Family Pictures

My wonderful aunt Kristy took our family pictures recently. It sure was a lot of work to get everyone there, dressed and then to smile but they turned out great!!

My darling hubby. This Christmas it has been 11 years since we started dating and 6 1/2 years of marriage.

See her work at www.kristinewoolf.com

Life These Days

I realized that I had not posted since Halloween and could not believe that a month had flown by so fast. We had a really nice Thanksgiving and got to spend time with our families. We feel so lucky to have them close enough that we can hit them in 1 day. Sydney made this adorable Turkey hat in preschool and I had to get a picture. Of course I did not get the picture before Tysen bit off one of the eyes... who knows why he does these things!!

December started off great with Danny having his 90 day review at his new job. It went really well and after some tough negotiating he will be receiving enough compensation for me to be a stay-at-home mom again. I will be giving my notice this weekend and do so with mixed feelings. I am so so happy to be home all week again and spend time with my smart and quickly-growing kiddos, but I am also a little nervous. I enjoyed my time at work and have loved dressing up, getting out of the house and contributing to the household finances. I have weighed all this and still know that my place is at home. So that will kick-off a new/old adventure for January.

We also got our Christmas tree this past weekend and had an impromtu decorating party. Danny's mom and sisters were passing by and got to join in the fun. I love Christmas and as Sydney put it the other day, "I love this Holiday Season!!" Stay tuned for more to come, a Tonks wedding, a baptism and much more!

Bobbi, Alexus and me

Family Picture- never can get Tysen to look at the camera

Nana (Danny's mom) getting love from Tysen.

Halloween 2010

All ready for preschool. Punk rock Halloween

Tinkerbell and Peter Pan

It was hard to get Peter Pan to keep his hat on and harder to get him to stand still!!

Tinkerbell never looked prettier!!

I Love to See the Temple

The LA Temple's Visitor Center recently re-opened and we had heard so many good things that we had to check it out. We finally decided this last Friday to just go after Danny got home from work. Sydney was so excited all day and even called both Grandma's to tell them the exciting news. She was convinced we would see both Jesus and the Holy Ghost on this trip!! We hit only a little traffic and got there in good time. When we climbed out of the car Sydney exclaimed, "This is awesome!!"

The visitor's center is truly incredible and worth the drive. We could have spent hours there because there was so much to see and experience. We got to hear the Christos speak, watched a movie on families, visited the area that looks like Christ's tomb and heard the Prophets testimony. Sydney's favorite part was the kiddie table where you could color and draw pictures of the temple. I am definitely going back, next time without the kids so I can listen to everything without a toddler climbing on all the fixtures. :)

In front of The Christos

Monkey business in the Visitor's Center

Sydney in front of the temple

Sydney and Daddy. After this they had races on the grass!

Me and my love. We never seem to get pictures of us.

Of course, donuts afterwards. No temple trip is complete without them.

I guess she doesn't like green

So I am driving Sydney to preschool and she says, "Green makes me want to throw-up." What do you say to that?! So I just nodded.

Puppy Love

So I have a confession, I do not like dogs. Well all animals to be honest. I can wipe baby bums all day long, but animal grooming, poop, etc grosses me out!! Now my friends have dogs that I do love, but it is because I can play with them and then go home afterwards. No cleanup for this girl! But lately Sydney has been begging for a puppy. I have a hard time saying no to her big browns (and her Daddy's) but I have managed to stay strong. So we went out for a day of shopping with my mom and stopped in at a pet store that I know of that lets you play with the dogs. It is in the Irvine Spectrum, check it out. So we go in and find the little guy below. Hello!! I fell in love! Like to the point that I let him lick my face, I know, gross. But he was so beautiful!! Sydney was rolling the ball for him and instead of playing he walked over and snuggled underneath her arm. Tysen was also in heaven and giggled non stop as the doggy licked his toes and ran around. I almost came home with a dog that day, until the shop owner told me Peke-a-Poo was $800. So we peeled Syd away and left. But we still have the pictures and one day, I am surprised to admit, we may have a dog.

Getting Tysen's toes

Caught on camera! The dog giving me kisses.

Tysen loving on the puppy

Oh the pure joy on her face!

Vegas Baby!

