All I Want For Christmas Is....

Well, you get the gist of it. Jamie lost 2 teeth in one week & scored $10 from the toothfairy. I am just loving this new smile. So cute. Of course, those teeth couldn't have waited to fall out until AFTER the Christmas pictures right? Such is life.

Spent a lovely day in the Sierras yesterday. Absolutely beautiful. Kieran & Gavin have never seen snow & Jamie was just a baby the last time we went so they were all very excited. We were supposed to stay the whole weekend but the kids just were not cooperating at the place we stayed at so we spent just one night & had a nice long drive home. It was actually very nice because we were able to take our time driving home & stopped at a few places I've always wanted to but never had the time to. It was freezing up there but so pretty with all of the snow. 18 degrees when we woke up yesterday. I would so never survive living in a cold climate. I am such a wuss I'd be crying in a half hour from being cold. But visiting is just fine with me. It was nice because this gave us an idea of what we'll have to deal with when we go to Disneyland next Summer. My mistake was not bringing enough activities for the kids to amuse themselves with while we were in the room. But live & learn.

Did get one ok family picture. Jamie was NOT cooperating so he is hiding behind my head. And I didn't realize that I got some sun glare on my lens because I was in a hurry to get the pic before the kids took a swim in the ice cold lake. I wanted to take more pictures but the kids were freezing & dying to get in the car so I only got 2. Trust me, the second one was worse than this.

While my family was not cooperating, thankfully, the environment was. I plan on going up again sometime & getting more pictures. I hate being on a schedule or rushed when I am in the mood to take pics. It just ain't fun. I can easily shoot a hundred pictures by myself but throw some person who's in a hurry in the mix & I'm lucky to get 20 shots.

This is the pier that was by the condo. You could see the entire lake from the beach & it was breathtaking. Got to Donner Lake & Jamie & Kie actually stood still long enough for me to get 2 really cute pictures of them.

All in all, it was a nice weekend & I am really glad they were able to enjoy the snow. Hopefully our trip to Disneyland will go smoother.

And of course, Christmas is 8 days away. Where did this year go??? Maybe it's because I'm older or maybe it's because I have kids now but the years seem to be flying by now. Seems like just yesterday the boys were babies & now Gavin is yammering away non-stop. And in just a couple of months Jim & I will be celebrating 8 years together. It's a miracle the poor guy tolerated me for this long. What a lucky gal I am. Really. No REALLY. I am very lucky. Just look at those faces. Makes it all worth it. Have a great week & if you haven't done it yet, throw that family in front of a camera & take some pictures. Even if you get uncooperative kids, it'll be a worth the memories.

Sad Day

Not sure if all of you have heard but if you live in the Bay Area this story has been all over the news. A couple from San Francisco and their 2 daughters, aged 4 and 7 months (I think) got lost on their way home from Oregon the day after Thanksgiving. Thankfully, rescuers found the wife and daughters 2 days ago but the other day they found the husband and unfortunately he did not survive. I feel so sorry for this family and cannot begin to imagine what they must be going through right now. So please take a moment and say a quick prayer for them to make it through this rough time. And take an even longer moment to hug your family and let them know how much you love them and how grateful you are to have them.

On the homefront, life is hectic as always but we're trucking right along. The twins are very active and kicking like crazy which is so exciting. The only problem I am having is daily migraines but so far I am managing. Even though the doctors say it's safe to take some meds I just worry about that slight chance of something going wrong. If I could make it through 4 pregnancies with no meds then I can make it through #5 the same way. It is so worth it in the long run.

We are prepping for our little weekend trip to Tahoe next weekend. The kids are so excited about going up to the snow and I am anxious to really try out the camera. If you are into the whole driving around & checking out the holiday lights, a must see is a house on Cortsen street in Pleasant Hill. This is right off of Gregory Lane & absolutely amazing. I haven't downloaded the pictures I took last night but I felt like a little kid when I drove up. Santa is there to take pictures with the kids. There's a $5 donation & you have to bring your own camera & all of the proceeds are donated to children's charities. Amazing & so wonderful that there are still people out there who do stuff like this.

So here are a couple of pictures I took on my venture into the city a couple of weeks ago. We dropped my sister off at SFO at 7:15AM & decided to take a quick drive through the wharf, the Presidio & Golden Gate Bridge.

If you've been to the LA are these are everywhere. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf blows Starbuck's out of the water. OMG thanks to F & J for hooking me up while I was down there but alas, there are only TWO in our area & both are in San Francisco. Yet there is a stinkin' Starbuck's every 20 feet. So needless to say when we were driving by Ghiradelli Square & I saw this place AND noticed that there were several parking spaces right in front, we whipped around & I had the yummiest drink I've had in months. Green tea & Japanese Cherry latte. Heaven in a little cardboard cup.

Next stop was the always beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. Kieran has been bugging to see this for a couple of months so he was very excited to see it in person. Rain or shine it is still an amazing sight.

Alrighty, I'm off to do some Christmas baking. Jim is sure to gain 10 pounds before the season is over. Have a wonderful weekend & stay warm! It's cold out there!!