Christmas is coming!

We are so excited for Christmas!  I love this time of year so much even though the kids are hopped up on sugar and acting like insane monkey clowns 99% of the time.  The anticipation of everything coupled with the twinking lights and warmth of the Christmas decorations, just makes me feel like we're on vacation in our own home.  It's not even here yet, and I already don't want it to be over.

Luckily, we've steered clear of the really cold weather so far and were able to hit the beach again with the pup dogs.  Too bad we've gone to the beach more in the last month than we did during the entire summer this year.  I tainted the beach by taking the kids there constantly during those horrendous months when Brent was working in Atlanta all the time.  Cringe.  I think I'm finally over it, thank goodness.  The beach is good for the soul.

On Saturday, we went to the Journey in Savannah.  I wasn't expecting much, but we went with some friends and an open mind and had the best time ever!  It was like a real life reinactment of the days leading up to the birth of Jesus. There were lions, and camels, and boat rides, and food.  They had it down to the tiniest details. Even the fish in the Bethlehem market were real and deader than hell. They stunk like a motha.

Everyone got hot chocolate at the end which was really cute.  It was all the kids could talk about the next day.  Cal said it was like Disney and that she couldn't stop thinking about it.  They got these really crappy coloring books at the end which they adore and ask us to read the little story inside to them every night.  I'm glad it made such a positive impact on them.  Everytime they are exposed to something really unique, Brent and I like to say that they are getting brain crinkles.  This was definitely some major brain crinklage.

So, the nuggets really don't have a firm list this year. Mostly, they just ask for the toys they see the most commercials for.  It's funny too because all of a sudden, you'll hear one or both of them screaming at Santa up the chimney asking for something they just saw on tv.  They're crazy.  They only things they ask for repeatedly is an easy bake oven for Callie and an edible zombie brain and barf lab for Wyatt.  Peace out sweet innocence.

Here's a few more random pictures from the last few weeks.  Fifth's disease is going around the school and their little best friend came down with it over the weekend so I'm pretty sure it will be an early Christmas present at our house too.  Cross your fingers for us that we are able to avoid that noid.

Hang ornament and fly!

Donuts for dad at school.

Making snowmen napkin holders...

The finished products!

First egg nog cheers of the season.

Passed out staring at the Christmas tree.

My heart.

How freakin cute is this!?

Silly geese.

Thick n' juicy Frankfurter.

The most random thing ever...

Orlando 2005:

Orlando 2011 (same intersection):

 

November Pics

Seriously, where does the time go?  I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is already bearing down on us like a runaway train.  We had a great Thanksgiving with family over at the folks house but it seemed to be over as quickly as it came.  Here's a recap of November in pics. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!
 

My two fave cheese dip addicts!

We filled the old Halloween pumpkins with dirt and buried them.  Supposedly, a pumpkin vine will grow from the seeds in the spring.  I'm not holding my breath though.

Scarecrow Scoot and Harvest Moon Festival at school.

Easiest pumpkin muffin recipe ever: a can of pumpkin and dry yellow cake mix.  Two ingredients.  We sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top which made the tops crunchy when they were still hot.  They were nugget approved.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Princess Party: Callie was Tiana (2nd from left)

Holy Gilbert.

T.G.I. Still warm enough to go to the beach! 

Yola's Wedding

So, the real reason we went to Arizona was because my precious Yola got married.  And, she married a truly great guy named Paul.  It's an awesome thing to be able to share in a special day like that with one of your friends, but when she marries someone who you know will especially treat her like gold, it makes it that much better.  Paul is an awesome addition to her life (and to ours now too).

To back up for a second... because we had a butt-crack early flight the next morning, we had to seize our last morning and search out a local spot for a mexican breakfast.  I didn't really know where the hell we were so basically, we just googled, "good mexican breakfast in Tucson", entered it in the GPS, and started driving.  We were fiending for something authentic and since it was a fairly long drive, we were pretty hungry and anxious by the time we got there.

