Merry Christmas

I just wanted to share this picture. Isn't this what Christmas is all about? Just look at his facial expression!!!

*Thank you Auntie Joan for the gift!! :)

Ever since I can remember, my dad let my sister and I open ONE present on Christmas Eve and he always picked it out. It was always mainly clothes we opened. (haha) It was always in the later part of the day too... So, this year Trevor and I get to share that with Dylan this year. He was so happy.

You all will be busy with family tomorrow, but I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Enjoy. Laugh. Smile. Love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Teddy

As most of you have notice in MOST of Dylans pictures he has this blue bear he carries around. He calls him 'TEDDY", lately it's "Baby Teddy Bear". I'm writing this blog cause I always worry about 'Teddy" disappearing or losing it. We have had a couple of scares where he was misplaced or even dropped. This past month, we were at the commissary and Dylan had dropped him and I didn't even notice. Once we got through half way of our shopping, thats when I noticed. Of course we were frantically searching for him, asking people and just losing our minds. We slowly had no hope and we finished shopping and as we were going down the aisle to check out, there he was sitting on a cracker display. Some sweet-hearted person saw him and picked him up and set him where they knew people would be walking by to leave. I squeezed him like he was my Teddy and I'm so thankful that person did that. (I'm sure Dylan was too, his face was priceless when he saw him again)

Anyways to my point is if you ever catch yourself going into an Old Navy and headed into the baby/kids section, can you PLEASE look out for another little blue bear? I've looked on their website, amazon, ebay, craigslist...etc.. I even emailed Old Navy the other day. (Who knows if I will ever get a response.) I got it as a gift from a friend at my baby shower when I was pregnant with Dylan. So, if you do find one get it! I will pay you back! HA HA It would just be nice to have an extra for just in case emergencies.

Happy Birthday Dad

Dec 12th 1963- July 10th 2004

Happy 47th Birthday Dad!

We all miss you, I hope you know that:)

I love you

I see you looking down on us:)

SNOW

As most of you know it was SNOWING here a few days ago:) It was literally a blizzard! I've never been in the middle of it. It was amazing! They were saying winds were up to 50-60mph in surrounding areas. We ended up getting about 5 1/2 inches of snow! Temps were getting as low as 9 degrees!!!! Now thats CRAZY. It's been awhile since we got that much. 2 years ago WA had that big snow storm. That was crazy! We had to move in that, that sucked. My dad LOVED snow! I think that's why I love it so much, it reminds me of him. I took some pictures (of course) and we tried to build a snowman. He ended up as a square one. Plus, I took a video of our little own ice-rink on our road that we sliding up and down. It was pretty fun!

Dylan and Brandon

I hope everyone had a belly-aching-great-stuffed-sleepy-wonderful and yummy Thanksgiving! Most of you are eating your leftovers still, as we are! Yummy! (I think thats the best part) We went Black Friday shopping! Now that was fun! Its so fun to see how crazy people can get when it comes to movies, toys, tvs' and pretty much EVERTHING. I guess when then the price is right its' got to be crazy!!! We got some good deals and got in and out of Toys R Us and Walmart real quick, but when it came to Target that was insane! It was fun though! Thanks to Trevor and Diana for being my shopping buddies! I cant wait until next year!

I saved the BEST FOR LAST

"Snow-balls!!!"

Tasty Treats with Me!

Some of you might of heard of TidyMoms' blog.. if not, its amazing. So much fun and creative! She had posted a blog about a week ago for this Owl SMores Treat. It originally came from Living Locurto site, but I fell in love with it. I'm secretly falling in love with owls. (I guess its not a secret anymore (: ) So I told myself I had to make these. But I changed it a bit. I was craving rice crispy treats and as I was walking the aisle of the commissary I came across a box of Coco Pebbles. Remember those? I haven't had those since I was a kid! I was like thats PERFECT!!!

This is what you need

• a box of Coco Pebbles
• 2 bags of marshmallows - (miniature and large)
• 1/4 cup of butter/margarine - (a little more so you can spread it on the pan)
• chocolate chips
• candy corn
• yellow round candy- I got chewy sprees (in the original post they used yellow melts..I couldn't find them)
• some type of food-safe (edible) adhesive (I used Wilton Sparkle Gel, its what I had in the cupboard)

First step is pretty easy, make Rice Crispy Treats. (most know, if not its always on the side of the box) Melt the 1/4 cup of butter/margarine until its fully melted (about 30 secs in the microwave) Pour the entire bag of miniature marshmallows and coat with the butter in a large mixing bowl. Microwave the butter/marshmallow mix again until they are completely melted (about 30 secs at a time)

Once the mixture is melted slowly add the crispy until its all mixed well. You want to use a pan that is non stick or just spread a bit of butter all around (like I did) So when the rice crispy treat is ready, it doesn't stick to the pan and you have a complete mess. I let the rice crispy treats sit for about an hour+ so they were firm and easy to handle and I cut them into 'owl-shaped' treats (squares).

Then I cut the large marshmallows in half and this was the hard part, with the Smores, you could just put the marshmallow and yellow melts on the graham cracker and put in the microwave for about 10 secs to melt, but with the crispy treat, you really can do that... So what I did was put a little butter on the plate and put the marshmallow on there and nuked it for about 10 seconds and then very carefully with a flat utensil moved the marshmallows to the top of the crispy treat.

After putting the first marshmallow down, I then added the candy corn in the appropriate place and then added the second marshmallow. then I added the yellow spree and with the gel I added a little bit to the bottom of the chocolate chip and pressed that onto the spree which the spree was pressed into the marshmallow.

