A Cactus Christmas - a few highlights!

Not to be forgotten my Christmas baby turned 36 (wow 36) this year!

Some really cute ladies - why am I missing - because I was sick and looked pretty sad compared to these pretty ladies.

A. holding up her new diary!!!

T. sporting her new BSU jersey. Sigh... yes she has officially been brainwashed.

Christmas Eve as the girls try and look as angelic as possible...

Matching jammies from Grandma perhaps??

We were delighted to have a special Christmas Eve program put on by the girls. They were hilarious and took this very serious as they practiced all week. They sang all sorts of Christmas classics and surprised us all with the talent they had (we don't have a lot of known singing talent on my side of the family that is for sure).

Singing a little known song - actually an original composed by the three of them called - I'm scrubbing my armpits. It has yet to take off in the US but I am told is a great international hit song!

The young looking grandparents and their 4 adoring granddaughters.

The Harris Family - not the best picture of me. I was sick as a dog for Christmas. Woo hoo!!

My sis and her family.

An adorable shot of the 4 cousins. Let's just say getting these 4 girls to sit for any period of time for a picture is like herding cats!

December Part II

Hiking the Superstition "Mountain" in AZ!!

A giant lizard enjoying the sunshine and soaking up the rays.

A few more lizards enjoying the sunshine.

We took a fun 3 mile walk in AZ! Let's just say this was the end of the hike and the cousins were still wired and raring to go.

December Part I

Although A. looks pretty chipper in this picture it pretty much sums up the last few weeks in our house as we battled a nasty flu all through Thanksgiving and then all caught colds that we may carry into Christmas. It seems like this is our year to catch everything - darn it!

T. was pretty excited to wear this (much too old for her in her mother's eyes) dress!! She was also celebrating finally feeling well after a few weeks of endless crud!!

Tim's family Christmas was celebrated a little early this year with some extra family that came to town and our impending trip to AZ for the holidays. If you look closely you will see Tim's mom is on a walker - read below for more details.

My favorite picture of A. lounging around and enjoying the first of two Christmases to come.

A rare family photo.

These two are in the cheesy smile phase of life.... grrrr getting a good picture is almost painful.

A. was in her last Christmas program as 2nd grade is the cut off for her school. I was sad to see my baby perform for the last time. I was also proud of her for pulling off a solo speaking part that she was so nervous to do, but did a great job in memorizing her lines.

I let the girls host their first Christmas party with friends. It was a little crazy having 9 girls running around the house but they seemed to have a great time!!

Once again as we enter the holidays, I am reminded of the real meaning of joy during this time. It has been a little bit stressful in our home these days. I always think of the girls' Bible lesson they brought home a few years ago defining joy - finding happiness even when things don't go your way. A few things have certainly not gone the way I planned this month that is for sure - as I mentioned we started with a bang on Thanksgiving with a nasty flu bug! This month has been filled with much fun as well though. The hardest part was Tim's mom took a fall a week ago and broke her hip. I know it certainly put a damper on her plans as well as ours for the season. But I am reminded that while it is stressful there is still so much we have to be thankful for - first and foremost my amazing husband and my beautiful (inside and out) girls. This will certainly be a Christmas to remember for our family for many reasons... Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

SNOW DAY!!

I am not sure where November went?!! I think I blinked and I missed it! We barely had time to get the leaves raked up before our winter came on with a vengeance. The girls enjoyed a snow day - (a first for A.) and T's second snow day (she had her first when she was in first grade). It was a great snow fall for us and makes me wonder what our winter is going to be like with the snow starting this early!

October Updates

One of our favorite relatives tries on T's costume - we all agreed it is not nearly as cute on him!

Our favorite two year old cousin enjoying some much earned sugary goodness from all her hard work of trick or treating! We love this little girl!

T and A counting their candy. It was a "lighter" year this year than last I am told. Is it the economy? The fact that Halloween was on a Sunday or the fact that last year mom was home sick in bed and dad was in charge of how long and how much candy was to be found??

A. and her favorite little man ever!

The girls enjoyed a pre-trick or treat session out at their 94 year old grandfather's assisted living complex! They sure love their papa!

All set and ready to hit the streets!

Meooooowwww!!! Such a purr-fect kitty she made.

T. came home one day and said, "Mom, I don't want to be something boring for Halloween. I want to be something no one else will be." I looked at her and said, "Huh, got any ideas?" To my surprise she replied, "Yep, I want to be a Kleenex box. It would be easy to make and it is recyclable mom." You know she amazes me with her Al Gore like mind for the environment and I loved the fact that her costume only cost me $2!!!

The other major happening this month was we were able to celebrate our very special Grandma's bday! It was such a blessing to still have 4 generations in one room together.

Our Hawaii Ohana

September brought a special visit from our Hawaii relatives. Tim's sis and her hubby came for a quick visit to enjoy some wonderful Idaho fall weather. We took advantage of this and took a few family photos with Tim's wonderful 93 year old grandfather. It was very amusing trying to get the kids and the 93 year old all to look at the right camera and smile. My personal favorite was the one where Tim's head got cut off - serves him right for being 6'5" I would say.

Ok I admit it I am spoiled!!!

California wildlife!! This little guy was persistent and he WAS going to sit on this dock despite all the efforts to keep the sea lions at BAY (bad joke I admit).

A jellyfish infestation - I have never and I mean never seen so many jellyfish in my entire life.

More jellyfish....A little backyard invader in some lucky Pebble Beach landowners yard.

This pic is for my Dad the golfing nut. I did not realize the Lone Cypress was still standing at Pebble Beach. I chuckled at all the efforts that were being taken to try and fight mother nature from taking this tree down. All in the name of advertising I suppose...

I love these little creatures and can watch them all day.

Driving this bridge was on Tim's bucket list - supposedly. I think we need to expand this list!!

I thought this little guy was so cute and I loved his freckles!!

It is weird and RARE to have pics of just me. I almost did not post this one but I have some pesky friends and I could just hear their little voices in my head pestering me by the fact that I did not post one of me (yes, Sara and Meg you know I am talking to you).

We were a little bummed by this fog but what did I expect I suppose??? Can you guess where all these were taken? I promised to do better on keeping up with my blog posts so I will take advantage of this moment to brag on my husband. Tim planned a weekend get-a-way last month to celebrate my 35th bday. I am guessing from the pics most people can guess where we went. We flew to San Fran and then drove down to the Monterrey Bay area. It was very fun and very relaxing.