The Nutcracker Ballet

I have heard of the Nutcracker but never read the story or seen the performance before. This year, our friend Delaney was selected to do three parts in the San Joaquin/P.O.P.A presentation of the Ballet so Tori and I along with our good friends from Ripon Elementary made a fun night out to watch and support our little friend. We went to dinner at Cocoro (sp?) a Japanese restaurant in Stockton. Tori and Kadee were brave to tried sushi but not me... Sorry, just could not do it. I had teriaki and was yummy! We had a great time talking and laughing.
After dinner we were off to the show. What a show! Tori and I had a blast watching the beautiful performance and Delaney did a wonderful job. This was a great mother-daughter activity and we can't wait untill the next girls night out!

Brasil... Here we go!

June 6, 2011.... Glen and I will be taking our 15th year anniversary trip to Brazil. I am soooo excited and can't wait! It has been 5 1/2 years since I made the trip home and sadly was because my father had passed away. The kids will be very sad to hear we are leaving them behind this time around... I have not shared this news with them yet because I don't want to hear "why can't we go?"! I know, I know... So mean!

We have the tickets and now trying to get passports (and visa for Glen) taken care of and plan our tourist stops. We will be flying into Sao Paulo so I can visit my mom, my sister and her family. Then off to Rio to visit my aunts, uncles and cousins. Then... trying to decide between Fortaleza and Curitiba. Both places are beautiful with different things to do but I really would love to go to Fortaleza where it is warm and I could see some old friends. However, the tickets are expensive so we will most likely to go to Curitiba but very happy either way! So EXCITED!!!!! My mom can't wait till we get there either... she already called the entire family to plan for my arrival!!! Lol! Below are some pictures of the places we will be going or might go! I will add more later!

Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Fortaleza, & Curitiba

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since Glen and I moved to Ripon, our family tradition has been for the boys to go play flag football with the guys from church, while I stay home and start on dinner. This year, Tori and I started our own tradition and we participated in the Turkey Trot in Modesto. There were over a 1000 runners and very chaotic, but that didn't scare us away. After adjusting to the trail and finding a good spot between the people, we kept a good pace. At the end of the trail, I heard my boss and his wife cheering for us as we got close to the finish line.... so nice to hear the cheers and gave us an extra little boost to cross the finish line. Tori and I were nervous at the beginning but excited to that we finished strong!

Came home and started on the turkey. I have to confess... I am not making the rolls this year, instead we are having Costco rolls! OK, since I confessed about the rolls.... I have to say that I also bought the pie! I am cooking the turkey and Glen is making the mashed potatoes!

Our other Thanksgiving day tradition is to go through the adds and figure out what we want to buy at the black Friday. We map out our stores, what we need to buy and the times. The stores are starting to mess our plans by opening the stores earlier and earlier but... We LOVE going! So here are 2 of my favorite commercials from target.... TOO FUNNY!






And this is Glen's.... Yes... He is the guy that will be glued to the door!



Hope everyone has a great day with family and friends. I am thankful for my husband, my wonderful kids, my extended family and my dear friends that has accepted me the way I am!

Turkey Trot!

It's official.... Tori and I are signed up to run the Modesto 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day! Our first official run! Our goal is to run the Modesto half marathon in March... I am scared but excited the same time. Tori has become my inspiration and my support. Who would it thought that running would bring us closer together? I am loving the time we are spending together and working on achieving our goal.

Susan and I supporting Tori in achieving her (our!) goal. We wore our training shirts to school! Tori was super excited to show off her new outfit and be a part of Mrs. Taylor's team!

PARTY!!!

So, I had a dream that my kids were going to have THE best birthday party EVER, well... It was the BIGGEST headache EVER and... I guess it was also the best birthday/Halloween party they've had (I combined their bdays even though they are 4 months apart!).

My vision was for them to have a haunted house that the kids had to walk through the get to my backyard. I borrowed tons of Halloween decorations and different scary items from different friends and had a small but very cool haunted house on the side of the backyard.

Everything was ready...

costume for everyone... check!

Decorations...Check!

Music... Check!

Tons of candy and food... Check, Check!

