What Grandma Judy Got Us!

Okay, so this first picture of Becca tells it all- they are starting to love clothes, and since we were all made up already from playing Rockstars, they didn't mind posing in the clothes they got with the money Grandma Judy sent them. I had a great time bargain hunting, and got a lot! Here they are in their new jeans and sweaters. Becca's grey sweater has some silver threading around the middle, and its really pretty (you may be able to see it if you click on the photo and enlarge it)...

yes, she said she felt like a princess today, and had to wear her tiara...

They each got their own pair of these Mudd brand boots and Champion tennies, RIDICULOUSLY marked down...

Mal wanted to make sure you knew that she still has and loves "Pinky the Birthday Poodle" very much!

Her sweater has little rhinestones around the top of it...

I love my jeans and sweater!

And now for the Camp Rock jammies and slippers (they decided they had to wear the wannabe Ray-Bans at this point, since they had forgotten about them earlier)....

Thank you so much for all this great stuff! We had lots of fun modeling our presents from you, and we will think of you when we wear them!

Girls Day Out and Makeovers!

On December 30th, the girls and I went to Fresno for a really fun girls day out. We had a great time at both Fashion Fair and Riverpark Malls; we shopped, went to Color Me Mine, and ate dinner. I got to spend my birthday and Christmas money and gift cards for Anne Taylor Loft and Sephora (THANKS, Judy and Jeb and Amber!). I did pretty well, ending up with 2 blouses, 2 sweaters and a pair of sunglasses from Anne Taylor, and perfume, lipstick, eyeshadow, moisturizer and shower gel from Sephora. We had to walk right past Club Libby Lu to get to my stores, and the girls were being good, so we went in, and this was the low point of our day- LIBBY LU IS NO LONGER! Apparently they are owned by Saks' Fifth Avenue, and in these uncertain times, they have decided to absorb Libby Lu so they can focus all their energies on Saks'. This blew my mind, since every time we have been by this one or the one at Disney, there are plenty of girls and their Moms buying stuff. So anyway, they were having a huge clearance on everything, and the girls got "I Love Joe Jonas" shirts, play rockstar headsets, fake Ray-Bans and "PiNK!" glitter hairspray to play with at home (You can't leave there with at least one can, it smells so sweet and girly!). Sooo, this is a little photo spread of the makeover fun we had today...

They were so excited for me to do hair and makeup on them! I did a twisty-up-into-two-little-poofy-pompoms thing, and sprayed glitter all over it, although the glitter didn't show up on the pics too well. Probably not as good as they do at Libby Lu, but we had a lot of fun trying. Of course there was lots of pink, silver and glitter on the eyes and lips too!

Mom took a little while figuring out how to do it...

When is it my turn????

Almost ready to rock!

Now we're rockin' the pop-princess style!!!

Mal, looking cute...

"Rock on, dudes", as Becca would say when she plays Guitar Hero

My turn with the guitar!

Love ya! Here are some possible poses for the cover of our first album! (haha...)

Thanks, Mommy for the Rockstar Makeovers!!!

SO ANYWAY, back to the day in Fresno...

We left Fashion Fair and headed to Riverpark, for Color Me Mine. We had never done this before, so we were all pretty excited to try it out

Mallory painting her plate, entitled "Princess Mallory"

and Becca working on her creation, "Princess Becca." It is funny how when one of them gets a good idea, they both want to go with it...

At first, they didn't understand why they had to leave them there, and that they would pick them up on January 7th. I had to explain how they would fire it in a big oven, and it would make the paint have a shiny finish. We will have to take a picture of them holding the finished products when they pick them up.

Last, we went to dinner...
All that shopping and painting made us hungry, so we ate at Johnny Rocket's, also at Riverpark. It is a 50's style diner with great burgers, fries, and shakes. Here is Mallory dipping her fries in the happy face the waitress made with ketchup in the little dipping bowl. Becca was sitting next to me acting strange, and not wanting her picture taken much. We finished the meal by sharing a strawberry shake!

This day made me realize how fast our lives are going by, and that we need to do this more often! We love having Kris around, but I think it is so important to have some mother-daughter bonding time! I know the girls agree, so we will keep you posted on what we decide to do next time!!!

