For Ash and Laura

Bora Bora from space

Yeah, We Won't Be Learning This

As seen on Pinterest: Cover hand in shortening to demonstrate how fat keeps animals warm in the winter.

My New Cup (Christmas Gift)

It's January 11th

And there are a million people in Pasadena that don't just have their lights up (that I get) but have them on. On 3 streets alone there were over 15 houses with lights on.

My Wonderful New Quilt

This post could be entitled about 100 things. (1) Long Overdue Post (2) Best gift of 2012 (3) My colorful quilt (4) Why I love Andrea Braun (5) Double chin Kim (6) Well, you get the idea. Back in September when Andrea came to visit she brought me the most awesome quilt she made. It's light weight and we use it all the time! Yesterday when I got home from my trip and had such a headache the first thing Sydney brought me was "mommy's special blanket". Andrea Braun-I would have never put these colors together, you are so creative and I love, love, love this quilt!

For The Krueger Family: I Love You Most!

But the Skymall magazine just loves you more!

My New Travel Bag

David got me a new travel bag for Christmas. He insists this one is the best on the market. (He should know he has been through a ton of them). I have been using my other luggage since Christmas 2006. It was also blue, David has apparently determined I need blue luggage.

Carlos Is Rocking 3 Monitors

Bruschetta At Postino

The Bruschetta at Postino was awesome! They have 11 choices and you can choose 4 on a Bruschetta plate. We went for the Warm Artichoke spread (thought this would be may favorite but turned out to be my least favorite), Tomato jam and fresh sheeps milk cheese (I didn't think I would like this but it was the best one-so flipping good), Salami with pesto (my second favorite) and smoked salmon with pesto and capers. I'll be returning for more!

Tuesday Night Phoenix Dates

After an extended 1:1 with Dora the evening started with Mindy at Postino's. (Another post to come on that) We had a great evening playing catch-up. I hadn't spent time with Mindy since May 2010 and at that meal I had a 2 year old and 3 month old so my attention was diverted. I discovered that we now drive the same car (hers is gray, mine is white) and can still have a non-stop conversation. We need to cultivate our friendship more!

Towards the end of my evening with Mindy I started texting with Kevin who was also in Phoenix for work. Mindy was gracious enough to take over to Oregano's in Scottsdale where Kevin and I met up. My second date of the night was great too! Actually,   I don't think I had ever spent any 1 on 1 time with Kevin and it was long overdue. We had a great conversation about work, Colorado, family, his thoughts on Disneyland and plans for the next few months. I was so glad I met up with him!

I Need Straight Lines

Lu and I had lunch today at this new restaurant in Pasadena. Sitting there we realized the restaurant was on a slant and the walls didn't look even. Notice the black molding on the wall, this drove me nuts the entire lunch.

Cleaning My Washing Machine

Pinterest is so awesome! I find cool ideas all the time but the other day I found instructions on how to clean your washing machine. This is a little embarrassing but I have never cleaned my washing machine before. Upon inspection I found it disgusting and decided it must be cleaned immediately.

Here are the Before and Afters: 

New Shoes

Sydney and Brooke ruin every pair of dress shoes in minutes. This morning before church I colored the front of these shoes pink with a marker.

Happy Birthday, AB!

So happy I got to spend time with you in 2012! Now we need a plan for 2013-Happy Birthday! I Love You!

Today's Breakfast

The girls and I made Maple Bacon donuts this morning. I rarely bake but the recipe was easy and the donuts were pretty good. Find the recipe over at "For the Love of Cooking".

Happy Birthday, CEM!

The Thomas Girls love you to pieces!!! And I love watching you grow up (Too fast though)

Christmas Card 2012

They were really cool this year but yeah, I didn't get them all out. I have a stack still sitting on my desk :(

Battery Expirations Can Sure Make You Feel Old

Why Elsie Rules

Elsie (aka Lu) is so cool. She is a staple at the Rose Parade and usually brings a breakfast dish even though I tell her over and over she doesn't need to. This year, she brought us dinner and it was really good! Thank you, Lu!

Happy New Year From Starbucks Pasadena

Stealth Bomber

At the start of the Rose Bowl game today the Stealth Bomber flew directly over our house. It was really cool! I didn't get a picture right away but when I finally did I went to upload it to Facebook with the following status "nothing is cooler than seeing the stealth bomber fly over your house". After typing but before posting I thought, I am sure there are many people in various parts of the world that wouldn't find the stealth bomber over there house to be cool. I decided not to post the update but I can tell you that David, the kids and I thought it rocked. ;)

Happy New Year!

It was a great New Years Day in Pasadena. We had a pretty decent size crowd, lots of food and lots of kids. Several MHS Alumni came to the parade and we saw Debbie, Thad, Rochelle and Nancy. For the first time we sat the kids on blankets on the ground and they seemed to like it-we also served popcorn. The parade itself was awesome and we really really missed Matt, Micah, Rachel, Nathan and Kiersten. The parade theme "Oh the Places You'll Go" added insult to injury since this was the theme of Kiersten's baby shower. Some how, we need the Sauer's to make it back here for this Evans family tradition-and we need Matt to make the trek out from Riverside! We loved having Madelyn, Alison and Brian too! I think my favorite picture below is the one of Sydney clapping for the Marine Core band. Thanks mom and Becca for making so much food this morning-it was great! 

2012 In Review

Top Highlights of 2012: 

1. Thomas Cove (Our new backyard),  in January when visiting Pebble Beach I decided that we needed a cove. What a great decision! We love Thomas Cove and we have spent many hours this year enjoying it

< 2. Camping in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. We had a great time visiting the Tetons and Yellowstone this summer. What made it the most special was spending it with the Krueger's and Mom and James.

3. Family trips to Phoenix, Chicago and San Diego were awesome and jam packed. Phoenix Zoo, Willis Tower, Chicago Cubs game, Science Museum, Sea World, San Diego Kids Museum are highlights

< 4. Seeing the Space Shuttle Endeavour . First we saw it flying on the back of a 747 by JPL and then a few weeks later we saw it in LA That was really really cool, what an experience seeing the shuttle driving down the street in Los Angeles. I am so glad we were able to go do this. (Had it been on time we wouldn't have been able to see it)
       
5. Watching the kids grow way too fast! They tell you in goes quickly but until you have kids to watch grow you don't realize it. Brooke is such a big girl and talking to Sydney and listening to her thought processes and answer her questions is so much fun. I HATE how fast these girls are growing.