Thanksgiving 2012

My family came out for Thanksgiving!!  We had the whole bunch, except for Stacey and Jamey, (we missed you so much Stacey and Jamey!!) for a week!  It was so much fun to have everyone here.  I love it when the house is full of noise.  I don't think I saw Jaxon for the entire week because he was so busy playing the whole week.  Ella LOVES having the family here. She loves her Ga Ma and Papa. We even had baby Finn for TWO weeks!  I am completely in love with that little boy.  Jaxon adores him...but my little jealous Ella, wanted NOTHING to do with him the entire time.  Hahahaha.   It was such a great week...thanks everyone for making the trip!!

Almost all of the cousins (it was too cold for Finn) at Balboa Island.

Jaxon loved helping with Finn.

Ella Belle at Balboa Island

Ella "helping" set the kids table.

The cutest kids in the WHOLE world.

Out little Finn.  So adorable.

Ella's First Haircut!!

Well...it was time.  Time to cute the baby mullet.  Time to let go of the crazy hair, and make her look a little more presentable. :)  She sat pretty still for her haircut.  She was entranced with looking at herself in the mirror.  (Uh-oh...I am in for it... :)  She looks adorable with her little bangs.  I love her so stinking much.

BEFORE

AFTER

Fun at the Oakland Zoo!!

We went up to San Jose to spend the holiday weekend with Sarah and Craig and the kids. Jax and Ella had a great time!! They have such a nice zoo!

Trick or Treat

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone!!!  We had a great one, although...I am glad Thanksgiving and Christmas are on their way!!


We started off with a little pumpkin carving.

Ella LOVED getting messy!  Jaxon...did not.  :)

The finished product.

THE COSTUMES!!!

 

BEN 10
(He looked so cute...Thanks grandma for making such an AWESOME BEN 10 jacket!)



Getting ready for the big night!!

My little Blue Fairy!!
 She let me curl her hair and everything!!  ( Thanks grandma for the BEAUTIFUL costume!!)

She is such a ham!!

Wings and all!!

 

Catch up...again!!

So...we have been off the grid for a while!!  We have been CRAZY busy and have been traveling like mad!!  But, we are finally home and ready to dive into the holidays with full speed.  Here are some of our adventures...

September

In September, Ella and I went to Albuquerque again for Jackie's (my younger sister) baby shower.  We had a great time planning it, and throwing it.  There is nothing better then all of my sisters and I being under the same roof.

This is the ONE and ONLY pic I got of my cute preggars sister, Jackie.  She is adorable though.

We got stuck running errands in my dad's old truck...no air conditioning.  Boo!!!

We all wore blue to the party...it is a BOY after all!!

October

Richie and I headed to NYC for 6 WHOLE DAYS...BY OURSELVES!!!!  It was AWESOME!!!  My mom and dad graciously came and stayed with Jax and Ella while we jet- setted out way out East.  We had a great time!  We saw and did so many wonderful things!  It was so neat to stay in the city and have the whole week to ourselves...we loved every minute of it!

Everything was stinkin' pretty!!

I felt like we were in a movie!

The 9/11 memorial.  Beautiful.

Lady Liberty, herself.

Carlo's Bakery...The CAKE BOSS!!!  It was wonderful!!!  Sooo worth the trip to Hoboken, NJ.

I made it to Magnolia Bakery. It was every bit as special as I thought it would be.

 

Richie and I waiting for the subway...we got to be pros by the end.
 

Ella and I went BACK to Albuquerque for the arrival of Jackie and Evan's first baby!! 
I was so excited to be there when he was born!!!  Finnegan Cory Ottesen was born on October 16th!  8 lbs 10 oz. He is soooo stinkin' cute!  He looks just like Jackie!  Jackie was a champ...I was in awe. 

Kiddos

Jax and Ella have been busy too...

They are two little peas in a pod.

Ella has to take her purse everywhere we go.

Playing games with grandpa.

Riding the Trolley at the Farmers Market in LA.

Jax started soccer...he is a Silver Bullet!!

Ella loves going to his games and saying "go Dax!!!" (She calls him "Dax")





 

A day at the aquarium!

We spent the day at the Albuquerque aquarium yesterday! It was so nice to spend the day with grandma Shelley. Ella was entranced with the fish. Jaxon STILL loves it, too. I love being home.

Mary Poppins

Rich and I took Jaxon to see his first play this week! Jaxon started telling people "we are going to see Mary Poppins in HUMAN"...just to clarify that we were not seeing the movie. :) We went into LA and had a little one on one time with him. We had a great time!! We had wonderful seats,too! I think he loved it as much as I did!!