Thanksgiving

As has been our tradition since Justin's Grandfather passed away 5 years ago, we went to Auburn to have Thanksgiving with Grandma's sister and her family, along with ours. This year, we decided to rent a hotel room the night before and the night of Thanksgiving, instead of driving 2+ hours there and back the same day.

We have our nephews (We missed Keith this year) so we rented a 2 bedroom suite at the Residence Inn in Roseville (About 15 minutes from Mingas house). We rented it because it had a full kitchen and would allow me to bake my pies there, and also because we would all be together in the same year.

When we checked in, the front desk clerk tried to tell me that they had overbooked the 2 bedroom suites (And made it seem like it was my fault) and asked if we would take 2 1-bedroom suites instead. I told her that I had 3 children with me and that would not work. She asked if I could take a handicap suite (One bathroom doesn't have a tub- just a wheelchair accessible shower).

We checked in and as I get to our room, I notice that there is no oven. I go back out and find out that it is because of the handicap room. But they offer to let me use their kitchen in the lobby.

The first night, we had Justin's cousin Kevin, his girlfriend Michelle and their combined 3 kids over for dinner. It was great having a little apartment and being able to have company. Joseph was really sick and he was able to just rest in his room with the door closed. It was the first time we had met Michelle and she was really nice. She also had a daughter, Shelby, who is also three. She was adorable.

After they left, Paige & I tested out the pool, which was almost as hot as a hot tub. The hot tub was actually colder. It was awesome. Tyler joined us, and Justin took Paige back to the room and put her down. We bought her a "ready bed" and actually had it set-up in the large closet again (Like Hawaii).

After swimming, I got dressed, grabbed all my stuff and headed to the lobby. I baked my pumpkin pies and hung out in the lobby for a while. Unfortunately, their Internet did not work that well- but at least there was TV.

I went back, talked with my nephews and settled in for the night. Paige was up around 3am and crawled into bed with us. She was itchy and did not sleep that well. At around 5 or so , I stood up and bounced her for a few minutes. She finally fell back asleep and we all slept until around 7:30 or 8am.

We went for another swim in the morning. Then I made my sweet potato casserole and we headed over to Mingas. We had a great time hanging out with all of the family. Justin's Brother Dan, his wife Michelle, and their almost 1 year old Teagan came a little later. Dan was BBQ'ng a turkey in the back of his truck. Teagan is getting so big and is just adorable. We had so much food. One of my favorites was the Jalapeno poppers that Kevin made.

After dinner, the kids played some more. They had a football game in the dark. We took our family picture (Hopefully the Parada's will send a copy). Then we headed back to our hotel, where I took a final dip in the pool.

Paige crawled into bed with us again at 3am but this time she slept with us until 8am. We checked out around 11am and headed home.

Overall- we had a great visit. I think we will probably stay in the hotel in years going forward (Assuming we can afford to). It really made things a lot easier.

Towards the end of the night, some of the kids needed some quiet reading time- that ended up getting interrupted by the smaller kids.

Chris and his daughter Daphne

My adorable niece Teagan.

Justin, with his Grandma Rose (Right) and her sister Adeline (left)

Dan- Cooking turkey in the back of his truck.

Night time football game

Paige's 3rd Birthday

This year we decided to keep the party a little more low key than we had in previous years. Her birthday fell on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I decided to take the whole week off and we planned the party for her actual party. She had 4 friends come (Audrey-5, Faith-4, Zane-2, and Josie- 1). It was a perfect #.

The theme this year was a bug party. When the kids showed up, they all played for a little while and warmed up to each other. Then we moved them into the dining room. We had covered one of the walls with paper and gave them some crayons. They had a great time drawing different things.

After they were done drawing, the each receiving a small plastic bug catcher with their names on it and a magnifying glass. We had an indoor scavenger hunt. They had to find 2 plastic butterflies and 4 plastic spiders. Once they found their bugs, they got to pick out a few bug tattoo's.

Then we had some food. I served: Ants on a log, some small sandwiches in the shape of a flower, raisins, cheez-its and some pickles/olives. For dessert, instead of a cake- we had "Make your own Bug Garden". Each kid got a small plastic cup with chocolate pudding. Then they got to put some dirt (Crushed oreos) and some "realistic" gummy bugs and sour gummy worms on top.

