It's always hard to leave...

We had such an excellent time visiting family this weekend.  It was short trip but it makes it easier knowing that we can actually drive there as opposed to when we lived in Alaska.  It still makes it hard to say goodbyes and even "see you soon".

The affectionate teenager...NOT!

Do You Want Some of This?!?!

Sebastian is our little bruiser of the family!  Gotta watch out for that little guy!  Poor Nina Tish took quite the beating from him while we were there visiting...

Gotta love him!

Thanksgiving In New Mexico!

This year we decided to go to Deming, New Mexico to spend Thanksgiving with Vinnie's family.  The last time we were here for Thanksgiving was 2006 when Gabe was just 9 months old.  We have discovered it is best for us to drive close to the 1/2 way mark and stay the night and do the other 1/2 the next day.  We like to stay on Cortez, Co.  The kids do really well on the long road trip.  It is about 14 hours from here to Deming.  We arrived in Deming Wednesday evening.  The kids were excited and seemed to remember Grandma & Grandpa's house no problem. Vinnie's Mom and sister Tish made our Thanksgiving dinner, which was fabulous!

Dad carved the Turkey!

Vinnie, Dad, Sandra, Tish, & Me

The kiddos found ways to entertain themselves while waiting for dinner..

Gabe was certainly in the spirit, the little smarty pants!

Abby was having fun playing some nice Holiday music..

Sebastian was doing his thing..running around like crazy!

Austin was staying busy on his laptop...

I LOVE Abby's shirt!  It says:  Everyone is Thankful for me! 

 (she knows it too, that's what makes it even better)

Austin & Grandpa broke the wishbone..wonder if Austin's wish will come true???

Happy Thanksgiving!

That's my Bag!

Today I went to my Dad's to gather some coupons that he had collected for me.  I had been out shopping all day and that was my last stop.  I left around Kmart which was just up the street from my Dad's house and while driving to my Dad's I had my purse sitting on my lap.  Normally, I put it on the floor behind the passenger seat, not this time though :(  When I got there I hurry and set my purse on the passenger seat, locked the doors while setting the alarm and ran in to my Dad's house.  About 15 min later (around 3:00 pm) I heard my alarm go off.  I peaked out the window and didn't see anything so I just simply reset the alarm.  About another 15 min later I left, when I got to my car I opened the driver side door to see glass everywhere!  My first reaction was to look at my windshield and see if it was broken and that's when I noticed that the passenger window was shattered and my purse was gone!  I freaked out and ran back into my Dad's screaming "my purse was stolen, my purse was stolen!" My Dad ran out told me to call the police immediately.  Why is this happening, I kept thinking to myself.  The police came and took all my information and of course felt it necessary to let me know how dumb I was to leave my purse on the front seat especially this time of year.  This really could not have happened at a worse time, we are suppose to be leaving first thing in the morning to head to New Mexico.  Now, I have no drivers license and we have a broken window.  Ughhh!  Looks like it is off to the DMV in the morning and the glass shop.  Vinnie immediately called the glass shop and made an appt for first thing in the morning.
After the police left and I regained composure I started driving home and stopped at our insurance agency on the way home.  I filed the claim for the window and had to sit there and listen to our agent tell me how dumb I was to leave my purse....I KNOW!  Once, I got home I just completely broke down.  I felt so completely violated and missed my silly things that were in my purse.  The thieves only got away with about $60 in cash, I was able to cancel all of my cards and freeze my checking accounts.
The next morning I headed to the DMV first thing only to find out that after turning in my application I needed to wait 24 hours before getting a UT driver's license since I currently had and active Alaska license.  *sigh*  Oh well, I guess I won't be doing any of the driving on our road trip. Vinnie took the car in and got the window fixed and we were on the road by 3:00 that afternoon, only 8 hours behind our original plan....
What a pain!  Definitely learned my lesson and what a hard lesson it was to learn!

Babe to Tot?

My baby girl is no longer a "baby".  She is a full on toddler!  She is my dream come true, I have wanted her since I was a little girl.  She is so perfect in so many ways.  She is my girlie girl!  I want time to stand still.  WAIT, WHAT?  DID I REALLY JUST SAY THAT?  Let me clarify, I just think that these precious times go way too fast but I must admit there are certainly times that I DON'T want time to stand still because as I just said, she is a full on toddler with the 2 YR old attitude to boot!  She is quite the little princess that's for sure!  She has to have things her way or else.  I had better get that under control and QUICK!

For her actual Birthday day we had a little family party here at home just the 6 of us.  We were able to Skype with Grandma Marcie, Grandpa Chente, and Nina Tish.  They were able to watch Abby open the gifts that they sent her.

For her Birthday cake, I did pink cupcakes.  Her favorite color is pink.

She was completely into opening her presents, even when they were clothes.  In my experience when kids get clothes they are quick to move on to the next gift.  Not Abby!  She would say "aww, beautiful shirt" (or whatever the clothing may have been)

and of course, jewelry.  She loves jewelry!

Check out this super cute kitchen from Mommy & Daddy which she absolutely adores!  

WHAT?!  WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE ARE DONE?

(just kidding, I don't remember what she was crying about)

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Baby girl, who will always be my baby!