Gigi's 3rd Birthday

I can hardly believe that we have celebrated Gigi's birthday two times already! (She's three but we had her before she turned two). Boy time flies. It was so fun having all our friends/family hang out at the house celebrating her special day! She was in heaven being the center of attention in her cupcake dress, custom made by Grandma. Traci was the master mind behind the adorable cupcake theme making a happy birthday banner and "cupcake" party favors and our incredible neighbor, Auntie Dee Dee made the mini cupcakes and special huge Cupcake cake for her birthday. What an amazing outpouring of love this little girls was showered with for her special day.

Happy Father's Day

Like any good holiday we were booked to the gills with places to be...I was a part of drama at church for the first two morning services. I managed to sneek over to Heritage to get Greg a gigantic cinamon roll which he requested for breakfast. We then headed over to his parents to wish his papa a happy father's day...how did I manage not to get a picture of him?? That was cut short by having to be back at church. We quickly stopped at my folks to give dad a hug & kiss (we celebrated with him on sat) Greg had to run sound and I was on praise team. Halogen had a bbq afterwards so that's where we had dinner. Came back home and literally crashed into bed. I'm not sure how relaxing Father's day was for Greg but he gets to really celebrate it next week mon - a full day of golf - kid free.

Dirty Dancing

Me, Lola & Dee Dee



Me & Dee Dee inside the pantages (trying to get a shot of the set behind us)


I was an honorary family member on Sun with the Bonfield girls.

My neighbor Dee Dee invited me to go along with her family members for a girls afternoon out to the theater and dinner. We saw Dirty Dancing at the Pantages and had dinner at Tony Romas all compliments of her sweet mama Lola.

We had a blast...the dancing was amazing and the set was like none I had seen before, it used a lot of techology for the backdrop - I don't want to say too much lest I spoil it for some of you that might be going to see it.

It's always fun to have a girls day out!

Cotillion End of the year Party 2009

The amazing menu (my entree of choice - yeah, that would be the lobster!



A cohort in crime - Christie & me



hmmm...what could this be??



I've flipped for the Flip



The girls- Nicole, Rebekah, Gena & Christie


Yup...it's another post on our Cotillion party...seems like I just did this for last year.
Boy time flies. Once again, I overindulged with amazing food,

Ah, my yearly fix of Lobster!

The staff is like little kids at Christmas guessing what goody could possibly be in those red polka dotted bags....

drum roll....

Flip video cameras!!!

I was so excited because I've been wanting to do more video of the girls but our camera isn't the easiest access and I'm always out of tape or battery or whatever. With the Flip it's all digital, I can upload it to my laptop, edit, add music, it's amazing. So thank you to the Martines for always making the dinner so memorable and the working experience so enjoyable!

Foster Family Fun Day!

The faith based community in Long Beach put together an amazing event for foster familes and prospective families with booths, food and lots of activities for the kiddos. Gennary had a blast from cotton candy & sno cones to getting her nails painted in the "princess for a day" booth. A big thank you to all the volunteers who spent time out of their sat to celebrate these amazing children and their foster families!

Free Methodist Conference Ordination

Izzy & Audrey w/ Audrey's grandparents



I am proud of my honey!



Audrey & me



Jervaun & me (Jervaun was a former Mrs. CA - she actually crowned me and she happens to be a missionary to Ethiopia with her family, what a small world!)


Carlos (our worship leader), Sandy (children's ministry), Fern & Greg


Greg and I took the girls to stay with his sis in Menifee this week for Greg to attend the annual FM conference. Izzy (our pastor) was being ordained and Greg was recieving his "official" certificate as a LMC (Licensed Ministerial Candidate) They had a wonderful service for the ordination and we are so proud of Izzy for the amazing amount of work he's put into getting this far.

Mother's Day 2009

Me and my girlies



Celebrating my Mom



Celebrating Greg's Mom


I love my stepping stone!



Two precious handprints that made me a mommy!