They all seemed to have a lot of fun. I am looking forward to smaller parties going forward.







In the evening, Justin brought our nephews Tyler & Joseph home since they were coming to Thanksgiving with us. We had dinner and cup-cakes. Our neighbors, Tim & Paula came over with a present for Paige and enjoyed the cup-cakes with us.

Ronny & Amanda's Wedding

My half brother Ronny moved his wedding up from next September to November 6Th a few months ago. So, we were only able to afford to buy a plane ticket for me. I flew in on Thursday Night and hung out with my half sister, Danielle and her husband Jeff. On Friday Morning, Danielle, Jeff and I met up with Ronny & Amanda at the hall to help set-up and decorate. Overall, we had a fun day- but I had quite the struggle with the table skirt for the head table.

Amanda did a great job picking out inexpensive things and the hall looked pretty good when we were done, if I do say so myself. I stuck around to help out/watch the rehearsal. My soon to be nephew, Gino (2) was a little tired and shy and wouldn't walk down the aisle. I pulled out a lollipop from my purse and helped him get down, but then he just sat on my lap instead.



After the rehearsal, we had a nice rehearsal dinner. Jeff, Danielle & I stopped at a bar on the way home for a nightcap and headed in for a somewhat early night since we had a wedding to go to the next morning.

The morning of the wedding, Danielle, My other half sister Jen and I met up with Amanda at her hotel room to get ready. She had Hailey and Gino with her. We had some pizza, champagne and just relaxed for a little while.


Then we headed over to the hall. The wedding went pretty much as planned. Gino fell asleep and our cousin George just carried him down the aisle and held him during the ceremony.

There was some good food. I think everyone had a good time. There was a couple of isolated issues. However, at midnight- things were starting to wind down- but I was still on California time and was not ready for bed. So, I ended up heading home with Jen's roommates. Jen and Ronny's friend John helped entertain me until around 4am. I am glad I got to spend some time getting to know her a little better.



The next day, Jen took me to the airport. I was bummed because The Patriots were playing the Browns in Cleveland when I was getting on my plane. But after I got the score update, I was kind of glad I wasn't in Ohio to watch that game with Browns fans. I am glad I made the effort to get there. But, I was also glad to be home with my daughter, husband and my own bed.

House Troubles

Mid October we received a letter from our property manager. We have been living in our house for almost 4 1/2 years. We have signed several leases, but were currently month to month. They were giving us a new lease option, but no matter which one we chose- they were raising our rent. We could sign a 15 month lease for a $75/month increase, a 6 month least for a $100/month increase or go month to month for a $125/month increase.

The last year has been tough on us and we already thought the rent we were paying was kind of steep. So we had a huge decision ahead of us. The first weekend we found a place about $300/ month cheaper than what we are currently paying. It had a two car garage and no shared walls. It had a patio that felt bigger than our current one. The kitchen was smaller (I didn't think that was possible), as were the bedrooms and living area and we would be down 1 bathroom. Plus, we would not be able to take the dog with us.

So we decided that was not the place for us and decided to consider buying a house. We were pre-approved for a little over $200,000. That doesn't get you very far here, so we decided to look in Concord which is about 25 miles from where we currently live (The opposite way from where Justin has been looking).

We found this house that we liked, in a neighborhood that we didn't.
And a neighborhood we liked, with this house that was just too small and would need to have the garage re-converted back to a garage.
While I was in Ohio, Justin tested the commute and realized that it was just not going to be a good thing for us. The houses we can afford there are just not worth the extra time and money for the commute.

We continued to look for a rental, but decided that we were going to stay where we are at for now. We signed the 15 month lease and are going to trust that God will provide the funds we need to stay there. And since CLO-E is 16 1/2 years old, she may not be with us by the time our lease is up which will make it a lot easier to find a new place. Or maybe, Justin will get a great job and we will be able to afford to buy a small place closer to the area we love.