So I had planned a little romantic getaway to Las Vegas with Danny. It was going to be the first time we had left the kids for several nights since Tysen was born, yep, a year ago. So my amazing hubby gets a new job and the trip is off. I was so bummed but then thought, "What the heck, I am going anyways!" So I thought about who I would want to party with and Shandie was the first gal that came to mind. She keeps me laughing all the time and we always have too much fun together. Lucky me she was game and we got to spend 2 nights in Fabulous Las Vegas. No crazy stories, just lots of laying by the pool, reading and eating. There was a creepy guy at the check-in desk, yes we are from California, and no we cannot ride our bikes to the beach! Yep, he asked that, among other random things. Ahhhh Vegas! Oh, and we were called goddesses too. Pretty sure the guys were beyond blitzed, but as a mother of 2, I will take what I can get! Thanks Shand for the perfect getaway.

Enjoying dinner at Max Brenner's

Our dessert at Max Brenner's. Holy Moly!!

Shandie by the Hard Rock Pool. Party at Rehab!!

Night out on the town

Cafe Rio on the way home. So yummy, made my day!

The Long Beach Aquarium

We took a much needed family day and headed down to Long Beach to visit the Aquarium. I had never been before and was not too surprised. They had some cool exhibits, and Sydney loved the fish, but they are fish after all and they do not do much! :) Her favorite part was one of the interactive exhibits where she could touch Starfish, and other water creatures. There was something called a Water Hare that was squishy like what I would imagine a squid would feel like and she loved it. She was so gentle, using 2 fingers to pat it like she was taught by the volunteer. So gross! I made sure that we were all disinfected properly, but it was fun nonetheless.

Checking out the Sting Rays

Sydney staring down a shark, she means business!

Tysen loved the fish and could not be bothered to take a picture.

Isn't she pretty?! I know she is mine, but wow! Such a sweetheart.

Feeding the birds. Tysen, again with the thumb, oh boy!!

I don't know what say, Danny took this picture. Too funny! Our Cali girl

Tysen Turned 1!

Superhero Tysen turned 1 and had a great party with family and friends!

LA Mud Run

This past Saturday we participated in the LA Mud Run at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Our good friends Bryan and Shandie were the ones who talked us into it and it was a lot of fun. It was a 5k with mud obstacles at the beginning and the end. Not as much mud as we were hoping for, but a cool experience nonetheless. Our next stop is the Irvine Mud Run. Watch out, here comes Dirty Deeds! heehee

Me & hubby in our team shirts my brother made

Bryan, Shandie, me and Danny

The kids came too... big thanks yo Brittany for watching them!

Finish line, muddy and tired.

Beach House 2010

We had the opportunity to go to Newport again this year for a week with my family. Every year it gets to be a little more work (I guess because we keep adding kids!) but more worth it because the kids have so much fun. Sydney was the ultimate beach girl, running in the waves, playing with her boogie board and then napping on the sand. Tysen also loved the sand and ate his fair share. It never failed that the minute I laid down to lay-out he would crawl over, climb all over me and leave me a sandy mess. Oh the joys of little boys! My brother Devon and his wife Cailey were also there for the beginning of the week. It was so great to spend time with them and there adorable baby boy Dexter. He is the cutest, happiest baby and we all fell in love with him all over again. We miss you!! :) So here are some pictures...

The Laugh

No one can get Tysen to laugh like Sydney can. Danny got this in his phone and I had to share. They are too cute together, listen to that laugh! Oh, and please do not report me for child nudity...I swear Sydney usually wears clothes, apparently it was an underwear day!

Dance Machine

One day we turned on some Tarzan music for Sydney and to our surprise Tysen busted out his hidden moves. We had never seen him dance before, but he had been taking some notes, and perfecting his moves... enjoy!

Watching the Playhouse Disney Show at Disneyland

Playing in the Bug's Life land

We took Danny's dad to a Quakes game for Father's Day. Sydney met Tremor! :)

Enjoying the ice cream, food... the best part of any sporting event.

Beach Day- it was over cast but the kids still had fun.

The Best Things in Summer

It is officially summer and I love it!! There is lots of fun to be had, like swim lessons, the beach house, park days and spending time with friends. This past Monday we headed out to Simi to visit with our friends. It had been awhile since we had gotten together with all the kids and it was hard to believe how big everyone has gotten. We had to get a picture of all the munchkins, which was a real feat! The best part was playing outside on the Bryce's new grass and enjoying the last sun of the day.

Rhett, Sydney, Tysen and Dylan

The Boys

Brother and Sister

Tysen, always smiling