John McCain, or is it?

Pool side on Thanksgiving!

I would be the first to admit that being in a bathing suit for Thanksgiving took a couple of years to get used to. Not only the bathing suit part, but the warm weather. Growing up in Nevada, we always either celebrated in Reno or Tahoe and it was always cold. Well, times have changed. Playing in the pool helps us all work up an appetite for that YUMMY Thanksgiving dinner Craigs mom always prepares for the family! This year was no different. We spent many afternoons by/in the pool. It was extra special because EVERYONE joined us! We even ate our Thanksgiving feast outdoors this year. What more could we be thankful for? Great food, happy times, and many memories were made!

They call it the Happiest Place on Earth.......

it was the exact opposite for us. This year Craigs sister Andrea gave us all an amazing early Christmas gift! It was a day at DisneyLand! We have been waiting and waiting for the day to come (the twins first time there) and it did, along with a flu bug! We were in the gates for about 10 minutes and BAHM as Emeril says, Jackson turned a shade of green like I have never seen before and got sick. We thought that maybe we could stick it out and just take it easy at the beginning of the day. We were way WRONG! We all went on one ride (the closest ones we could find) and then decided to go and try to eat something to try to make it better and while Craig and Griffen were standing in line it hit Griffen, or should I say it hit Craig. ;) That was it. It was official, DisneyLand would have to wait. It was such a bummer Craig and I almost cried, not really, but seriously, who doesn't like to see the huge smiles on their kids faces when they are experiencing DisneyLand for the first time & Jackson was so excited to do the StarWars JEDI training. The only thing our childrens faces where saying loudly was, TAKE ME HOME! We were sent to City Hall (Disney style) to have a meeting with the 'Mayor' to ask what they could do for us. They were great. We were given a 2 year raincheck for enterance into the park and our money back for the stroller rental. I guess that is why it's known as The Happiest Place on Earth! Jackson has March off of school so we will try again then. Keep your fingers crossed.........

Thats My Girl!

It looks as though I have passed on the 'Need to Vacuum' gene. I LOVE vacuuming and now have to share. This has become one of Avarys favorite things to do as well!

Just another night in paradise.

The view from our room in Tahoe, November 2009.

Pretty much how we spent our days in Tahoe...

Bullseye, or is it, Bullsear!

The one day that we were able to leave our room, Jackson and Craig had a snow-ball fight and Jackson nailed Craig right in the ear! I was pretty funny!

These little piggys went to Tahoe!

Look Mom what I made!


Avary held her hands like this the whole time she had her gloves on.



I mean really, how much better can it get?


Well, it happened. We (except Jackson) all ended up with H1N1. Of course it happened the weekend before we were set to be in Tahoe for our annual family vacation. It was either stay in Sacramento and be miserable or go to Tahoe and be miserable. We, I guess, I chose the latter. While Craig was in bed with a high fever and the twins were on the floor with the same, I packed up all our stuff and we headed out the door. It was the best idea I have ever had. There was no chores, no need to go up and down the stairs to get someone something. Just a nice, quiet, relaxing week that helped us all feel better. It wasn't the most fun we have had up there, but it was definetly the most needed. We even woke up to snow one morning!

Go Ducks!

With me and Avary having a bug, it was clear that the boys needed to run for the hills to try to avoid getting sick as well. Just so happens that the Oregon Ducks were in Palo Alto playing Stanford! Perfect! They packed up and headed out for a boys day football game. They had a great time and as you can see, Craig did a great job wearing them out! The Ducks put on a good fight, but lost, and it looks as though Griffen might have lost his game against the germs too.

"Don't Worry About It"

Griffen had a poopy diaper for obviously too long and got a red butt. I told him that if he would just go potty in the potty this would stop happening. His response,"Mom, don't worry about it. I will just find an adult and ask them to change me and put medicine on it."

This might be the year to come clean.

So, Jacksons list has been written and what a list it is! It was written on the front and back, upside down, and sideways! Anyway, moral of the story is Santa will not be doing lists this year. We tried to explain that Santa doesn't have enough money for most of this and his reply of course was, "Santa doesn't need money, he has elves." This Santa has NO ELVES!!

I know this is kinda weird......

but I had to share it with you. I was making dinner tonight and cut into a bell pepper and found a little one inside! How cute/cool/crazy is that? Hopefully Craig recognizes just what a smart shopper I truly am, two peppers for the price of one! What a deal! :)

Trick~or~Treat!

Well, the night was a success and the trading of candy hasn't stopped. All three brought home way too much candy and had a lot of fun! Griffen and Avary have been trying to remember who gave them each piece of candy all morning. Happy Halloween!