Turkey Day Pics

We spent a wonderful day at my parents house, had WAY too much to eat! The kids are always SO excited to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and today was no exception.

Brynne started her day off right, playing Mama to the baby~

While Landon read a book...or two~

It's never long before Brynne ends up doing whatever it is Landon is doing~

The "Adult" table

My Gramps, Uncle Roger, my dad, my mom, my Gram~

My mom and my Gram, love these women!~

This little cutie is Chloe, my parents dog.

This is Landon's plate.

This is Chloe eyeing Landon's plate.

She laid on the couch watching this plate of food forever!
Too funny~

Landon with his GREAT Grandparents!~

for whatever reason, my Gramps always makes this face in pictures with the kids.

He must be very excited. Either that or it's because he is almost 100 years old!!!

Landon spent most of his day begging Uncle Nate to play soccer with him~

Little Miss spent most of the day doing what she does best...eating! This girl loves food!~

My parents are the best hosts! Their house is always decorated for whatever Holiday or Season we are in. I saw that my mom and dad had begun decorating their yard for Christmas already!! Their yard!? I haven't even started on my house!

This little trailer is always in their flower bed, it's so cute, I love it! Today I noticed this tiny Christmas tree was added. Too cute, had to take a picture!~

Auntie Amy packing up leftovers~

One of the many reasons I am thankful this season!~

Trying her hardest to get the toys out to play~

LOL, Uncle Roger let Landon play with his glasses. It was SO cute! Totally changed his look!

We had a GREAT day spending time with everyone! I am so lucky to have such an amazing family. We always have a good time together with lots of laughing and story telling. It is always hard to be away from Travis' family at the Holidays. I would love for them to share in our fun traditions. Florida is just TOO far away!

SO very Thankful for these two crazy kids!

This video perfectly captures the very reason why I rolled my eyes at my mother when she disagreed and told me that Apple Pie does NOT have too much sugar for the kids! She spoon fed them bite after bite. Not 15 minutes later I filmed this video...

Uh-Huh, whatever Grandma!

Thanksgiving 2009

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for:

My husband and our strong, wonderful (most of the time) marriage. And the fact that he is outside on a 12 foot ladder right now, hanging our Christmas lights, so that we may be the first house in the neighborhood with our lights on. He's also informed me that the lights will be hung in record time this year, he's shooting for 45 minutes. I'm shooting for a morning without loud cussing if he staple-guns his finger, and without an ER trip should he fall off said 12 foot ladder.

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My first born, rough and tumble, never a dull moment, son Landon. He loves his Mama with equal parts of sweat, dirt, sloppy kisses, and the best hugs. I will never forget the feeling of seeing my first born baby for the first time. And now 3 years later I am SO thankful that I spend each and every day raising him and shaping the man he will one day become. Thanks for the constant laughter Landon, and also the high blood pressure. Mama loves you!

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Our sweet girl Brynna, who most definitely completes our family. I can't imagine my life without her and her sweet giggles, dragging her pink blankie everywhere she goes and following Landon around each and every day, all day long. My girl loves to love and can't get enough sweet hugs and kisses. She is the most laid back, happy girl and I love her with every ounce of my ability! As I type this Brynne is sitting tight next to me rubbing my leg with her chubby fingers. She keeps looking up at me and just smiling. What a lucky Mama I am!

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This Thanksgiving, as so many families have far less than we do, I am Thankful for everything God has provided for our family. Our family, our friends, our beautiful (it's getting there) home, and most importantly our healthy and happy babies...who aren't really babies anymore, but to me they will always be my babies. I hope this Thanksgiving that you each are surrounded by those you love, good food, funny conversation, and plenty of laughter! I know we will be.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Who's coming to dinner: Thanksgiving Edition

Here's my wish list for Thanksgiving Dinner at my house

Rocco Dispirito

because let's face it, somebody has to bring groceries...

Matthew Morrison

he plays Mr. Schuster on Glee. If you aren't watching Glee you are missing out!!

There is just something about his boyish charm

...AND the man can sing and dance!

The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond

If you know me than you know I LOVE The Pioneer Woman. It would be a dream come true to sit down and share a meal with her. She is amazing, and I am sure she would use her mad photo skills to photograph our little country spread, and would no doubt make it look amazing!

Reese Witherspoon

because for whatever reason I am convinced that we would be great IRL friends if we ever met. She seems so nice and down to Earth and I just know our kids would play together for hours, quietly, as we sipped tea and gossiped about Jake Gyllenhal. No? Huh.

Paula Deen

because isn't everything better with a little Southern charm and a lot of butta!?

Rachel McAdams

because I am a loving, giving, selfless wife and my husband adores her. She seems pretty nice too...and I am sure she has a lot of dirt on Ryan Gosling!

and of course no Thanksgiving Dinner would be complete without

Matt Damonbecause honestly, what's a Holiday meal without a little dessert?

Who would you invite to Thanksgiving Dinner?

Disneyland 11-20-09

I'd figured my good luck would run out eventually in regards to my Disneyland trips. We have Season Passes and try to go once a week. Lately we have not been going as often due to us being sick, and just how crazy life is at this time of the year. We went on Friday night and that was a HUGE mistake. I have not been on a Friday before, usually I stick to mid-week visits to avoid the lines and the crowds. At California Adventure there is an Aladdin stage show. We have been wanting to see it for a really long time, but never have been able to. The show only runs on Friday thru Sunday and we are never there on those days. Because we went on a Friday we were finally able to catch the Aladdin show. It was AMAZING. Made me feel like we were seeing a real Broadway play. Even Travis loved it and the kids were mostly entertained throughout the whole show. I think it was about 45 minutes long! I couldn't believe it was a free show, it was that good! Anyway, here are a few pictures from out night trip to Disneyland on a super crowded Friday night.

