Christmas

I think this year was the most fun so far with our girls. I will probably say that every year though. We had a great time with them opening presents and living the magic of Christmas morning all over again. Sara loved her Dora bike from Santa and Madelyn is set with her Barbie alarm clock and boom box. Ofcourse we had some home made gifts from Madelyn that were so special (she made me bath salts and candles in science club). It was fun to see how excited they were to watch us open our presents too. Then we were off to Nana and Poppies for brunch and more Christmas fun. We loved the rain and wished it was snow, but we will take it. After a few hours we went to my sister's for my side of the family. They had a wonderful prime rib dinner for all 20 of us! My dad did his Santa bag gifts for all of the grandchildren. We had a very long day, but loved every minute of it.

Polar Express

We made it to Polar Express! We were really worried about the weather but by the time we got up there it had stopped snowing and the roads were pretty clear. There was tons of snow to play in and we had an absolute blast! It was as close to a real White Christmas as we are going to have. It was so fun to experience it with the girls. Really takes you back to when you were a kid and the magic of believing.

Polar Express

Crazy Busy December

This month is flying by! December 6th was Jason's 35th birthday. We celebrated with the family and then I surprised him with a night away at the Royal Palms resort. It was so romantic and beautiful. We ate at the restaurant there T Cooks and they prepared a special dessert for him.

Madelyn had a holiday dance performance and she is still loving it for now. She is so serious trying not to make a mistake :)

I love the pictures of the girls under the dinning room table. They are playing so nice together lately. They took all of their pillows, stuffed animales and blankets and made a special play area. At first all I could think of was how long it was going to take to put everything back, then I realized how great it was that they were enjoying eachother so much and using their imagination.

Thanksgiving in Big Bear

We had a great time in the mountains. We were there from Wednesday to Sunday. Our time was filled with walks, crafts, horsin around, eating, drinking :), scrappin, playing cards and just being thankful for the love and family that we are so lucky to have. Santa made a visit too and the kids loved that. The men cleaned up after Turkey dinner and I got some funny pictures. The girls are at a great age (finally) for road trips. Everything went so smoothly with our travels. Something else to be thankful for!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Sweet Sisters

I love these pictures of Madelyn reading to Sara. This was two weekends ago.Jason and I got up we wondered why they had not woke us up yet. Sara woke up and went to her sisters room to lay with her. Madelyn decided to let us "sleep in" and kept Sara occupied by reading books to her. They are at such great ages right now. I love that Sara goes to Madelyn in the morning and then they usually come in together to say good morning. Madelyn is really such a good big sister (accept if Sara wants some of her candy :)

Me

Usually the blog is for sharing fun family times, but I wanted to take a moment to share an experience that I am going through so maybe someone else will not have to. To all of my fellow friends and family who are fair skinned and have moles. For me it is really not a big deal, but it could have been. Thanks to my husband who kept bugging and bugging me to go get some moles checked out on my back and behind (of course his favorite view :) They were concerned about five of them initially and one of the first ones they removed came back Melanoma. I am very lucky that they caught it now, because it is the most serious form of skin cancer. They think that they got it all (thanks to my 2 inch incision on my butt!!!). Anyway, they still have three more to remove and hopefully they are benign. I hope to be an example for everyone else to listen. I am the typical busy mom who does not put her health as a priority, but if I don't I wont be around to see my girls grow up. That was what really set in. Thanks to my husband for saving my life, for real. I know that I would not have ever seen it or thought to take the time to go and get it checked.

Trick or Treat 2008

Dora (aka Sara) and Sandy from Grease ( aka Madelyn) had a great time trick or treating at the park behind our house. Grandma, Papa, Nana, Poppie and Uncle Adam and Aunt Danelle helped spread the Halloween spirit. After lots of playing and candy we headed back to our house for some dinner, drinks and MORE candy. Hope everyone had a safe and fun filled Halloween!

Trick or Treat 2008

MacDonald's Ranch

Yesterday we took a trip out to the Wild Wild West for some ranch fun and pumpkin pickin. The girls had a great time feeding the animals, going on a hayride to the pumpkin patch and riding the horses. This was no pony ride. They rode full size horses and were so in LOVE with them. Madelyn waited for her favorite horse Blondie. She even let other kids go in front of her so she could ride her. She told the ranger she bonded with Blondie because she let her smell her. It was cute. So proud of Sara being up on that big horse and not being scared. We left smelling like a stable, but it was worth it!

My little lady

This is Madelyn's Kindergarten picture. I thought she did such good job without me being there to help primp and pose her. She is our "Little Lady."

Race For the Cure

It was a cold and early morning for us today as we went down town for the Race. Nice mother daughter time with Madelyn and our good friends Shawna and Madison. The girls learned a little about why we were doing all of this and I think they got it when we said we were doing it so that when they were older there would hopefully no longer be any women who have to die from breast cancer. Madelyn just wanted to know if we were going to "Win the Race." I had to explain to her that everyone was a winner in this kind of race.