Tis the Season

We survived Christmas and have had a busy couple of days! Christmas Eve started off well until it was almost time to go to church and Blake practically knocked out his front tooth after falling into our coffee table. A call to the dentist confirmed there was nothing he could do at the moment, so off to church we went. Afterward we hosted our first Christmas Eve with Steve's side of the family. It was a lot of fun and we had some yummy food and lots of good laughs.

Christmas morning we spent at home and the kids were excited to see what the big man left them. They had fun opening their presents and it was great to see them get so excited over their toys. The definitely understood what was going on this year! The rest of the day was spent at my moms and then we headed to my grandma's for dinner. Good times!

On the 26th we celebrated Christmas with my dad and that side of the family and I can officially report that Scott beat Steve and Kelly at Scrabble-- a new era has dawned people!! :) It was also fun to see my dad's face when he opened a rather large box, that had an envelope in it with a Rose Bowl ticket inside!

I am exhausted and ready to enjoy my week off of work! Life is good and I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed time with your families.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebrations.

Katelyn, Cousin Tyler and Blake

Baby Madilyn's 1st ChristmasKatelyn and Tyler

Blake and his new race track!G'ma Great getting some help from the great grand kids with her Christmas present.

Tis the Season Part 2

Just after Santa left.Katelyn in her new Cinderella dress. (Gotta love the "poses"!)

Blake and his new Lego truck.

Two happy kids!!

December 25, 2008

Cookies, cookies and more cookies!

Today we baked cookies with "friend Tyler" and his new baby sister, Lynda Jade. The helped cut out the shapes and frost and decorate the sugar cookies. They all had an absolute blast together! I love the holidays and seeing all the excitement on the kids faces. Thanks for coming over Danyel! It was so much fun to hang out and make cookies with our kids.

Katelyn and Lynda Jade

Katelyn, Tyler and Blake

Decorating the cookies.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday to you~

Happy Birthday to you~
Happy Birthday dear Daddy/Steve~
Happy Birthday TO YOU!

Have a great birthday!!

We love you lots!! xoxo, Nicole, Katelyn & Blake

Baby Madilyn

We finally got to meet our new cousin Madilyn. Isn't she so sweet?! Katelyn was really into holding her... and exclaiming she can do it, "by myself daddy!" Ugh, we are in trouble with her!

Madilyn Marie - 1 month old.

Katelyn holding Madilyn Blake wanted to nothing to do with her and kept telling me to "put her down mommy!" :) Hmm... guess he isn't to fond of adding a brother or sister to our family!

Snow in the OC!

There were sightings of snow in Yorba Linda, Calif. this past Sunday. Okay, not really... but church brought in snow for the kids annual Snow Day. It was fun and the kids had a blast sledding in 79 degree weather. A mountains trip is definitely in order for this winter! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you and your family a wonderful day!

A Weekend Away...

... in Denver with no kids!! :) Steve and I took a quick vacation to Denver to watch his beloved Broncos play this past weekend. It was nice to get away and we are forever grateful to my parents for watching the kids! THANK YOU!

After being delayed at the airport (where we saw Angels pitcher Jared Weaver waiting for his flight!) we finally landed in Denver at midnight. By the time we got our bags, rented the car and arrived at the hotel it was almost 2 a.m. and we were tired! We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver. It was very nice and right in the heart of things. Totally recommend to anyone traveling there.

Saturday morning we woke up and wandered the 16th Street Mall area and saw the Capitol Bldg, Mint and Coors field. Then we decided to drive up to Vail. It was really the most beautiful drive. Blue skies, crisp cool air and only snow on the shady side of the mountains-- really breathtaking. We wandered around the village and enjoyed strolling about. We headed back to downtown and had dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange. This restaurant happens to be the oldest one in Denver and definitely had character. Steve had his first taste of Buffalo.

Sunday was game day! We had lunch at Brooklyn's before the game with the Martin's and their new baby girl Karsyn. Unfortunately, the game was not all we had hoped for and the Broncos lost. :( But it was still fun to be there. Thank you Lee and Katrina for the tickets! We had a great time visiting with you guys and you have the cutest baby ever!!

