Our Christmas

Greetings!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and is looking forward to a Happy New Year! Speaking of the new year, the fresh start, the time of cleaning, organization and empty promises of a workout routine, I hope to have a few posts boasting of some organization in my home...mostly paperwork and toys which have recently multiplied and taken over everything...everywhere! I write that now so that someone will hold me accountable to actually doing it!

So here are few pics of Our Family's Christmas time. The four of us were joined by Al's dad(Bapa) and later by our friends Abe & Danielle(Ham & Yell) for Christmas Dinner. We enjoyed a Mexican dinner of steak tacos, beans, rice, chips, salsa, quacamole, cocunut shrimp with pineapple salsa, and Danielle's award-winning first timer tamales which shall never be forgotten.(they were amazing!) We finished off with a slice of pumpkin praline cheesecake, which was also amazing.

Christmas morning was magical for Nevaeh as she came out of her room to find our tree littered with gifts "Look , hmmm.. this one has a name on it, whose name is that?... hmmm, I think this says Nevaeh on it, hey does this says Nevaeh or somethin?" After patiently waiting for us to officially wake-up and coffee to be brewed, she joined us in prayer and praise to Jesus as we sang "Happy Birthday" and thanked our God for sending us His Son and for the wonderful year He has given us.

These are our new horses(we now have 5), Coco and Andrew

(and NO I did not buy any of them)
Kissing Coco

The Longest Blog Ever..

Wow! What a month! and its only half over! I feel I could post.. hmmm just about a gazillion posts and pics to fill you in on all that has been going on in our lives as of late. A family , friends, fun filled cold wintery trip to our hometown, Al's near death experience in El Salvador(riptide), Christmas decorating extravaganzas, Rufuge Chrismas Party at our house, and Amaryllis bloomed beautifully... and then died a smelly death.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!

Our trip began with a 7hr (traffic) drive to Los Banos to spend Thanksgiving with Bapa and Ada. (note to self - never travel on the day before Thanksgiving ever again)

It was sooo relstfull, we spent the day cooking? Oh no no...not this year..we spent the day in our comfies, drinking coffee, playing tetrus, walking to the park, eating pizza and watching the firetrucks from the neighbors who almost blew up their house trying to deep fry a turkey.
(oh the things some people will due for extra calories)

The Park

Visiting Bapa at work

Next we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Terrasas' and Grandma Liz's house to enjoy a beautiful fall day and of course the train!

Al's Grandparents in their beautiful backyard with their train

As Al made his way south to El Salvador(and home again safely thank God after a riptide scare in the ocean, rescued by a man in a speedo) with the HS missions team, the girls and I made our way to Papa and Nana's house!

Cousins!
Neveah loves having cousins, she knows that they are like friends but better. She was always looking for her cousins. " Mom, where are my cousins?" "Are my cousins here yet?" " "Hey, Cooousins where are you ?"

More Cousins!

The Coplin Kiddos
Char joined baby Myles on the floor

Amaryllis grew and grew and finally bloomed several bright red flowers, unfortunatly due to miscommunication Amaryllis was over-watered and and we came home to a flooded, floating stinky and very dead flower. But she was beautiful while she lasted... we will probably get another.

Happily Before and After

BEFORE

AFTER

Progress!...Oh the joy of a little progress. This is my breakfast nook, aka 'the pretty room'...and now it really is. Wicker chairs I bought on craigslist and spray painted them red. Chair pads from Pier 1 bought with a giftcard (thanks Mom). Table is from craigslist as well and I offered half the asking price and got it! Orchid complements of Mrs. Tara Harman. Though not completed I thought I'd share with you my progress.

Childhood Fun

Yesterday Nevaeh discovered one of the great wonders of childhood... What happens when you blow into a straw in a cup of milk...Milk Bubbles! She thought this was so funny she was histerical. She couldn't believe it was happening, "Mom do you see this?! Do you see what my milk is doing?!"

Amaryllis Update

Just two weeks and Amaryllis has two buds and shot up almost a foot! This is very exciting!

Funny Crying Faces

Well... my second born is quite the drama queen and I couldn't decide which funny crying face to post. So here are a few of Charlotte in her 'could've been better' moments. Thanks for the challenge Corynne!

"Stop taking pictures I need a nap" face

"Your not feeding me fast enough" face

"I hate grass" face

"I said I didn't want a birthday hat" face

Sea World....again

Planting Amaryllis

Nevaeh and I are trying our hand at growing and indoor Amaryllis bulb. As we were following the steps to planting, I would say "And then we do this....And then we do that..." And Nevaeh would say , "And then we will wash our hands...And then we will wash our hands" She really had some tactile issues with all that soil. But she made it through to the end and was very relieved to wash her hands! We will keep you updated on he progress of our new little friend. Nevaeh checks on it and waters it, but says she "really very can't wait anymore for her flower to come".

Marty and Melman

Marty the Zebra and Melman the Giraffe made their way from the set of Madagascar to our house! Nevaeh loves to act like animals, as most of you know, so she really enjoyed dressing up as a zebra. She wore her costume days ahead of time prancing around on all fours shaking her tail. Charlotte wore the cutest little Giraffe costume (complements of aunt Brandi), however she was not quite as excited about it as the rest of us were. When she was due to make her adorable animal debut she layed on the floor and refused to get up. She wanted nothing to do with that Giraffe head on top of her own. It was quite funny and I couldn't help but snap a few quick pictures....poor baby.

A couple of days pre-halloween, Nevaeh and I bought bags of candy and tied little 'Jesus books'(as she called the little tracts) to them. As I expected our neighborhood was booming with little princesses', transformers and a few horrid looking creatures. Nevaeh really enjoyed all the kids coming to our door dressed up and giving them candy and a 'Jesus book'. So much so that we had to convince her that she could go out and get some candy too! It only took 1 house for her to catch on to this amazing process. This was her 1st experience with trick or treating and though she did not want to say 'trick or treat' she loved receiving the candy.

learning the 'thriller' dance

PUN-KINS!!!

I love Irvine Park Railroad! It's a huge park that makes you feel miles away from city life complete with pony rides, a lake with boats and ducks, a zoo, lots of wide open play spots and of course a train. This time of year they also have a pumpkin patch! Nevaeh loves horses and going to the park to ride on Dan (a pony) is just about the greatest thing she can imagine. You get to ride whatever pony is available and Nevaeh has ended up with Dan everytime we have gone! Charlotte enjoyed running around and picking up pumpkins and sitting on them. I had this vision of adorable fall pumpkin pictures in these cute little matching orange sweaters.... problem? it was like 90 degrees! So determined to have the sweaters I put the girls in shorts and tanks which made them look a little okie-ish, but made for some cute pics anyway. Al eventually made me take the sweaters off our roasting children. I love the fall season and am so ready for overcast days, crisp mornings, colored leaves, warm soups, scarfs, and pumpkins!

Charlotte climbing pumpkins

How tall this fall!

'Whats with this guy?'

Al, Neaveh and Dan!

Classic Char...food in hand...pants undone.