Viva Las Vegas

So Jim and I hanging out in Las Vegas for the next few days. We are making sure to lots of sightseeing and touristy things this time, including the wax museum. I think Jim like it a little too much, just ask Brittany! We're staying at the Monte Carlo and it's been a really nice place to stay so far. We're heading out to see Jerry Seinfeld tonight- should be fun. See you in a few days.

Finished albums

So the Christmas "work" is all done and I had a little time on my hands. So I added a few finishing touches to the album I did earlier this week.

I really like how it turned out. Once Christmas is over I'll print a few pictures to represent 2009's holiday. The other book is an album from a class at CHA earlier this year. It's not really my style of project but I figured I would finish it up and maybe give it away as a gift. I spent about 2 hours out in the Love Shack and it was super relaxing. Tonight my family is coming over for dinner and a gift exchange, should be lots of fun. Happy Christmas Eve to everyone!

Christmas mini album

Last night when I got home from work I thought about my normal evening routine. I usually figure out dinner, do a little laundry, pick up the house if necessary and then plop on the couch and watch TV until bed time. So I thought tonight I would do something a little more productive. Last week I found this amazing paper at Marshall's, it's K& Co and even though it's a little busy for me, I thought it would be perfect for a mini album to use for this years Christmas pictures. I started working on it around 6:30 and finished around 8:30 and I love how it turned out. I have a few finishing touches I need to do, a flower for the top, some solid mats inside for the picture but otherwise it's complete. Wow- that feels way better than wasting the night watching reruns of Friends! I should do this more often.
PS- Tiffany- If you like this paper I picked you up a pad too!

Finally a tree

We finally got our Christmas tree today. Better late than never right? Jim actually suggested we wait until Christmas Eve to get the tree but I vetoed that idea. That would be way too crazy for me. We headed out to Jensen's tree farm this morning, the weather was totally cooperating- it was actually a little bit sunny. The kids seemed a little bored with the whole thing, except Cameron who actually jumped right in and started cutting the tree, once we decided of course. They all complained a little about various things but honestly I think they would miss it if we stopped going to the farm . The option would be going to a precut place and that just seems so boring to me. When we got home the boys headed out to do a little last minute shopping and we girls decorated the tree. We also made cookies for the Christmas Eve dinner with my family. Everyone was patient this year for the family tree picture and for that I am grateful. It's usually a stressful moment but this year it was fine. This weekend was pretty good, I got to relax a bit and didn't have to work, thank goodness. I'm all done shopping, that's right, all done. Yippee! See you all later this week.

Picture with Santa

Jim asked me a really good question the other night. Do you remember sitting on Santa's lap when you were little? Right away I said no because I really couldn't remember it and I actually told him that I probably hadn't sat on Santa's lap at all. There isn't much from my childhood that I remember and Santa definitely isn't one of those that sticks in my mind. So I was going through pictures and came across this one- proof that I actually DID sit on Santa's lap! I look a little terrified , much like I would imagine my little self to feel but there I am , on Santa's lap. Whew, apparently my childhood did exist after all!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet friend!

Just in case you didn't know, it IS all about Tiffany today. Today is her birthday and yesterday I got to spend a few hours with her celebrating. We went up to Tacoma to Scrap That for a crop and little party. Nancy, Debbie and Tiffany's girls came a long for the day and we had a great time hanging out and cropping.

I hope today was fun, relaxing and everything you wished for Tiffany. Happy Birthday!!!

Rachel's Birthday dinner

As the kids get older we have started just going to dinner as a family instead of always doing big parties at the house. For Rachel's birthday we went to Fujiyama's in Olympia. The kids had a great time, we requested a specific cook that Mike had seen before and he was awesome. He kept posing for pictures and calling me the paparazzi. He had Rachel come up behind the grill and pose for a picture with his hat on, it was hilarious. The food is awesome and the show is pretty entertaining, give it a try if you are in the Olympia area.

Sunday pages

Last Sunday before I traveled out of town for the week, I completed two pages. The KISS page had been in the works for a long time, I was just waiting for the guitar picks to come in the mail. Jim searched EBay for me to find the perfect picks to complete the page and I love how it turned out. This was from the 2003 concert tour, not the one we went to last month. That tells you just how far behind I am on some of my scrapping. Crazy. The football page was made using product I picked up at a local used product sale, everything on the page was part of a package that was $2.00. Not a bad price to complete a page and I still have more things from the package left over for a few more pages. Next weekend is Tiffany's birthday crop and I cant wait to get started on a few Christmas projects that I would love to have done for gifts. We'll see how that works out....

Happy Birthday Rachel Anne

It was 19 years ago, on a night much like tonight, with a beautiful full moon just like the one outside my window right now, that my sweet baby Rachel was born. I had gone to a big family dinner and my late after in law warned me that babies come on full moon nights so I better be ready to have that baby that night. I laughed at him and never seriously thought he might be right, it was a week early after all! So we went home, I climbed in bed and my water broke. Well, it didn't actually break like you might imagine, it was just a little trickle and I had a terrible backache. Hmmmm.... maybe I'm in labor?? So we woke up my sister, who had given birth to Cody just one year earlier, and she suggested we call the hospital. Of course they suggested we come in just in case. It's a good thing we did because about every 3 minutes my back was cramping.... hmmm... labor? Once we got to the hospital they broke my water the rest of the way and within about 4 hours and with just a few pushes, Miss Rachel popped onto the scene. I was surprised to see her because the whole time I was pregnant I was convinced she was a boy. So imagine my shock and joy to have her come out a girl!! It's a good thing we picked out her name... on the way to the hospital!! I am so proud and happy to have watched Rachel grow into the young woman she has become. I love her with all of my heart. Happy Birthday honey!