Monday, we drove around town and shopped. We got to meet up with the Martin's again in downtown Littleton and enjoyed some shopping and a yummy dinner and then it was off to the airport for our flight home.

All-in-all a nice getaway and we look forward to going again next year. I will try and upload some pictures later tonight.

Denver here we come...

Steve and I are going on vacation!! We leave tonight and return on Monday night. Thanks Dad/Joanne/Mom and Jerry for watching the kids! :) We REALLY appreciate it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Happy Birthday to you~
Happy Birthday to you~
Happy Birthday Dear Grandpa/Dad~
Happy Birthday TO YOU!

We hope you have a great birthday! :)

Grandpa Jon, Travis, Katelyn & Blake

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Happy Birthday Patrick! We hope you had a great birthday too!! :)

God Bless the USA

I'll refrain from commenting on how I think yesterday's election turned out, but I do know one thing-- I am still proud to be an American and so is Katelyn. Enjoy! :)



As a side note-- Katelyn started singing this song about 6 months ago when she watched Kristy Lee Cook do it on American Idol. Honestly after watching it 20 times she had it down-- as far as a three-year-old can "have it down." I had forgotten about it until this past weekend when she started singing it and I grabbed the camera and finally got it on video. It seemed fitting to post now.

Birthday Dinner

Tonight we celebrated my 30th birthday with dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Thank you to my awesome family for the great gifts and fun laughs. It was a fun dinner celebrating with you all. You all mean the world to me. xoxoxo

We also welcomed a new cousin on Steve's side of the family today-- Madilyn Marie. She made her entrance this afternoon and weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz and is perfect as can be. The mommy is also doing great. I will hopefully post a picture soon... Congratulation's Ashlee!

Happy Halloween!!

This year we have a Belle from Beauty and the Beast and a Red Power Ranger in our house. We trick-or-treated at Grandma Kelli's and "friend Tyler" and his mommy, daddy, grandma and new baby sister also joined us. Thanks for the yummy dinner and dessert mom. It was a fun night!

Happy Halloween!

Belle (aka Katelyn)

Red Power Ranger (aka Blake)

Blake and Katelyn

Daddy and his princess.

Tyler and Blake

Pumpkin Carving

Last night we gathered with the family at the Constantino's for our annual pumpkin carving night. Grandpa and myself were the lucky ones that got to carve the kids pumpkins! (Thanks dad!) The kids were really into making sure they looked just like jack-o-lanterns and Blake had fun stabbing the back of his! It was a fun night.

Katelyn and Ella-- BFF!

Getting ready to carve pumpkins.

The finished pumpkins, though Blake has his turned backwards! (L-R: Avery, Ella, Katelyn, Blake, Eli and Shaun)

Ella, Katelyn and Blake

Happy Birthday to me!

There's no sugar coating this-- it's my birthday and I am 30!! There I said it! Oh and by the way, when the heck did 30 years fly by so fast??

So instead of being a downer I decided to list 30 things that you may or may not know about me. So here's to 30 short years! :)

1. Married my best friend, who I have now officially known for half my life! Love you Steve!

2. Gave birth to twins-- with an epidural that did not take... I'll leave it at that!

3. My favorite place I have traveled to is Tahiti-- the most beautiful place on earth!

4. Stood 10 feet away from five living presidents- Bush Sr., Reagan, Carter, Johnson, Nixon-- at the Nixon Library opening.

5. Attended Game 7 of a World Series! (Go Angels!)

6. Completed my bachelor's degree in 4 years and earned a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.

7. Am actually using my degree in my current job!

8. I graduated from high school with honors.

9. My favorite colors are red and pink.

10. My favorite movie(s) of all-time-- Grease and Pretty Women, though the Cutting Edge is a close third!

11. I answered the phone at my house once and Tommy Lasorada (Dodgers former baseball head coach) was on the other end!

12. I could eat Mexican food every day.

13. I hate ALL seafood.

14. My favorite dessert is carrot cake.

15. I have a brother who is 16 months younger than me and one who is 16 years younger than me.

16. I once was stuck in the Denver airport at the age of 12-- alone and by myself on the way back from visiting my grandma in Arkansas and sat on the pay phone with my mom the entire delay.

