Hi

This year has flown by. FLOWN.

An update in list form again, leaving off from the last time I updated. This gets long, wordy and boring:


- Thanksgiving at our house was a success. Billy and I are getting pretty good at cooking alongside each other. 30 adults and 5 kiddos showed up. We had a massive amount of food, since almost everyone brought some sort of side dish, dessert or drink of choice. We chose names for the yearly Secret Santa that we do every Christmas and we had almost 30 participants. Christmas Eve will be held at our house as usual, and maybe even Christmas Day, depending on my In-Laws situation. They have put in bids on homes but most of them have been short sale listings, so the outcome has not been good for them. They have decided to rent the home they are currently in.

- We decorated for the Holidays AFTER Thanksgiving this time. We usually have our trees up before Thanksgiving, but somehow I have collected enough Thanksgiving decorations for the house that it just seems right to have the Thanksgiving day décor up instead of the Christmas décor taking over.

- I tried to take photos of the kiddos for Holiday cards, and it was a major FAIL. I got one decent photo and I wasn’t 100% satisfied with it, so we went and had family photos done. Of course, when someone else aside from me tries to take pics of my kids, they’re all smiles and laughs. Here is the photo I took. Fighting direct sunlight above and kids who wouldn’t cooperate:



quality is crappy, stolen from my Facebook

…and here are a sneak peak from the session:






- I went shopping with my sister on Black Friday. After being out shopping for 8 hours last year with Katie, I vowed that never would I attempt it again. It’s not the crowds or potential chaos in each store, it’s being in such close/cramped areas with throngs of people who may be sick and contagious. I know, I’m paranoid. Anyway, I somehow beat my record from last year and was out from 11pm-10am! I was EXHAUSTED that morning, and Kai had two ball games! That day was all a blur-I remember falling asleep sitting up at Kai’s games at least a handful of times. I still haven’t caught up from that day and that was over a week ago. I did however, get some seriously good deals on things.

- Kai’s ball tournament in Lake Havasu City, AZ went good this past weekend. The weather was gorgeous (high of 74, low of 50). Jason and Lizzette (Kai and Jewel’s Dad and stepmom) had their hotel 2 buildings away from our hotel, making it easy for all of us to go eat dinner together then head out to our own hotels, Saturday night. We spent lots of time together at the field between games. It’s still weird that we all get along (right now) but it makes things SO much easier on the kids. Kai’s team won 1 out of the 4 games they played. Kai was on a Team D for 6 months or so. They were AMAZING. The team was unstoppable. In fact, they won the tournament this weekend. Slowly, we (meaning Jason, Billy and I) realized that the parents were full of drama and gossip. We left Team D to go back on Team P (the team he’s currently on).

- Jewel has her dance class holiday showcase next week. She has really been enjoying hip hop and she’s shown most interest in this, compared to her cheer, gymnastics and drama classes. Jewel’s petite for her age-her 3 year old brother is heavier than her! (Not by much and Jake is just so HUGE, but she’s very petite). She’s been eating like a horse lately. Last night, she had 3 servings of dinner. She’s always snacking on fruits or granola bars, and the girl eats oatmeal every morning like it’s going out of style.

- Jake’s taken an interest in trains lately, so he is going to flip out when he opens his gifts. We got him a train table and train set as one of his gifts. I am proud of Jake-he treats people with such respect. He plays with a lot of girls his age at Kai’s baseball games, as well as at my In-Laws (their neighbors have a 4 year old girl). He always respects them and cares about their feelings.



..and of course, I always leave out the icky stuff for last:

- My Dad is self conscious of going anywhere right now. The radiation on his face/nose has made the left part of his face red and blotchy. It’s hard to see him like this (self conscious), so I am counting down the days to December 20th, which is his last treatment. From there, we shall see what happens .

32 feels good

Just what we've been up to/are going to be up to...

- Saturday, December 4th is the Autism Awareness walk. I'm very excited to be part of Team Kaitlyn. We have a surprise up our sleeve so Hope will just have to wait until we post pics =) Any local Vegas Moms want to come walk with us at UNLV that morning, you're more than welcomed.

- B took me to Disneyland on Friday, the 12th. We left the night before. We drove to Cali, and got drunk on the beach, got a motel and, built a fort out of sheets . Yeah, we pretty much did that, minus the fort. Thursday we got in later than we thought we would (due to a horrific accident on the 15 w/ flight for life, etc) but we checked into the hotel, walked around Anaheim's Garden Walk which was right next to our hotel, went to a really cool restaurant called Fire & Ice, caught a movie (Jackass 3D).