I just thought Brynna looked so cute and tiny sitting in her very own theater chair

Waiting for the Aladdin show to start

Disneyland is GORGEOUS this time of year. Every night when they light up the castle they play music throughout Main St. and it snows!! It is so beautiful!

Beautiful castle, my sucky pictures don't do it justice!

Exploring

Daddy and his curious little girl

Landon in Tarzan's treehouse

Brynne

We had a fun night, because Daddy rarely goes to Disneyland with us. However, it was TOO crowded and I prefer to be there in the day time. We only went on 2 rides all night! Usually we ride atleast 10 rides, so that was annoying. It is so beautiful at night, but because of the crowds it is hard to get any decent pictures! Next time we will for sure go during the week! Lesson learned.

NEW MOON!

While the toddlers were safe getting into trouble playing at Grandma and Grandpa's, Travis and I met up with a bunch of my work friends in line at the theater. Most of them had been in line since 4! We got there at 9, and only had to wait one hour before they let us into the theater. We got GREAT seats and couldn't wait for the movie to start!

Got the tickets 3 months ago!

SO excited!

A few of the ladies

Me, Coreena, Ashley, Sam, Katie and Adrianne waiting in line

This is Nate, he works with us. He was wondering here why he was the only guy who got stuck in line waiting with us. LOL, Travis has NO patience and does not do well with lines. He dropped me off and went to Target to get golf balls.

Devin and Amanda

The other Nate, Amy, Travis and I...only minutes from starting!

Ashley, Adrianne, Amanda, and Katie showing their New Moon pride

The movie was GREAT and we had such a fun time. I can't wait to go see it again. We didn't get home until 3am! I realized that I am getting old and can't pull the all-nighters anymore. Friday kicked my butt, and I was so exhausted! We still ended up going to Disneyland Friday night, that will be my next post!

Lots to catch up on!

Tomorrow is THE day...

Holy Mother of IfreakinCan'tWait!

It's gonna be AMAZEBALLS!
I've got MY tickets! Do YOU???

The night I almost became a stepmom

Around here we are getting pretty excited for Auntie Amy to have her sweet baby boy! We have a few months left to wait while baby Ryder "cooks" a wee bit longer. In the mean time I am reminded of a funny story from when Travis and I were newly dating. When we met, 8 years ago... ahem, Travis was still a US Marine and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, near Oceanside CA. Raised a country boy in rural, Northern Florida, Travis was different from any boy I'd ever met before. He spoke with a thick country accent using words like "Ma'am" and "Ya'll." I was still living in my childhood home with my parents, in the small mountain community where I was raised. The beach where Travis was stationed was almost 2 hours from my parents' house (1.5 hours if I left after "rush hour," and drove 80 the whole way...but that's a whole other post, for a whole other day) I couldn't get enough of my new country boy the beach, and drove the 2 hour drive almost every day so we could spend time together. We spent more than a few evenings sitting in his pickup truck along the beach, talking, making out and watching the waves crash onto the sand. It was during one of these evenings, during a deep conversation that Travis' sense of humor really presented itself. I was talking about a friend who had recently entered into a relationship with a guy who had a son from a previous relationship. She was like an "instant mom" and I was telling him how excited she was about the new boy in her life.

Travis waited a few seconds and said "I have a kid back in Florida."

Me: "You DO??"

Travis: "Yep" (country boys are men of few words)

Me: "From like your last relationship, or something?"

Travis : "Yep"

Me: "Do you see him a lot, or no?"

Travis: "I see him and we talk on the phone."

Me: "That's cool. What's his name?"

Travis:"........................Junior."

Me: "Junior? That's your son's name?"

Travis: "Yep."

Me:"Huh"

It became painfully obvious at this time that Travis was pulling my leg. He started laughing uncontrollably, and before I knew it I had tears running down my face from also laughing.

That story he told became a huge joke in our relationship. I still tell him to this day that he really had me going...until he said "Junior." He could have said Brian, John, Matthew...anything, but he said Junior. A true country boy my man is was.

The country accent has long disappeared and it didn't take long for Travis to start saying "Dude" and "Hey Guys." California will suck the country out of anybody. I will never forget the night when Travis told me he had a boy named Junior.

Our relationship is full of deep conversations like this one. And if you're lucky I just may post a few more...

Half off shoes!!

If there is one physical trait that best describes Brynne it would be her beautiful Eyes. Our sweet girl has some of the biggest, most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. She uses her innocent Doe Eyed gaze to win over even the toughest of enforcers, e.g. PopPop and can't shop Target without more than a few compliments from thoughtful strangers.

However, there is a lesser recognized trait that our sweet girl possesses. The shoeless foot. Brynne rarely has both feet covered, and spends her days toddling around our house with one shoe missing. It has become somewhat of a joke around here, and is just how my girl likes to do things, with one shoe on...one off.

She also has the ability to crack her big brother up!

But mostly, she walks, runs, hops, and plays all while wearing only one shoe. Inside or outside, warm weather or cold, our sweet Doe Eyed girl likely has some of the toughest feet West of the Mississippi.

And this Mama wouldn't have it any other way!