I cannot believe that I have officially celebrated my second mother's day! What an amazing journey this has been. Greg was the mastermind behind my day of pampering as the girls are just a tad too small to even understand what mother's day is about...all in time right? Not only did I get time for myself to do "whatever" (which doesn't happen all that often) he completely cleaned the house for me and had the girls make me a special stepping stone for my garden with their handprints. That was the sweetest thing b/c Greg knows how sentimental I am. We had the chance to BBQ with his family, did a pit stop at mine and then enjoy the evening at Halogen (our church) for a special mothers day service. All in all - a wonderful day! Happy Mother's day to all you special women out there who provide love and nurturing to others whether those "others" came from your belly or your heart you are true heroes!

World Figure Skating Championships

Last month Greg took me to the Staples center to watch the World Figure Skating Champions Exhibition. This was actually my Valentines day present from him. Most people don't know that I spent many many years as a figure skater myself and had hopes (like every little kid in these types of sports) to go to the Olympics. Obviously, that never happened but my love for the sport hasn't died. So, for Greg to sit through an entire afternoon of skating was truly a gift of love for me...and when all was said and done I think he had a greater appreciation for the sport. It is definitely more impressive in person than t.v.

My Fair Lady

Last night Greg and I were treated to dinner and a show at the Curtain Call Theater with my parents. They love to treat us to something for special celebrations so this was our anniversary present from them. Good food and a great show with a night free of kiddos - now that's a treat!

Fist visit to the Dentist

"Hey, this place is pretty cool!"

This isn't my idea of a good time

Daddy daughter xrays


You know how you feel about the Dentist as an adult so you can imagine wondering how two little girls are going to react to their first dental visit.

Well, it went great!

G was so good she even let the dentist take x-rays, something he said not many 2 year olds let him do.

While she loved him checking out her teeth, C wasn't so sure it was a good idea..but she made it through.

So the verdict of our visit -

One big cavaity that G's going to need filled,, ugh!

At least visit number one was successful. Here's to sedations and cavities filled at visit two...to be continued.

She's One!

Grandma made special cupcakes for her very first Breakfast birthday party.


It's hard to believe that a year ago Greg and I brought home a beautiful tiny little baby girl straight from the hospital. We had no clue how long we would be the parents to this precious little one but we committed to love her as our own no matter how long we would be graced with her presence. Here we are one year later, with a spirited, loving little girl who brings us so much joy. Happy Birthday Baby!

So I stink at blogging

My girlfriend Traci, who only has the world's cutest blog and is just good like that (ps she designed my header) sent me a harsh note that it's march and I still have "meeting Santa" as my "latest" blog. So here's to you Traci...I updated my blog. And I'm stealing our spa picture....

We were able to steal away for a few hours, thanks to our dear hubbies taking care of the kids to get a little pampering from Burke Williams. All I can say is yum.

Meeting Santa

So, the first time G met Santa, let's just say it was not a good first impression. Since then I had two weeks to pump her up on everything Santa before our Foster Family Agency Christmas party where Santa was to make a debut.

We made ornaments, ate food, talked with other foster families and then the big moment arrived...Santa...all the kids sat out front and waited for their turn to sit on Santa's lap. The younger ones went first...which meant G didn't get to see how it was supposed to be done. So, I sat her down and as they say a picture speaks a thousand words....


Sheer panic

He has gifts???

Hey this isn't so bad...


Little C was just oblivious to the whole thing...hey where are my socks mom???

Birthday Freebies

I often check out other blogs for deals and freebies and a good one I recently came across has access to all the different freebies one can get on their birthday or just for signing up to their e-clubs. Many of them are for restaurants etc...so it's worth checking out. With the economy these days we could all use a freebie here and there. Enjoy! (click below)
Freebies 4 Mom: Birthday Freebies *January Update*

Cruisin through Naples

There's an area in Long Beach called Naples that goes off the hook every year with homes that decorate up the hilt. We spent the evening with our friends Meredith & Horacio and their little guy walking the canals and enjoying the festive atmosphere.