Christmas in Oregon!

We had a great time in Oregon for Christmas!

December 24th

After some delay on Shasta getting over the pass, we finally made it late on Christmas Eve. The girls were so excited to be there, we had to let them wind down a little. Then we reminded them that we "barely beat Santa there" and they had better get to bed...

On the way through town, we saw many lights. This is one we found later on while driving around after dinner one night. We joked that the house should be spinning, not the electric meter! It was cool to drive around the town and follow the "trail of lights", different businesses had light displays, ranging from the manger scene to deer, ducks, fly fishing you know, "typical Oregon stuff" :) ... I really should have taken more pictures, but I had misplaced my camera before we left, and had to rely on my iPhone, which actually didn't do too bad. Wouldn't you know it, Kris and I were straightening our room up this week, and he found my camera, though!

December 25th CHRISTMAS!!!

The girls were so excited to open all of their gifts! They were especially excited to get the Pixos

and Troy and Ryan dolls (High School Musical)...

and new scooters! Thanks sooo sooo much Grandma Carol and Grandpa John! I have to post some pictures of them riding them for you...

They also had a great time opening gifts that I bought with the money that Grandma Judy sent them! I had a great time seeing how much I could get with the money, and she will be amazed when I take pictures of them modeling their pajamas, slippers, jeans, sweaters, and two pair of shoes EACH (Yes- three of my favorite stores- Target, Famous Footwear, and Payless were all having sales!!!). And before you say "booooorring", just know that they are starting to get in to clothes and shopping. You will see when they model them for you, they absolutely love them, and will be sending you their Grandma Judy a thank you on this blog and in the regular mail too! We were also excited to get a web cam from Grandpa Dennis, and figured out how to use it when we got home! Now we can talk to everyone who has a web cam that way. That was truly a great gift that will definitely keep giving every time we get to see and hear all of you! Thanks so much!

We spent the rest of the day playing with the girls' new toys, eating a yummy dinner, and watching A Christmas Story...

December 26th
The day after Christmas, we played in the snow, both at the park and around my parents' house.

The first thing they wanted to do was attack each other with the snow, then they both got mad at each other, and had to make up. They made angels and started to get along better, though. I had bought them new snow pants, so they just wanted to live in those the whole time, and they pretty much did! After eating lunch at a delicious Barbeque place called "Wubba's", we went sledding. They had a great time with the sled that Santa left for any grandkids who happen to come visit. This hill doesn't look steep, but it was a good one, with just enough incline at the beginning to get some speed and a long ride. Mom and I also made cookies and peppermint bark candy that day. Yum!

This is the view down my parents' street! After we left, it rained several days in a row, and some of the snow left. It snowed a lot while we were there, though!

Here are the "Snow Chicks" again, having a great time!

That evening, we had fun staying up till the wee hours on the computer giggling getting my mom set up on blogger and myspace! I hope she keeps up with both of them!

December 27th

The next day, Saturday December 27th, was our 18th wedding anniversary! It is so hard to believe it has been that long. We went to a special dinner at a restaurant by the golf course called "Nibbley's on the Green". It was very nice, and I am sad that I forgot to take pictures. I don't think my parents or Kris remembered to either. The food was OUTSTANDING!- Kris got a ribeye steak with coconut shrimp, potatoes, and vegetables, and the girls and I shared the biggest and most delicious plate of chicken alfredo ever!. My dad let me taste his plank salmon, and it was so tender and delicious. Before the meal, they gave us some soup that had vegetables and spicy italian sausage, and that was good too! Since we weren't holding back, we had to share an order of the italian cream cake- out of control good!! The girls shared a huge red velvet cupcake with white buttercream frosting, and now Becca has decided that is the best kind of cake ever, and she wants one for her birthday cake.

December 28th

We packed, enjoyed the coziness of parents' house, and loaded up. We went out for pizza, then headed home. It was a fun-filled few days! We didn't end up leaving until 2 p.m., but the drive home was so smooth, we were home at exactly 10:00! Kris did an awesome job of getting us there and home safely!

