Pumpkin Bread...YUMMY!

I'm loving now that Fall has arrived because it finally gives me a reason to make my Mom's delicious Pumpkin Bread.  Seeing what a carb eater Skylar is I knew she would love it.  She has been having a piece every day.  She even shared some with Elmo and her Princess doll the other morning. 

Matthew & Erin's Engagement Weekend

This past weekend was a big weekend for our family, as my little brother proposed to his beautiful girlfriend of six years.  Matthew had had this weekend planned for a few months now and he wanted to surprise Erin by having our family and Erin's family fly out to Arizona and celebrate with the both of them.  So after Matthew popped the question at the Grand Canyon on Thursday, they drove into Scottsdale on Friday where we were all waiting.  It wasn't the big "SURPRISE" as we thought it would of been because of course with Facebook and everyone knowing about their engagement Matthew and Erin's Arizona friends were trying to make plans to hang out and celebrate with them on Friday night and Matthew had to tell Erin they couldn't go out with them because all of us were waiting for the two of them at the resort.  Either way, I think Erin was still surprised!!

Friday night my parents hosted a happy hour/dinner at the resorts restaurant to congratulate the happy couple.  We all sat outside in the private section of the resorts restaurant where there was a live band and delicious food and drinks.  There were ponds and fountains surrounding the whole place so Skylar was in heaven running around and putting her hand in the water.  I had to take Skylar to bed around 8:30 p.m. but everyone else celebrated into the wee hours of the night.

I have the worst camera on the face of the earth!

The next day the boys all went golfing, Erin and her family did some shopping, while Mom, Skylar and I went back to the pool for some relaxing.  It was overcast most of the day which made it really nice.  Skylar enjoyed just working on her tan.

While shopping Erin wanted to play a little joke on Matthew so she purchased a $5.00 wedding dress and a bunch of $3.00 bridesmaid dresses and wanted to trick Matthew into thinking she wanted to have the wedding that night.  It ended up being pretty funny because Matthew looked pretty shocked when we all walked out dressed for a wedding ceremony.  I also think it was good practice for Skylar as I'm hoping she will get to be the flower girl in their "real" wedding.

For the last night Erin's parents set up a really nice dinner for everyone at an awesome resort down the street from where we were staying.  It was a really beautiful place and the food was beyond amazing.  Skylar unfortunately wasn't in the mood to sit at the table so Jake and I were back and forth with her at the fountain or the chair swing by the fire pit the entire meal. 

   

 

I don't think our family could be happier that Erin is going to be officially apart of our family.  She has been such a major part of our lives for the past six years and it's now nice to know that we are going to have several more years with her.  I feel that Matthew had perfect timing with it all and that he couldn't be any happier.  I'm looking forward to their future together and excited for their next step in their relationship.  Congratulations again to the happy couple, we love you both very much!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the only person who knows the real me...and married me anyways.  Love brought us together as husband and wife, and gave us each a best friend for life.  Happy 3 year Anniversay B!!  Love you with all my heart.

Sea World

Last week was a ton of fun when we met up with Rocio and Naanelii for the girls first trip to Sea World.  Having not been to Sea World in years I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out to be the perfect place for the girls.  Of course we had to make our first stop in the park to the huge Sesame Street Bay of Play attraction.  The girls were so excited when we let them out of their strollers and they started to roam around. 

We took the girls on an Elmo flying ride and an Abby tea cup type of ride which I was surprised Skylar seemed to enjoy.  Naanelli would beg to go on the ride, but when it would start she didn't seem to enjoy it, but when we would get off she would want back on.

When the girls spotted Elmo, it was all over, so we had to get in line to take a picture with him and Grover right away.  The girls were so cute in the line, they both keep shouting "Elmo...Elmo...Elmo" but of course when it was their turn to take a photo with Elmo both the girls froze up and refused to met Elmo and the photo ended up turning out really bad.

Next we found a huge play pin type thing where the girls were able to run around and play in. 

After all the excitement from the Sesame Street characters it was time for lunch and to explore the rest of the park, which Skylar was not happy about.



We found the dolphin exhibit where we were able to get up close to the dolphins and even touch them.  When Skylar had the chance to pet one she started to cry and refused to touch it.

They had a Sesame Street 4-D interaction movie which we thought the girls would love, but both refused to wear the 4-D glasses and had to watch the whole movie blurry.  During the show Elmo would squirt you with water which Naanelii didn't like and kept saying "Elmo got me wet".  Surprisingly Skylar watched the entire movie and seemed to enjoy it, even with it being out of focus for her.  

After about 4 hours of going strong Naanelli past out and we stopped to show Skylar the pengiuns and then just cruised around the rest of the park.  We ended right where we started, back at the Bay of Play part of the park and let Skylar run around a bit more.  She finally started to wear down so we decided to call it a day. 

We had a ton of fun with our great friends Rocio and Naanelii and can't wait for our next trip back to Sea World together. 



Football is BACK!!

The only positive thing about summer ending is that the NFL is back.  For those who don't know I'm a huge football fan and have watched the sport since I was in elementary school.  My parents had season tickets to the Raiders when they were still in Los Angeles and when we were kids my brother and I would go to every game with them.  Having grown up as a Raider fan, I won't lie, the Raiders will always hold a special place in my heart and I always like to see them win, unless it's against the Chargers since I now consider the Chargers my team. 

The other night Matthew who is still a big Raiders fan left this T-Shirt at our house.  I wanted to send him a picture of Skylar in his shirt so I put it on her and she was too cute.  She just loved walking around wearing her Raiders shirt that when I had to take it off her for her bath she cried.  Even though it was a Raiders T-Shirt I'm taking it as a sign that she is going to be a big football lover like her Mom.

This Sunday was the first regular season game of the season and with Jake on a flight back from St. Louis it was just Skylar and I at home to root on our team.  We both had on our Chargers gear to pump us up for the game. 

Skylar definitely had her game face on and was ready to see the Chargers finally start the season off on a fast start. 

Skylar and I were all smiles after the Chargers pulled off a W and hope that this can be the season where we finally make it to the Super Bowl. 

Labor Day 2011

With Labor Day being the official end to summer, I can't believe how quickly it all went.  It was such a great summer!  We made many memories by taking several trips to the beach, pool and Skylar's favorite, the Sparyground. 

The Finkel's were coming into town for a wedding during Labor Day weekend which worked out perfectly to have them stay with us and gave Jake and I a reason to throw a little Labor Day BBQ.  

Skylar and Mackenzie were so cute just soaking in the last few days of summer together.

I can't believe how big Mackenzie is. She is growing up so fast.  She was the cutest thing just sitting in Skylar's inflatable pool.  I swear she sat there for 30 minutes just having the best time. 

I have to throw in a picture of my beautiful dessert.  I think it was my best looking fruit pizza to date. 

Once Skylar was in bed it was nice being able to just sit around with everyone and relax.   It was the perfect way to end summer with good food and great friends.