17. I was a cheerleader in high school.

18. I have been inside Disneyland at every hour of the day.

19. I was born to the best parents ever and have an awesome family. (blood-related and non-blood related!)

20. I LOVE being a mom.

21. I really want one more child.

22. I have only lived in one state—California.

23. My one weekly indulgence—People magazine!

24. I am a moderator on an online twins message board.

25. My first car was a Toyota Corolla and I got my drivers license on Halloween. (1994)

26. I have never been snow skiing.

27. I love to water ski. (when I can actually get up!)

28. I am going to be an aunt for the first time in February. :)

29. I share a birthday with soccer great, Pele, Weird Al" Yankovic, Johnny Carson and actor Ryan Reynolds.

30. One of the things I must do before I die is go to the Oprah show! (Hint, hint-- for anyone who wants to make one of my dreams come true... :))

Okay, so there you have it......
Happy Birthday to me!!

Pumpkins and Apples: Fall is here!

Yesterday we headed out to the pumpkin patch. We ventured out to one in Redlands called Live Oak Canyon. It is really cool-- you can actually go out and cut your own pumpkins off the vine if you want. The kids had fun riding in the wheelbarrow, sliding down the slide, driving the John Deer tractors and choosing their pumpkins.

After choosing our pumpkins we then headed up to Oak Glen for some yummy apples. We packed a lunch and had a picnic at one of the orchards. Then our friends, the Bailey's, joined us for some apple picking. Blake was quite the little apple picker, but honestly it was hot and the orchards had these sharp stickers that Katelyn kept getting stuck to her, so apple picking was short-lived for her. Afterward we treated ourselves to some yummy apple pie a la mode. Yummy!!

It was a fun day! Happy Fall from the west coast!

Blake and Katelyn at the entrance to the pumpkin patch.

The Trombly's

Nicole, Katelyn and Blake with our pumpkins!

Riding on the tractor.

Apple picking at the Rileys' at Los Rios Rancho apple orchard in Oak Glen.

Date Night with friends

Steve and I got to have a date night last night with our friends Karen and Troy. We went to Benihana's and let's just say the 'Sake was a flowing' for the men. :) Karen and I both are celebrating a birthday this coming week, so we got a special dessert and the happy birthday song from the waiter and the other people at our table. It was fun.

Karen, I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

Steve and Troy

Nicole and Karen

Okay, this was the funniest thing-- the waiter took like 6 pictures of the four of us and they all came out like this. The steam at the table next to us just kept coming our way and we could never get a decent picture! :)

Our Dancers

Sorry... I have been slacking with the blog entries... I went back and updated the last week or so-- so keep scrolling down to catch up. We have had a lot going on lately...

We had the show Dancing with the Stars on a couple of weeks ago and Katelyn has sort of become obsessed with the show and asks Steve and I every night if it is on. So, last night she asked and sure enough it was on. Katelyn and Blake decided that they want to be dancers too. I was able to capture this video clip of them dancing and it was just cracking Steve and I up. They were trying very hard to follow the steps of the dancers on the television and were having a lot of fun doing it!

So enjoy our "budding" dancers.
Click here.

Baby Shower - Ashlee

On Sunday I hosted a baby shower for Steve's cousin Ashlee. She is due at the end of the month. It was a fun day and I have never seen so many cute baby girl clothes in my life. Sooo makes me want another baby... but that's a whole other post. :)

We can't wait to meet little Madilyn Marie.

The mommy-to-be and all her gifts. :)

Happy Birthday Grammie!

Happy Birthday to you~
Happy Birthday to you~
Happy Birthday dear Grammie~
Happy Birthday TO YOU!!

Thanks for letting us help you blow out the candles!

John & Rhiona: October 4, 2008

Our good friends John and Rhiona were married in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday at the Japanese Friendship Gardens in San Diego, California. The location was beautiful, Rhiona looked stunning and John so handsome. A good time was had by all despite the rain... (Rhi and John you both were such troopers! :)) We enjoyed many drinks, delicious food and lots of laughs and conversations with many of our high school friends and the happy couple.

John and Rhiona, thanks for letting us share in your special day. We wish you both many years of love and happiness.

The new Mr. and Mrs. John Norum

Their first dance in the rain.

Steve and John

Mr. and Mrs. Trombly