Belated good-bye

Well, the Colonel has put away his ornaments.

The Christmas cards have all been filed away.

Traffic has returned to normal in Bethlehem.

Christmas 2009 is nothing but a memory. (A really, really nice one, by the way!)

A shot that I took of our tree attempting the bokeh effect. :)

Happy birthday, Elvis!

*sigh*

It makes me sad to think of how much he (we) missed.

Happy birthday, Elvis!

hey there, 2010!

We had the best New Year's Eve over at my dearest friend Karol's house. This is the same backyard where René and I were married, so it is a favorite spot of ours. <3
Tom pulled out all of the stops and had sparklers and fireworks for the kids. Big fun! The only thing missing was Jake. He spent the night with his dad. :(



On New Year's Day, we went down to our favorite beach to enjoy the first sunset of 2010. Beautiful!

Merry Christmas

After a perfect Christmas Eve sunset...


We left treats for the Big guy, along with notes from the kiddos. We even left some carrots, spinach, and water for the reindeer.


We trimmed the tree with all of our favorite decorations.


and....
Look what Santa left us in return!


Thanks, Santa!

Santa.... *tsk* *tsk*

Always the last-minute shopper!

This REALLY makes me giggle. Enjoy.

Rudolph....

isn't the only red-nosed reindeer, ya' know?

A fabulous family weekend away...

to Idyllwild. I think we have a new favorite cabin. Of all the cabins I have stayed in over the years, this is by far my fave. The kids had "snow" much fun and I finally finished the Christmas lap quilt on which I have been working. Woot. I love my family. Just adore them. Okay, let's be honest...I love my life.

*hmph*

My kitty, Pepper, loves the quilt that I am currently sewing.
She does not, however, love that I have to actually move it.

These officially mark...

The end of Thanksgiving 2009. They are the turkey pot pies made from the left over turkey. By the way, the kids like to call these turkey pies. Whatever gets the job done. Either way, they are pretty yummy (and almost all gone.) Woot!

We interrupt the regularly scheduled "catching up"...

to post something from the present!

One of my good friends recently quit teaching to pursue her photography business. When she and I were teaching together, in 2002, I was one of her first paying customers. She has wanted to have a chance to do more recent pictures and we finally found the time to do it.

Please take a peek!


Renee Hindman Photography / Sneak Peek of our Family photos

Here is one shot from the shoot. This one captures the kids' personalities so well!

Guess what?

Chicken butt! Know why? Chicken thigh!

Ehhhh, the real surprise is that we had ANOTHER Student of the Month. Jacob Llewellyn Cooper was awarded Student of the Month for the month of January! Way to go, Baby Jake. I love you with all of my heart! (I know you hate for me to call you that, but you will always be my Baby Jake!)

*sigh* pretend this was posted December 2008

Why am I so horrible about posting? I guess it is good that I am busy living life and not so busy posting about it. (Nice justification, huh?)

Alright, well I am going to try to do some mad catching up for some of the biggies in our little family.

I will begin with the Student of the Month for the month of December. (Yes, 2008.)

It is the one and only Daniel Shea Ortega.
Congratulations, Shea-Shea! We love you so much!





He looks like he has a bit of stage-fright in the last photo. :)

Sonia's Mini-Me

Rene and I have always said that we think Cristina looks like Sonia (my mother-in-law). Well, I recently came upon this picture of Sonia that was taken in Colombia when she was maybe about 19. Wow, the likeness is uncanny. What do you think?

I present to you...Student of the Month

Cristina Ortega! Oops, did I mention it is from November 2008? Well, it is. Someone (me) is playing a little bit of catch-up on pictures.

San Diego Fair at Del Mar Fairgrounds

*ahem* Yes, these are from June 2008. Yes, I am just posting them. Yes, I am lame.










I had a little fun with the photoshop actions on these photos. :)