The Quietest Sleepover EVER!

Allison had Lorien and Reanna spend the night tonight. All 3 of them now have iPodtouchs and they spent the first hour or two sitting just like this at the kitchen table. No words were exchanged...they just took turns on each other iPod, seeing what fun Apps they had. They all loved making cupcakes, sandwiches and burgers on certain Apps, searched through tons of background options and played games like DoodleJump and the Moron Test. After a little hot cocoa and some time in the loft to play babies and teacher, they were right back to silence.

They spent about an hour before bed doing the same thing and woke up in the morning to continue. We couldn't help but laugh since I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but it sure was a quiet night and morning at our house!

Carlsbad State Beach

The gorgeous weather continued so we made our way to Carlsbad since Gigi hadn't been there before. Leslie and her girls picked us up and we parked along Coast Highway for a little exercise, lunch and beautiful views.

The girls had fun on their scooters, riding along the path up to town and back down to our car.

Along the way, we stopped to climb rocks, pet cute dogs and play on the jetty.

It is hard to believe this is the first week of winter and we are blessed with a day like today!

Another Sunny Day in Old Town

After seeing that rain is again in the forecast, we knew we needed to take advantage of this beautiful sunny day. Gigi treated us to a fun afternoon in Old Town. This was our first time at the Old Town ice skating rink. It is a great deal and especially fun when it's 70 degrees! Taylor caught on right away, but Allison held on to the wall for quite a while.

Taylor was such a good big sister, holding Allison's hand and giving her the confidence to leave the wall. Allison took a few tumbles, but Taylor was proud to say she didn't fall at all!

After skating, we had lunch at the Bank and walked around Front Street. We always stop in the Old Town Mercantile, the Root Beer Company and the Sweet Shoppe. We love all of the wreaths hanging on the light posts and the new City Hall building is gorgeous. Temecula continues to grow, but Old Town provides such a great small town feel.

We loved the day together and the great weather was just perfect. Gigi is happy to be missing the huge storm hitting the East Coast!

Merry Christmas!

The girls were up at 6:30, eager to head downstairs. Santa left a stocking full of goodies and an ITouch on both chairs in the living room! Allison couldn't believe that Taylor got an ITouch too because she didn't even ask for one. She said "I think I was extra special this year so Santa brought me two, but accidentally put one with Taylor's pile!"

They both got ITunes gift cards, socks and panties, candy, pre-wrap, Bath and Body works goodies and lottery scratchers.
Grandma and Papa were staying in a hotel so we made breakfast and waited for them to arrive before opening all of the presents.

The girls had fun playing Hedbandz, the new game Allison opened last night.

Allison couldn't wait to give Dad all of the gifts she had made both at school and at home. When he was all done opening, we left him no choice but to put it all on together for a few good laughs.
She made him this lovely crown and picture and bought him boxers covered in police cars and donuts. Hilarious and a very good sport!

Gigi loved her Barnes and Noble gift cards and other goodies.

Allison requested this Playdoh kit from Auntie Wendy and was so excited to receive it!

Taylor can't wait to get baking with this new cookbook from Auntie Lisa!

Grandma always cherishs her photo calendar.

Papa took some time to read the latest edition of my blog book.

Everyone was so thankful for all of their gifts and the time together. We spent much of the day playing with our new gadgets and games, eating way too much, and watching some football. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all of the fixings and ended the night watching ELF, which none of the grandparents had seen.

We have been blessed with so much in 2010 and look forward to all that 2011 has in store!

Christmas Eve

We all love our Christmas Eve traditions of photos by the tree...

... church service at 4:30, family dinner, looking at Christmas lights, opening one present and then making all of the preparations for Santa's arrival. Allison was glued to NORAD, tracking Santa's path from Auckland, New Zealand to the United States. She was eager to get to bed when we last saw him in Tennessee, but the girls got everything ready for his arrival first.

Allison put out the Santa Key...

They both put out cookies and milk...

and spread out reindeer food all over the lawn. They were asleep by 9:30 and Santa arrived soon after. For the 3rd year in a row, Allison was so excited to get a call from Santa. Although this year, he coincidentally called during a crying fit. The crying stopped immediately, since Santa assured her he was watching her closely!

Storm of the Decade

The news keeps calling it the Storm of the Decade and I think I would have to agree with them. It has been raining pretty much non-stop since last Thursday and we are going a little stir crazy. We have been watching the pool closely, as it rises higher and higher and the drains are unable to drain fast enough.

Last night the wind howled and rain poured down, keeping us up quite a bit. When I woke up early this morning, I could see the pool had reached its limit. It has been high in years past, but never to the top!

After another solid hour of downpours this morning, it finally overflowed. I'm not panicking yet...the concrete drains seem to be doing their job, but we have buckets ready and our Ark built just in case!

Hawks Holiday Night

Charlie and Mary hosted the 3rd Annual Cookie/Ornament Exchange for our team. The girls each brought 16 of their favorite homemade cookie and a wrapped ornament to exchange. They started the night drinking hot cocoa and munching on popcorn and goodies while watching Elf.
They were a very quiet group tonight, watching the movie with their mouths full.
We took a movie break to exchange ornaments. There was lots of stealing, especially the soccer ornaments.
Taylor got this cute snowman ornament.
Allison loved her chef ornament!

Before the night was over, the girls piled the cookies high on their plates. We had Peanut Butter Balls, Snickerdoodles, Pecan Balls, Rice Krispie Logs, Chocolate Chip and many more. The girls love any chance to get together and get along so well both on and off the field!

2nd Annual White Elephant

Hank and Leslie hosted this year's White Elephant Party and there was plenty of good food and fun for all. I think it is safe to say that we all got a little more creative this year with our gift choices, especially with the $10 limit... Michael drew #1 and chose this lovely number! Hank purchased it at a local pizza place and wrapped in a small jewelry box. Too funny!

Charlie snagged some wonderful toys from the past.

Reanna opened a bag full of sports fan necessities...a vuvuzela, an air horn, glow in the dark tomahawk and baseball cap and some spy glasses.

I was so excited stealing this Funnel Cake maker from Lauren, but it was quickly stolen from me. Leslie, I can't wait to come over for Funnel Cakes!

I ended up with these delicious bacon and cheese flavored crickets...ugh!

Lauren loved her ceramic cow pitcher.

Mary sporting her new reindeer antlers.

Maylie made this lovely God's Eye out of Slim Jim's and Matt was the lucky recipient.

Crazy Eye Racers and a Penguin that poops.

Charlie's childhood toys were stolen by Dominic but he loved his bow and arrow set and his cowboy that grows in water.
Hank with Mega BrowsTaylor was disgusted with her two cow hooves...a special Petco purchase!

Tyan stole Reanna's sport's fan bag, but she was happy with her glow in the dark ducks!

Matt teaching Dominic how to play the vuvuzela. He loved it!

Hank stole the sports bag from Tyan, so Tyan stole the apron from Michael and said "Merry Christmas" to Charlie!

Lisa with her Dookeys...key holders with different poop designs!

Michael was the lucky recipient of Leslie's creativity and hard work. She found these body double magnets online and added photos of some of us to each.

Tyan in the glow in the dark baseball cap.

Lauren tried on Hank's Mega Brows and drank milk through her glasses. Hilarious!

After all of the White Elephant gifts, the girls did a cute gift exchange. There were lots of cute hair clips and several Forever 21 jewelry items exchanged. They know each other well!

We all left with full bellies and some funny gifts and even a few ideas for next year...