Our New Thanksgiving Tradition

This year we decided to start a new Thanksgiving tradition at our house . . . instead of hitting the early Christmas shopping we want to spend the day after Christmas enjoying the beautiful world we live in. This year we found one of the prettiest hikes around. We, of course, way over estimated how much we could do with each of us needing to carry a kid on our backs for most of the EIGHT miles, not to mention the majority of the last four miles being all uphill, however, we are still glad that we did it. Brie loved discovering all the cool things there were to see like bright yellow Banana Slugs, wild mushrooms in about every color you can think of, moss on all the trees, and even a brown lizard. The waterfall at the end of the hike was totally worth the trip out there. And even Gavin seemed to really enjoy the trip despite the fact that he was in a backpack most of the time and it was only 54 degrees outside, he never fussed once! He just sat in the backpack talking to all the trees and pulling mommy's hair. We are truly thankful to live in such a beautiful place, and to have been able to spend our Thanksgiving together as a family.

GO UTES!!!

The Marine Corps Ball

We had a really great time at the ball this year. We stayed out way too late and we were way too tired the next day, but we finally got to dance all we wanted to.

Lover's Point

We live in one of the prettiest places in the whole world. We took a walk as a family down by Lover's Point this weekend, and it was awesome. It's really nice to have both the kids strapped down in a backpack as well!!

Happy Halloween Birthday!!!

Today was warm and beautiful. Our kids had a blast at a pumpkin patch and later at the Trunk or Treat. Lowell has now joined us in our 30's and we're happy to have him here!!! Brie was a beautiful princess and Gavin was a scarry dragon . . . complete with growling . . . and a big cheesy smile. We really really enjoyed the day and we're already making plans for next year.

The SanFran Zoo

Yesterday we took a long trip up to the San Francisco Zoo. Brie and Gavin loved all the animals, and they managed to have fun together as well. All day Brie talked about how "exskited" she was to be at the "jungle."

On another note, it might interest everyone to know that Brie and Prince Eric are officially through. She doesn't like him anymore, so "the Futures" took him away. (I still haven't quite figured that one out yet.) So she and Freddie (as in Scooby-Doo's pal) are still pretty tight, however, there is a new number one man in her life, and that's Harry Potter. I think she is quite wise to chose a Magical Best Friend this time, he can get her all sorts of stuff, and he would be VERY good at protecting her from all the monsters. She has also decided that she is definately going to be "Ariel" for Halloween, and in a bizarre twist, Harry Potter will be accompanying her as . . . Prince Eric.

The Pumpkin Patch

We love this time of year! And it has even started to feel like fall in Monterey, nice and chilly. We decided it was time to hit a pumpkin patch, and Brie cruised the pumpkins for about a half an hour to find her specific pumpkin. She kept saying over and over, "I LOVE this place!" Brie's really into pumpkins. She plays with them for the whole month of October like they are her babies!! Gavin was just along for the ride . . . literally.

Princesses Rock

Every day is a new adventure for Brie, but one thing remains constant, she's a princess. Here we have the "Blanket-Wrap and matching Baby" Princess, the "Put on as much stuff as possible" Princess, the "Pull-up" Princess, and my personal favorite, "Stripey with an Attitude" Princess. She keeps us laughing.

Happy 30th Birthday Mommy!!

I had the best 30th birthday anyone could ever ask for!! Lowell took us out to the beach for a beautiful picnic . . . but, it was a little bit too windy so our food was full of sand, so instead we decided to take a drive up the coast past Santa Cruz. It is such a beautiful drive, and we spent the whole day as a family enjoying the view of the ocean and even found this lighthouse! Gavin got to taste ice cream for the first time . . . and he finished about half of my A&W Root beer Frosty!! A child after my own heart. I feel no regrets at leaving my 20's behind. I have been so many places and I'm surrounded by an awesome family and I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I decided that my 20's were all about learning new things, and my 30's are going to be about Living.

Our Cute Kids

These are some of my all time favorite shots of our cute kids. Gavin loves to suck on his lips like this and Brie loves Gavin sooooo much. Then of course Gavin is the big cheese in the family, and Lowell and Brie have the same look on their faces in the next shot which is super super cute.

Yosemite the Beautiful

Our trip to Yosemite over Labor Day weekend was super awesome! It was so beautiful and despite the fact that it was over 100 degrees the first two days, Gavin was trying to get SIX teeth in at the same time! I got sick the last day, and there was a bear roaming our campground at night that scratched our car and ate our friends food and made it so we were too scared to leave our tent to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night so you just had to hold it until daylight . . . well, we had lots and lots and lots of fun!