RAIN? Wait... NOOOO!

Yes, it was a cold and rainy evening, all the girls were freezing and the boys too. No other way but to tell everyone to go inside. Yes, over 50 people inside my little kitchen and family room. BUT that didn't stop us from having a blast. We played a few games and then.... the rain stopped and everyone back outside! Kids liked the haunted house and some girls were petrified... WHAT? I know.... crazy girls! I built the darn thing so it can't be that scary! lol! Anyways... We played more games, danced and sang the bday song twice! I am sure my neighbors wanted to hurt me but I did give them a heads up! So, at about 10:45 our last friend left and we were beat and left with the BIGGEST mess EVER! But I am glad my kids had fun and their friends did too. I will post more pictures soon!

IF I EVER HAVE ANOTHER DREAM.... PLEASE STOP ME BEFORE I GET CARRIED AWAY!

Brent 13 and Tori 11

Love this picture!

Fall Break - Disneyland!

During our Fall Break, we decided to go to Disneyland for a day. Yes... ONE DAY! We drove down on Sunday and when we arrived, we hung out with our good friends the Wyrsch Family. Downtown Disney was a must and had a blast! Good shoppes and good company kept us busy! We saw many friends from Ripon there and we knew more were on the way!

Monday morning, bright and early, we were off to enjoy the park. We hit all the major rides first thing in the morning, then we just kept going! We finally connected with Caleb, Brooke & Dylan. More rides and fun!

After a late lunch, we went to California Adventure... WE LOVE THAT PARK! We ran up and down riding all the best rides possible, and we even saw the Aladdin theater performance.

We hopped back to Disney to finish our great day. Lots of "just one more ride" and at 9pm with sad goodbyes, we were off to drive home. That was THE LONGEST drive home but worth it! Can't wait for the next adventure!

What's wrong?

Well, let me tell you!

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I got really sick with double ear infection and sinus infection. After antibiotics and lots of sleep, I thought I got over being sick. WELL... My ears feel like they are going to pop out of my head from all the pressure building inside...not a good feeling. After being told by many people to call the doctor again, I finally did. Since Kaiser has this thing about letting people actually see the doctor, I had a phone appointment with my doctor. I have a hard time understanding him face-to-face, so this call was pretty interesting... he said "blah, blah, blah.... yeah?" and I answered... "yes"! NO IDEA WHAT HE WAS SAYING! I finally got my point across on how I was feeling and ended up with a prescription and you should "blah, blah, blah"! "prescription will be ready in 30 minutes", he said. Knowing well it wouldn't be, I waited until 8:00pm and guess what? IT WAS NOT READY! Had to wait another 30 minutes to be ready. What's the point of them "calling it in" when you still have to "check in" and then they fill your prescription up? UGH!

Running?! Really?!

OK, so the plan was to first post pictures of my vacation and my kids birthday party... but... until I get all my pictures in order, I decided to add my second post. So here it is!

Running!

Yes people.... I am running (trying to!). It all started with a co-worker and that is all she talked about.... run, run, run. Then, the boss man got involved and another co-worker and so as people were joining on the bandwagon, I was opposed to it, until I gave in and gave it a try. I HATE running! I feel like I am going to DIE! BUT.... as time is passing and the more time I spend out and about with the two different groups I involved myself with, I am starting to get better but still not LOVING IT! I have decided that my first official run will be the Modesto Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day. I am excited and I have to say, with my darling daughter at my side, things seem so much better and easier. She pushes me to go faster and finish. She beats me every time, so I need to get better so I can pass her up!!! This is turning out to be a great mother-daughter bonding time. We have fun running together and she hates when "we" have to skip anything! So the goal is to run the Modesto half or full marathon in March. I hope we can do it!

Hello Blog World!

For many years, friends and families have shared their lives through the blog world and I have enjoyed reading them and getting to know them a little more through each post. I have now decided that Facebook can no longer provide me with the space I need for me to share what I have to say, and I have people that shouldn't be reading what I have to post. So The Blog world it is! Please forgive me if I say something that might offend you but I will be as honest and will share what I believe it is true in my mind and heart!
So here it is.... my first post!