2010 award Ceremony!

I saw a cute idea for an awards ceremony on another blog, so stay tuned for this years Bests!


Best Vacation: VEYO! Best Night under the Stars:


Best Day at the Park: Discovery Park. Mckinley took this picture. Best Arm Breaker:
Best Muscles: Best Hiker: Best Anniversary: 5 years!!! Best Baby: Best Buddies:
Best Hair: David Parted and slicked his hair down for a white elephant Christmas party. Hot!!
Best Christmas lights: Yes, there are reindeer atop the stable. That's not our house.
Best kept secret: We are 19 weeks along with a baby boy!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope your Holidays have been as wonderful as ours!



We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. It's funny to me when people ask if we went somewhere else for Christmas or "Just stayed home." There is no just staying home for me. I think it's the perfect place to be for Christmas.
On Christmas Eve we went to the traditional family party at my Aunt Vickies for the first couple of hours of the evening. Then we went to my Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's for the annual Christmas dinner party. It was fun to see so many of my cousins and family members on both sides for Christmas. My Grandparents always have a story and a gift for all the grandkids, and we all got spoiled. McKinley got some lip gloss and treats, such a fun gift for a 5 year old makeup diva. And Dolce received her favorite gift from Christmas, a soft baby alive doll that makes little noises and sucks a bottle that's hooked to it's hand. She will not share this toy. Not even with Mommy.
Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's to read the Gift of the Magi, followed by opening up jammies at home. (we forgot to put out cookies for Santa this time. Hopefully he wont remember for next year and bring us all a lump of coal.) The girls were very ready for bed after all this wildness and so we put them to bed, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.

We woke up to David's beautiful Christmas song singing of Silent Night at 6 am. It was the kind of singing that made you wish it was a little more of a silent night...haha. Just kidding.I really don't know what got into him. He was the first one up and seemed most excited to go downstairs to see if Santa had really come. Christmas morning was very different this year. I don't remember ever having a White Christmas because of fog, but that's what we saw outside. Rudolph must have been earning his keep in the night because there was thick wispy fog everywhere. I took a picture of our house in the fog to remember this "no snow" year.
Mckinley was so excited to see her surprises and Dolce went right to the shopping cart play food, and was pretty much uninterested in anything but that one thing. (We could have made her happy by spending just 5 dollars, rather than spoiling the heck out of her. Funny how almost all kids begin that way and we try to "fix" them by making them want so much more than the few little things they really want.) The other unexpected big hit that both my girls loved was their own cute little water bottles that I found at old navy on clearance for 2 dollars each. They both wanted water in them right away.
Mckinley was very consistent every time she saw Santa Clause with asking him very politely for a baby doll that bounces up and down. (One time visiting Santa at one of my work parties, Mckinley made sure that Santa knew that Dolce was not "a really bad girl, just kind of naughty" and that she needed some toys too, because Dolce wouldn't sit on Santa's lap.)
So she got her baby that bounces up and down, and she was so protective and caring of her.
After unwrapping everything, we went over to my parent's to see if Santa had made it to their house too. There was a lot of unwrapping to do there also, and as usual, everyone was spoiled with several surprises.

My Grandma and Grandpa Riddle have a Christmas morning breakfast each year and so we made our way over there to see everyone and have breakfast.
After having so many dreams come true, it was time for a nap....Except for Mckinley. She couldn't possibly take a nap with so many fun new treasures to play with and so many new clothes to try on. She stayed up until after I went to work that evening at 6 and finally crashed in Dolce's car seat with her head on her pillow pet. Perfectly happy.
Merry Christmas!

A perfectly Princess Day

We celebrated Mckinley's 5 year old birthday last week. I cannot believe that we have a 5 year old! Where has the time gone? We started out the morning wishing her a happy birthday by singing to her. Sitting in bed, she could not stop laughing while we were singing. She had been waiting for her birthday for so long (and maybe the singing was pretty hilarious too?) She got ready for preschool and when it's your birthday at preschool, you get to be the special helper the whole day! The last time it was Mckinley's turn to be the special helper she was so excited she had trouble sleeping the night before, so I can only imagine how wonderful this made her special day. She also took treats for her classmates. Remember those days?
When she came home from school, we were getting everything ready for her birthday party later in the day. For several weeks, she has been planning how her party would be. She wanted to have all of her friends wear dress ups and have a royal princess tea party. So we decorated, set out teacups and little plates, made pink cupcakes, served pink milk in lieu of tea, Ice cream with sprinkles and opened presents. All of our special guests were absolute princesses and made Mckinleys day so wonderful. Thank you little ladies of the court for coming! And thank you everyone for the sweet gifts! This little 5 year old has been in heaven the past few days with all the new surprises! (our only regret was that the camera ran out of batteries before we could get pictures of all the little girls outfits.)

Storybook Cavalcade Parade

Every year, to kick off the Christmas season there is a Storybook Cavalcade Parade in Cedar. It's a lot of fun and the floats and characters are so colorful and fun. Dolce went with her Daddy and Mckinley wanted to go with Grandpa. (I had to work and so I didn't get to go) I told David to take a lot of pictures so that I would feel like I was there. All of Mckinley's favorite princesses were there and Dolce's favorite character Pooh bear also made it. Both of the girls were so excited for this and were little ice cubes when they got home. Definately worth it though.