Hallowwen 2010

A few months ago Paige & I took a trip to Costco. While walking down the aisle I noticed that their Halloween costumes were out. So I asked Paige if she knew what she wanted to be for Halloween. We were passing by some large pillows and she responded a "Pillow". I figured it had something to do with the pillows we just saw and forgot about it.

But Paige did not forget. Anytime you asked her what she wanted to be, she wanted to be a Pillow. And then it became more elaborate, she wanted to be a Princess Pillow. One weekend I went to several garage sales looking for a princess pillowcase to make her costume out of. But I did not find anything and we realized that a standard size pillowcase would be too big for her.

I enlisted the help of my mom, who found some cute princess fabric and she made this great costume. She lined it so it kept its shape. She, as usual, did an awesome job.

On Halloween, she went to a Harvest Festival with Daddy in the morning. We went to look at a house to buy in Concord (Story for another blog) and stopped to go trick or treating at Nana's on the way home. I wasn't feeling very good so I stayed home for trick or treating at night. She actually had to come home to empty her bag. She continued to trick-or-treat at the neighbors houses for days, mostly because they kept giving her candy.

Family Weekend

Justin's uncle Hank flew in from Kansas for his 40th high school reunion. He needs some help getting around these days so Justin picked him up from the airport and he stayed at our house. They went to the reunion on Saturday and had a great time. Justin also saw his "Aunt Donna and Uncle Ernie". After the reunion, they went to visit his grandpa's sister. It was good for him to see her, but it was hard because she is really loosing her memory. Hank left Sunday morning. It was a quick trip, but Justin was glad to see him. And he was so excited to take him for a ride in his old car.

His grandma had been visiting her sister in Auburn (2-2 1/2 hours from our house) and needed a ride home to Watsonville (1 1/2 hours the other direction from our house). He was going to pick her up at her sister's house. But his grandma's nephew Ernie offered to drive her to our house and split the difference. So all three of them came to our house for a little while today. We caught up, and of course they went for a cruise in the old car. This used to be grandma's car so it was so cool just seeing her sitting in it with her sister.!

Justin's b-day

We celebrated Justin's actual birthday by having him work. I cooked a big dinner and we had my mom and sister Mikaila over. The next day we headed to Santa Cruz. We picked up our nephews on the way. We visited our old church. We were going to go to the pier and have clam chowder bread bowls for lunch, but it seemed to crowded that way. So we drove around and ended up at Carpo's for a nice lunch with our nephews. We also stopped by Justin's grandfather's grave site. The boys had never been there before and it was special for them to see where he is buried.


After lunch, we went to a car show and hung out with Dan, Michelle, Lucus, Alyssa and Teagan. The kids had a great time playing together and Dan's car ended up winning best in show. After a few hours we decided to head to the boardwalk to meet Jerry, Kelly and Landon. However, it was very crowded and by the time we all met up, we had to head back to our car. I did get the chance to give the boys a funnel cake for the first time. I just love being able to help them try new things and see new things. Overall the day was a lot of fun- even though Paige did not nap.

The Jungle Adventure

The other day we were watching Paige's favorite show "Caillou" and they were pretending to be in a desert. And Paige decided she wanted to go to the Jungle. So Justin, being the creative father he is, took her to the closest thing to a Jungle he could find- The local creek. They had a great time exploring.

A day at the Beach- Without leaving home

While we have had a relatively cold summer, we had a bit of a heat wave a few weeks ago. Justin hadn't started working yet so he decided to bring Hawaii back to our house. He bought some playsand and set up "Paige's Beach". They had a great day and even had a picnic outside.

Photo Dump

Just some random cute pictures of Paige.

She insisted on wearing just her tutu- And I mean it is just her tutu.

Eating a lolipop with daddy since mommy doesn't actually give her lollipops.

She always wants to help, so I started putting her to work husking corn. It is our new thing.

She love trying on hats, just doesn't usually wear them too long

Trying on daddy's helmet

Frist Curlers

In Hawaii, Paige saw the curlers in my Nana's hair and was fascinated. I told her we would put some curlers in her hair when we got home. I thought I still had some of those pink squishy ones that I used to use when I was a kid. But all I had was these white ones that don't stay in as well overnight. We used them anyway. She was thrilled. And (I forgot to take pictures), her hair was so cute curly the next day.