Spring Break

We had a fun spring break here in Texas and the weather was great until the end, it actually snowed here again on saturday night - the first day of spring. The Dallas /Fort Worth area was actually ranked 4th by the weather channel for having one of the worst winters this year, just as far as abnormal temps and snow/rain go.

Anyway back to spring break - I was horrible as always with taking pictures! I only took pictures on wed which was Aliza's birthday. We started the week off monday with a trip to the movies to see the Princess and the Frog. It was cute and the kids enjoyed it, it was made even better by the fact that the tickets were only .75 cents! Tuesday we went to Chuck E Cheese and played with some friends there, and that night we went out to Dallas to see Uncle Josh who was in town from Arizona for a meeting. The kids were very excited to see Uncle Josh, he is so fun and they talked his ear off all night! Even Lilly was excited about uncle Joshy.

Wednesday was Aliza's birthday so we met up with some friends at McDonalds for a playdate and cupcakes. That night we went bowling which was what Aliza wanted to do most of all! We had lots of fun and then went home and opened some presents! Thursday we were going to try to go to the botanical gardens but traffic was so bad that we turned around and just came home for a quiet day of wii. Friday Lilly had surgery on her eyes in the morning so Don took the kids out in the afternoon so she could have quiet in the house. They went to go see Diary of a Wimpy Kid but it was sold out! So they saw Alice in Wonderland instead which they still seemed to like.

Overall they were very very spoiled and we are ready for school to resume!

I LOVE that face!

Happy Birthday Aliza

Aliza turns 6 years old today! Where has the time gone, she is growing up so fast. Aliza has such a sweet spirit and we are so lucky to have her as our daughter. Aliza is very funny and very dramatic. She loves to color and draw pictures. Her favorite colors are blue and pink, she is in kindergarten this year and is doing well with learning to read, and she has mastered all 100 of her sight words. Aliza's favorite dinner is spaghetti, she would eat it every night if we let her! She also loves french toast and sausage. When Aliza grows up she wants to be a dancer, her favorite show is Barbie. She is very girly and loves to have her nails painted and wear jewlery, she is counting down the time until she can get her ears pierced (we have told her when she is 8)!

Happy Birthday Aliza we all love you so much!

SWANKY PEAR

So my good friend Summer is super talented and has finally started her own craft blog! It is so exciting, go check it out at http://swankypear.blogspot.com/ and grab her button. She has a really cute giveaway right now so hurry on over and enter! And don't forget to check back often to see all her new ideas!

Off to the Races!

PINEWOOD DERBY!!!

I loved pinewood derby growing up, even though of course I never raced a car I always loved watching my brothers race, and they were usually pretty good. So when Ben turned 8 and started cubscouts needless to say I was looking forward to pinewood derby. We took our derby car with us out to California so the uncles could help us as well. Uncle Josh and Andrew gave us some good racing tips but Uncle Dave was the true hero of the hour cutting out the design of the car. Ben and Dad chose a complicated design based off Mario Kart called the Super Blooper. Dad and Ben got it all sanded and painted but I was the one left to finish the construction of the car by putting on the wheels, let me just say I have never felt like swearing more than I did while working on that dang car! I don't know why but those wheels would not go on right, I worked on that car for 4 1/2 hours!! I was not happy, but finally I got them on straight and the car rolling straight and after a quick paint touch up it was ready to go.

Ben was so excited it was very cute. He was so happy with his car he didn't even care how it did. His car held up pretty well, we lost a tire and a fin at one point and the car never raced quite as well the rest of the night but he ended up in the top 10, tied for 9th place and got 4th in the wolf den. He also won best overall design for his car which was super awesome so thanks uncle Dave!

Look at that face! So happy

Third place in this heat

Getting his award from the cub master

cAlIfOrNiA HeRe wE CoMe

Yeah after almost two years we were able to go back home to California to visit my family. We were going out for Andrew's farewell. He recieved his mission call to the New York, New York mission and was reporting to the MTC at the end of February. We left our winter wonderland in Texas and were greeted with 72 degree weather as we walked off the plane in Burbank CA with sweaters and long pants! The weather stayed great the whole time and it was nice to be able to be outside in the nice weather.

One of the trips highlights was going to Disneyland. We participated in Disney's give a day get a day program, which allowed our family to give a day of service in our community in exchange for a day at a Disney Park. We made fleece blankets for project Linus in tarrant county. We each tied to fleece blankets to donate, the kids did a great job so excited to be earning their own ticket to Disneyland. Lilly was so excited about seeing Mickey Mouse it was so stinkin cute! As soon as she walked in the room she was yelling "Hi Mickey, Mickey Hi!" When it was finally her turn she ran right to him and gave him hugs and kisses, she did not want to leave him. She has talked everyday about wanting to go to Mickey's house again. Ben and Aliza had tons of fun as well although Ben decided he was too old for fantasy land because everything there was so boring for him! The kids had earned some spending money before going and they saved it all for Disneyland and loved being able to look around and buy something for themselves.

We had so much fun playing with all the cousins, I hardly saw Ben and Aliza they were always busy playing with someone. They loved going to Uncle Dave's and Aunt Cindy's and there awesome backyard! I got to see some old friends and enjoyed spending time with all my brothers and sisters. Truth be told it was very hard to leave and come back home this time! Dad was only able to stay a few days but the rest of us were able to stay out there for a week. I can't believe that I hardly to any pictures the whole time we were there, I guess I was just to busy.

Winter Wonderland

So now backing up almost a month to Feb 11th, it was a thursday morning and everyone was up and ready for school when we looked outside and saw it was snowing! We were very surprised we were expecting snow but not until later that day and there was already about 2 inches on the ground so we turned on the t.v but school was still on. The kids were very disappointed! It continued to snow hard all day, school let out early so I left work early as well but my real concern was that we were leaving for California on saturday and I was worried about the back log of airport delays! By the time everything was said and done we recieved over 12 inches of snow which was an all time record for Fort Worth! It was fun to see that much snow, we couldn't stay out in it for too long because we don't exactly have snow clothes here in Texas so we would get cold and wet pretty quick! Don actually tried to go to work the next day but couldn't even get up the driveway, so he spent the day shoveling the driveway so we could get out the next day. We made it out to the airport with out any trouble and of course by the time we got home all the beautiful snow was gone :(

In the morning waiting for the bus that never came!

Trying to sled down the hill - too much soft snow

This was at about 5:30p.m it still continued to snow until 3 in the morning

Dad made a small snow hill to sled down

HaPpY BIrtHDaY To mE!!

Wow so much to catch up on! But I will start with my birthday! For my Birthday Don and I went to see Phantom of the Opera in Dallas, it was so awesome I loved it! Then Sunday night we had some friends over for cake. Today I have just enjoyed a lazy rainy day at home and I think to night the "kids" will take me out to dinner since daddy works late! I decorated my own cake this year, Don actually baked them, and it turned out so cute I was pretty happy with it if I do say so myself!

I have also decided to post my before and after weight loss pictures. Last July I joined the gym and have been working with a personal trainer. I am very happy with my results I have lost 30lbs! And my trainer Chris has asked me to be one of his "testimonials"! So soon my picture will be hanging up on the personal training wall at the gym, I am excited it was alot of work but worth it!

Look at all those candles!

Before - taken 3/09

After - taken 2/10