A Wicked Trip to San Francisco

We had a wicked trip to San Francisco Thanksgiving weekend!  HaHaHa...actually we had a great girls weekend.  We saw Wicked, shopped, ate, shopped more and then crammed 7 people into one hotel room :)  Wicked was amazing and shopping in Union Square at Christmas time can't be beat - tons of selection, sales, people and Christmas shopping spirit.  Thanks ladies for the wonderful get away.

Sandi Pinney, Me, Liz Davis, Lisa Fisher, Shauna McGavock, Jillian Goulding, Laurie Carruth

Union Square is so beautiful at Christmas.

We had a fabulous dinner at Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed a yummy peppermint cheesecake that I would highly recommend.

Roseville Turkey Trot

We started off our Thanksgiving Day this year with the Roseville Turkey Trot. What a great way to start off the day. I think this will become a family tradition. I started running 8 weeks ago to train for this 10K. But, unfortunately I injured my ankle a few weeks ago (probably a stress fracture) and have not been able to run since. I was planning to run the race with my injury, but I am anxious to get back to running (yes, I have grown to love it). So, running or even walking the race was not worth it. So, my mom and I hung out with the little kids and cheered on our boys. My dad ran his first 10K and did so well. Dawson ran the 5K and Jason ran the 10K.

The crew getting ready for the race.

The runners!

You go Dad!  Great Job!!!!

Dawson crossing the finish line for his 5K race.  Great Job!

Congratulations Dad!

Jason really makes this look too easy :)

School Pictures

Dawson - 1st Grade

Taya - Pre-K

End of the Season

Our little defender ended his soccer season yesterday. He has really improved this year and it has been fun watching him play his favorite position - defense! He likes to kick the ball out of there and then relax for a while until it comes backs by his goal :)  He played on the Lightnings with coach Sondra and they had a great year.

New Moon

Do we look 12 here or what?  I love it.  The Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts were awesome! I had a great time with the girls watching the Twilight New Moon movie. I am a recent Twilight fan, so it was fun to join in on the pandemonium. I cracked up when Edward and Jacob came on screen for the first time and the audience screamed little girls - which makes sense since many of them were. Fun times - thanks ladies!

Dawson's Turkey Trot

Dawson's school had a Turkey Trot where the kids had to run as far as they could in 20-25 minutes. for a school fundraiser He had been really pumped up for this "race" and was ready to win. He tied with two other boys for running the most laps for first grade boys. He ran 8 laps - about two miles. Good job Dawson! He didn't win the drawing for the grand prize of a turkey - but he did get 30 tickets from his teacher to use toward a classroom prize. He was thrilled and told me he was going to cash them in to eat lunch and dessert with his teacher. Oh, the days when you still love your teachers and actually want to eat with them :)

Recipe: Pumpkin Dessert

I just made this for a dinner party over the weekend and everyone raved about it.  I LOVE this dessert.  It is rich pumpkiny goodness....Even people that don't like pumpkin pie loved it....Hope you enjoy.

Mix together the following and then pour into a greased 9x13 pan:
29 oz. can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 ½ c. sugar
1 can evaporated milk

Sprinkle 1 golden butter cake mix over the top
Melt 2 cubes of butter and drizzle it over the cake mix
Sprinkle the top with 1 cup chopped pecans
Bake for 90 minutes on 350 degrees

Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Taking a Ride

We went to a fabulous birthday party yesterday at Penryn Oaks Stables.  What is better than a beautiful fall day, riding horses, visiting with good friends and eating yummy cake?  We all had a great time!

Holden loved the horses...all smiles!

 Dawson was really brave and loved riding the largest horse - Peanut Butter. He wanted to go fast.  So, they let him gallop and he had a blast!

 

 Taya was much more scared.  She wanted to ride on a pony since the horse was too big.  But, when she got on, she was so scared.  We were able to talk her into riding for a few steps with someone holding her hand...and it worked.  She came back all smiles and she even rode a second time.

For you local friends - the stables do a Christmas Adventure that looks like a lot of fun.

Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween this year.  We started with pizza at our neighbor's house and then the big event...Trick or Treating!  We had a great night.  We loved sitting around the fire and hanging out with our neighbors.  And the kids trick or treating there really hit the jackpot with 7 bowls of candy at one house!

Here is out little Ninja, Cheetah and Little Bo Peep (with her lost sheep)

I thought this was a funny picture.  True to form Cheetah - right?

Holden loved seeing all the kids costumes. 

Here are the kids getting ready to wreak havoc on the neighborhood :)

Taya was so sweet this year.  She was too shy last year to even talk.  But, this year she said "Happy Halloween.  Trick or Treat!" at every house and she ran between every house.  Too cute!  She was too scared to go to a couple "spooky" houses and if there was any skeleton decor, I had to walk to the door with her.  Holden just hung out in the stroller enjoying chewing on a glow stick and checking out all the costumes.  Dawson was with the big kids and the literally ran around the entire neighborhood.

So sweet!

Enjoying the loot.  We told the kids they could eat whatever they wanted on Halloween.  They each ate about three pieces and then said they were full.  Perfect!

Carving Party

We had fun at our neighbor’s pumpkin carving party. Great dinner, yummy treats and pumpkin carving fun!  

 

 Gotta love a good cupcake!

 

Holden was not so happy.  I am soooooo over teething!  Luckily, we live next door.  So, he got to go to bed while the rest of us partied on.

Taya was so scared of the "spooky" garage that she would not take one step inside all night. She loves our neighbor's dog Dakota SO MUCH.  Thank goodness they have a wonderful dog that is so good to her!  She held Dakota's leash all night just enjoying being with her.

 

 

The kids actually could care less about carving pumpkins.  They are all about the party.  So, Jason had the pleasure of carving this bad boy.  Good job Jason :)