soon take up our entire living room :) (what a weird tradition to chop down a tree and stick it in your house and put presents under it.... who thought of that one?)


Oh mads.... what a silly little girl! she LOVED santa... when she saw him she ran to him and lept into his lap and immediately told him she wanted a horse, a dog, and a lamb for christmas :) (how am i supposed to tell her that santa will not be delivering livestock to our house this year... or ever!! )... anyway, she was his little best friend and sat on his lap for like 10 minutes... there were no other people in line. And at the end he got a big "good bye santa"... Mia on the other hand cried after the second picture taken :)



The tree chopped down about 5 feet so we could fit it in our house (it was quite the beast for shawn to drag through the snow) .... decorated... and ready for christmas time :)


My very favorite decoration this year!! i made this with the leftover tree branches :) It makes me soooo happy!

This year we were able to have all of shawn's family over to our house for thanksgiving Weekend :) We had fun relaxing, eating, shopping, talking, playing, and enjoying each others company! A few pics from our fun time together...


Here is the table.... this is MY favorite part of having thanksgiving at my house :) i get to decorate the table!!



and here is the kiddie table...


Shawnie and his sister Melissa ... and mia


Fun playing at the park...


This is Mia's idea of a good time :)


cute cousins :)


the big kids playing at the park...weeeee :)


the big hit was this tiny dvd player we let the kids watch in maddie's room :) the cousins had so much fun playing together! wish we could get together more often!!

My friend got tickets to the Regis and Kelly Show in Las Vegas and she couldn't use them! so she gave them to me!!! yay.... i immediately called my mom to see if she and my dad could meet us in vegas for a quick and spontaneous trip :) they were all for it! So my mom and i got to go see the show at the Wynn in Las Vegas and we had a blast. These are the only pictures i got from my mom because in mesquite we realized i had forgotten our camera!!!! aaarrgghh... i was so mad! but here are a few from my mama...


Tubby time at the Rio (where we stayed... the rooms were awesome, soooo big!!)


Me with the Love of my life ! Like his "christmas beard" ?


Me and my mom waiting in line to get into the theater at Regis and Kelly :)


The boys....and maddie :)

We had a blast!! Thanks anna for the tickets... and thanks mom and dad for coming to meet us!! we loved every minute of it :)

My friend Aubrey invited me to do a joy school with her and 3 other little girls and we have had so much fun with it!! Four Sweet, smart, and cute little girlies :)


Maddie, Addie, Avery, and Talise


Snack time!

We went to Paige az last weekend with some friends for the hot air balloon festival and to just get out of town :) we loved just being able to focus on each other as a family with no other distractions around. we had alot of fun!



Can you find Maddie? .... she was super excited to go on a ride with her friend Sione :)





Mommy and Mia looking over Glenn Dam...


All the Balloons were lit up in the street that night.. it looked awewome!


Free ride :)