WE MISS YOU GRANDMA CAROL AND GRANDPA JOHN! Can't wait till you come see us in April!

Catching Up! September-December!!!

OKAY, so I have been a LITTLE busy completing my thesis and Master's program! It was so crazy to do a thesis in under 4 months! WOOOHOOO, I made it though, and am so glad that I did it! Now that I am finished, I am so much more relaxed, and have time to spend on this blog! SO I will start with the more recent events, and work backwards...

December


Small World looks so pretty at Christmastime

December 13th, Disneyland!

Okay, So on the weekend of my birthday, December 13, we went to Disneyland, to see it all decorated for Christmas. What was funny was that I was one of 3 members of my staff that decided to be there on a Friday with their families. Kris and the girls and I had a great time, and did a few things we hadn't done together before, like go up into the castle and see the new display of the story of Sleeping Beauty. It used to be dioramas, but now they move, and have animations with lights and sounds. The girls rode the zip line in the Brother Bear Forest and loved it, and watched the Muppet Show 3D. Later that night, we met up with my friend Heidi and her family and we went in the Haunted Mansion together. It is so cool at Christmas because they change the whole thing to have a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. The girls love it. However, they will both tell you that their favorite things are the rollercoasters there- the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and California Screamin'. It was a great day, and we were back at my sister's by 10. The next day we went out to Mama Carpino's, a YUMMY Italian place not far from their house. The chicken parmagiana is to die for, and the kids shared a pizza, which they loved! We also exchanged Christmas gifts, and had a great time relaxing at the house!


The castle at night, and during the day!

Of course, we had to eat with the monkeys, fish and elephants at the Rainforest Cafe...

and see the HSM 3 Performance, which I must say, was a pretty good show...

and enjoy the big tree in California Adventure!

and hang with Pluto...

and Stitch!

Flippie Hair Cuts!

Toward the end of my parents' month here in September, my mom and I decided to take Bec and Mal in for a makeover. They looked so cute with this cut that we couldn't believe it! This is after a trim they had when we returned from Disneyland, and it flips much better again! I absolutely love this cut on both of them! (Becca has no bangs because it's easier for dance, when she starts up again someday soon)...

Ahhhh, sisterly love!!!
I took these pictures in the park by our house with my iPhone, and was so impressed with myself that one of them is going to end up on our Christmas card! It's not often I take pictures that I am totally happy with!

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

We were invited to spend the weekend with Jeb and Amber, and we had a great time. We ate lots of great food with them, Jeb's parents, his aunt, and his Grandma. They are the nicest, and always treat us like part of the family too. Amber and I went stark raving mad with our shopping ALL NIGHT LONG on Thanksgiving night in Barstow and the next day at Target, Kmart, and the Victor Valley Mall, with Brooklynn in tow for much of the journey! She was a very good shopper too. Somehow, we rested some, and still managed to make cookies with the kids

Becca got caught in the act of sneaking frosting!

they had so much fun customizing the cookies, although I didn't take pictures of the cookies, just the kids in the process of decorating.

HALLOWEEN 2008!

It just so happened to work out, since it was on a Friday, that my my sister came to visit. That, and they had an engagement party to go to. So we had a great time going around the neighborhood with the superheroes! After that, they got hungry, and they got to wear their costumes to Me'N'Ed's pizza, where a bunch of other kids and adults had costumes on still too.

using their super powers! and being super cute!

WELCOME BROOKLYNN SIERRA!!! SEPTEMBER 15th, 2008!

Brooklynn arrived, and we got there a couple of days later to meet her. I felt bad, because I didn't get to be a part of the delivery, like with Grant. But once I held her, I think we bonded. I like to think I am one of her favorite people, since a lot of times, I can get her to calm down if she starts to fuss. She is the sweetest little thing, but very wriggly and strong. The girls get a kick out of making her laugh-she is so good-natured. She is our "sister girl" and we love her very, very much!

aren't they the cutest family?
Grant loves being a big brother, and it's so cute to see him come up and give her the random kiss on the cheek :)


Brooklynn's first studio shot- 2 1/2 months!

SOOO, now you are officially CAUGHT UP. I am going to try not to get so far behind anymore!

It's too hard to catch up!