TA-DA!

Come on down, to the Train Show

This past weekend we took Dylan to the The Great Train Expo at the Puyallup Fair Grounds.

As most of you know Dylan loves trains... "Choo-choos" as he calls it. He is a fan of anything train, especially Thomas. They had everything from old models to Thomas to a jumping train shaped house at this event. Dylan was in heaven. Every time we looked at a model he was like "more more more" He was amazed! They had this LEGO TRAIN SET! OMG it was amazing!

Here are some pictures of Dylan, of course. Isn't he the reason why we went? HA

Happy Birthday USMC

For the past 235 years, the United States Marine Corps has been nothing but faithful and strong and will be forever. On this day the Marine Corps will celebrate their birthday and to remember those who have joined with them through-out the 235 years and the future years to come.

HAPPY 235TH BIRTHDAY, MARINE CORPS

*your old, you know that right?

This past weekend we celebrated the Marines Birthday. This year, the Recruiting Station of Seattle celebrated it at the Marriott in Redmond, WA. Each year is different and the same in so many ways. Meeting new people, other wives, marines, families...Oldest and Youngest cutting the cake, ceremonies, flags, and speeches. It never gets old.

Also tomorrow is Veterans day and please, if you know someone in the Corps or any branch, say thank you, give a hug, shake a hand (fist pump) or even smile. Anything counts. I'm very proud to say that I stand next to my Marine. I support him 100%.

Please take a moment, tomorrow 11/11 for who all have fallen for this country.

Semper Fi

O-O-O-RAH

Yikes... its been awhile :(

OOPS!!! I promised myself I wasn't going to forget about this or the million of pictures I have taken over in the last month! Sorry guys, will you ever forgive me? To make it up I have this sweet picture of Dylan and an awesome recipe :)

Lasagna Roll Ups:

Yield: 3 servings

3 Lasagna noodles

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 teaspoon minced chives

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

24 slices pepperoni

3 slices swiss cheese, cut into thirds

1 cup meatless spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Combine ricotta cheese, chives, oregano and basil; spread 1/4 cup over each noodle to within 1/2 inch of edges. Top with pepperoni and swiss cheese. Carefully roll up.

Place seam side down in a greased shallow 1 qt. baking dish; top with spaghetti sauce. Cover and bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

Uncover; sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I was also thinking you could replace the peperoni with sausage or anything you prefer. It was very tasty! Thanks to my friend Erika York who found this in a 'Taste of Home' magazine. It was created by a military wife, like most of us. Thanks to her!

Next time I do make this I will put another type of cheese of some sort or just add more swiss cheese. Its a very simple recipe too. I had never cooked lasagna noodles before or even did anything like this. It was actually fun, to roll them up. If you have kids that are old enough, they can help spread the cheese or place the meat or even roll them up. (Dylan could care less... watching Mickey Mouse was more important .. ha ha) Please let me know how it came out :)

Here is a pre-picture before it was put into the oven. Once they were taken out, they were eaten!

(obviously you see six of them and not three like the recipe, just double everything)

*i'll keep my butt in gear and post some stuff :)

BOWLING

Lights.. Action & MUSIC!

Dylans first bowling night!!!

He thought it was the coolest thing since Mickey Mouse. (haha)

I got a couple of videos of him dancing. He really got into it. I dont know if you can hear the music, if not, you can still get a laugh at him and his moves!!!

The kids found a new game while the parents bowled...

He always has his 'teddy'

** if you every come across one of these CONTACT ME!!! he came from old navy, THANK YOU**

He got his first STRIKE!!!

Not Much

Well, I do feel bad.. I have nothing to report.

We have just been hanging out doing nothing.

Its been pretty hot lately, we had one day of rain to cool off, but thats about it.

I do have a little but of bad news to post here. It really got to me. Its not a happy ending.

There was a 16 year old, mentally challenged girl, named Kimmie Daily that was murdered in South Hill (Puyallup,WA) last monday. She was found less than a mile from where my mom lives. It's a very sad story.

I wont be posting the gory details, but this is a link (click the word link) to when she first went missing and there are plenty more stories about it.

Its a very sad story and I just wanted to share her story and please say a little prayer for her family.

RIP Kimmie Daily

But I will leave you this adorable picture of Dylan though :)

Camping 101

It's been at least 12 years or even more since the last time I went camping.

Pitching a tent

roasting marshmallows

making mud pies

and genuine family time :)

the memories...

Dylan experienced his first camping trip. He was a total pro at it to! I was so proud!

There was so many places to choose from but we waited to long to reserve something so we ended up to all the way to Ocean Shores, WA. It ended up being really nice. It was a nice break to have some over cast weather and nothing scorching hot.

Drift Wood Acres

This little place thats actually 22 mins north of Ocean Shores.

Its run by a husband and wife and you can totally tell they grew up in the hippy times.

We got their "best" site. It was all the way in the back in the corner :)

Campsite #16

He's set :)

Then we put him to work.. got to start them young.. HA HA

** Dont worry he did not drink it. He was bringing it to me and I love his smile!!!

Whats a boy camping with out a dirty face?

Molly girl enjoying the warm fire

We went to the beach and Dylan saw the ocean for the first time. Also a bunch of horses too. He thought it was pretty cool.

We bought a kite.. and of course the second day there was no wind..

so it lasted about 5.2 mins.. and that was it.

The tide finally caught up to us... Dylans reaction.. LOL

By the end of the trip this is what teddy looked like

Dont worry, he got washed :)