You can imagine our faces when we pulled into the parking lot of THIS:

Luxurious, no?  I had signed up for breakfast, not death - be it from getting shot in the head or foodborne illness!  This joint was a problem.  But, on second glance of the parking lot, not only was it completely packed, but it was full of nice looking cars, and the people we saw coming out looked "normal". 

Against better judgement, we decided to go in and thank goodness we did because the food was awesome!  I would have equated the whole thing to a Mexican Waffle House.  It was definitely the most unique breakfast experience we've ever had.

We went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding and drove to Tubac for the ceremony.  Yola looked beautiful and I choked up the instant I saw her.  I always wondered who she would marry - the tough girl from New York, smart as a whip, with an unwavering loyalty, a lawyer, a soldier, and an untamed sexiness you couldn't stifle under a thousand blankets.  Those of us lucky enough to really know her, can see her fragility and also know how soft her heart is under all that armor.  I love her to death.

True to form, she was about to shock us all.  She looked stunning coming down the aisle and when she met her groom at the altar they both turned around and smiled as they addressed the crowd.

"You may have noticed there is no officiant here.  That's because, earlier this year, on January 29th, Paul and I we're already married in Vegas.  By Elvis himself."

Uhhhh... Come again?!

"You all were invited here today to witness a vow renewal in front of our family and friends."

Holy shit!  She was not playing.  Half of me thought it was the most awesome thing ever.  After all, as a kid, I used to tell my mom that my dream wedding would be at a drive-thru chapel in Las Vegas with Elvis too. Not even kidding. Then, Brent whispered in my ear, "They were already married when we saw them this summer." and a little piece of me felt suckered that we didn't know sooner.  But when she broke down and cried during her vows, we had all already forgotten it was the second time around.

The reception was awesome.  The wine flowed a little too easily and my dress was a little too short to have gotten that ridic on the dance floor.  Brent and I had so much fun through laughter and happy tears.  I didn't want the night to be over and I hated to leave.  It was a great trip and I am so anxious to see where life takes Yolanda and Paul and all the blessings that form from their life together!

Tucson, Arizona

We just got back from Tucson and it was awesome!  What an unusual part of the country!  Before this, the only kind of cactus I had ever seen, were in tiny little flower pots at the grocery store.  Arizona was unbelievable and loaded with cacti!

Before we even got to our hotel, we knew we had to hit up El Guero Canelo to get a Sonoran hotdog.  This hot dog trumped all the other hot dogs in the universe.  It was, by far, the best hot dog I've ever eaten in my entire life.  Why the hell the rest of the country hasn't picked up on this phenomenon, is beyond me.  It's a bacon-wrapped hot dog, topped with beans, fresh tomatoes, onions, jalapeno sauce, mustard and mayo, tucked in the most buttery, heavenly roll you could imagine.  It was the best!

We were way too full and tired after traveling to keep exploring so we headed to the hotel instead.  It was incredibly beautiful but we were so overwhelmed by the dramatic change in landscape.  If you told me that we were on another planet, I would have believed you.

The next morning, we ventured off on an early morning hike with a tour guide. We learned about lots of different species of cacti - even ate some, saw javelina pig poop, tarantulas, snakes, and petroglyphs that were dated to be between 8,000-10,000 years old.  It was total nerdy fun.

Ranger Rick and petroglyphs on the rock.

The cactus we ate.  It tasted like green pepper and made our throats swell slightly.

After that, we headed to the Old Desert Museum which was a complete snooze fest.  Skip it, if you ever head out that way.  We did see a few cute animals and some really gorgeous views though.  It was kind of cute, I guess.  It would have been perfect for families with little kids and it really made us miss ours.

We were in desperate need of some 'normal' after that, so we headed over to the mall to shop for awhile and eat some fabulous sushi.  It was nice to put on some blinders to all the dust and brown for a minute.  We grabbed some wine and headed back to the hotel to hang out in the pool while the flute player dude on the hill did his spiritual indian music thing at sunset.  This is the only silly video I took where you can actually hear the flute guy.