The next day, we headed back to Huntington Beach for the morning and had breakfast on the beach. We headed to Disneyland California Adventure for the day. We had SO much fun this time right from the get go. Remember last November when we had a hard time warming up to Disneyland? both times (last November when the kids came), we enjoyed California Adventure a lot more than Disneyland. It got crowded in the afternoon (due to it being Veterans Day weekend) but we had already rode most of the rides, so we wandered around in the sourdough bread factory, tortilla factory, and the shops. We ate dinner at the bar at Paradise Pier, where we stayed and watched the World of Color show up close. We then went to the Hollywood back lot where they had a Tron event. It was mostly a dance party with electronica music (Daft Punk!). It was fun, even with the hundreds of preteens and teens all over the place.

We headed back home that night and got back at 2am. My Mom's birthday would have been that day, November 12th. Huntington was one of her favorite California spots. It was bittersweet, having coffee and pastries while watching surfers catch early morning waves, something that we had done together and enjoyed. I heard one of her favorite songs twice that day. It definitely felt like she was there in spirit, and in a way, celebrating her birthday with me.

- My birthday was this past Wednesday. 32 feels good. I don't know why everyone is so afraid of their 30's. I don't feel 'old'. I feel more mature and experienced, but still fun. The 5 of us, my sister, Katie and her fiance Mike all went to Sweet Tomatoes that night (kids' choice). I got sang to so loudly that the whole restaurant sang along, but at least it earned me free bags of fresh chocolate chip cookies =) I am blessed to have received gifts at my age. I got cash, cupcake display items and supplies, and camera items/equipment. B also surprised me with kitchen and living room items from Disneyland, all with the Jack Skellington/Nightmare before Christmas theme, of course.

- Jake had his last T ball games for the season this past Saturday. He was SO proud of his trophy, he's shown it to everyone who comes over to our house. We will enroll him again in the Spring, and take a break during the Winter. It's too cold for him to have an 8am game when it can be down in the 40's in temperature.

- Kai's baseball is going good. We really enjoy his coaches. They are brothers, and they are very patient, friendly and organized. I had jury duty the last week of October and learned that his coach is the Chief Judge for this judicial district. I would never have guessed. He looks and acts so friendly, friendlier than I thought a Chief Judge would be (if that even makes sense).

- Jewel's hip hop dance is going good. It's fun to see the new moves they learn, and reminds me of the dances that we did when I was in dance. She's not very excited about having to be in the showcase, which is very surprising because I'd think she'd love everyone watching her.

- Dad's radiation is going well. Can you believe he goes to work every day and does his radiation ON HIS LUNCH BREAK? I know that it's not THAT big of a deal, but the man is STRONG. He came over yesterday to hang out and watch football with us. He said that the affects have not hit him yet. He gets tired at times but for now, that is all. He has radiation 5 times a week until December 12th.

- My stepmom moved out. Aside from the fact that she has her own car (as opposed to driving everywhere with my Dad), things haven't changed much. She still comes around just as much as Dad does. In fact, she just asked me what she should make for Thanksgiving. I'm glad that they mutually feel the same about their decision to get a divorce.

- Thanksgiving is at our house. I can't wait to cook and bake for 20 people again. Hosting parties that involve really is my 'thing'. Oh look, I have a 'thing' =)

My best friend's bridal shower

I was excited to be able to plan a bridal shower at my home for one of my best friends, Katie. The night was filled with delicious appetizers, hilarious games, opening gifts, and lots of laughs (even some happy tears when Katie said her Thank You's)





Manzanita branch tree with folded paper cranes to give good luck, plus extra cookie cutter favors



Mini pumpkin cheesecake pies and devils food and cream cheese cuppies with a T for her new last name.






Dark blue & light blue with black and white touches. My dining room table had the same set up, as did the food table.



Digging in



Me on the left, leading the games. We did a "How well does the Bride know the Groom?", a wedding word scramble, and a hilarious purse game about earning points depending on what you carry in your purse. People had pet rocks in their purses!








Game time









Opening Gifts



Sarah made her the rehearsal bouquet from ribbons and bows from her gifts.






Some of the ladies



The bride and the girl side of the bridal party (Mike's sister Jess on the left, my sister in the middle, and myself)




Funky prop photos, that then turned into a dance party/cat walk photo shoot.




















hahahahaha






Katie and I