Wakefield Winter Wonderland

Me and the girls went caroling with some friends last night and then out to look at some AMAZING Christmas lights. Unfortunately, Brandon wasn't feeling too well, so Paul stayed home with him. I'm glad I was able to go with the girls, but I missed having Paul and Brandon there to enjoy the lights together. We'll definitely have to go back next year. This street does an absolutely amazing job at decorating. There are lights everywhere. The street was packed with cars and there was a LONG line going out of the subdivision and down the street on both sides. It was insane. We got lucky and parked a block over and walked in. It was more fun to walk it anyway. And it wasn't too long. The story of the lights is, that back in 1994 after the Northridge earthquake, neighbors got together and decided to string lights across the street to "tie themselves" together in support over the tragedy. Over the years, the lights grew and grew. Wooden boards were made and put in each neighbors yard, telling the story of "The Night Before Christmas". So many of the homeowners were out in their driveways with fire pits and chairs set up for people to stop and get warm at. There was even a band singing Christmas carols at one of the homes. It was just so much fun and such a great new tradition for us. Here are some pictures from the event. I forgot my camera, so I had to use my phone.

One year ago today

One year ago today we put an offer on our home. I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. I honestly LOVE my house and couldn't be happier with the decision we made that day. If you haven' t heard our story and how it all came to be, read below. It really truly was and is a blessing. I know this and I know that us getting this home was no coincidence.

Let me give you a little back history. Since moving here in 2003, Paul has been working on figuring out how we were EVER going to get into a house. At the time, the market was crazy high and getting higher everyday. We would sit and crunch the numbers over and over as the years went by and as our income changed. But it always just seemed a bit out of reach. But Paul was a diligent husband and continued to look at homes online at least a few times a week. As the market started to change and go down, we even started actually looking at a few homes from time to time. But it still never seemed possible.

Then, one day in mid December 2008, I decided to sit down at the computer and actually look at homes online (something I never really did before). At the time, I didn't think much about it. I just knew that the market was getting to a point where home prices were within our reach, so I thought I would just take a look....for fun. Well, I found a few homes I wanted to see. So I contacted our realtor and made an appointment with him for the next day at 2:15. I dropped the girls off at a friends house and headed out with Brandon in the rain and SNOW. Yes, it was actually flurrying that day here in Happy Valley. It was cold and not such a great day to be out with an 8 month old, but the few homes I found were priced within our range, and I was excited. The first home I looked at was what ended up being our now, home. It was dirty and gross and needed a lot of TLC. I honestly thought it had been deserted for a good 6 months. But I liked the floor plan and the backyard was a decent size. I didn't think much about it. I went on to the next couple of homes, not being super impressed with them. I asked our realtor how long people look before making an offer on a home. He said it all depends. Some do fast, some take a long time. (We'd been with this realtor for almost 3 years at that point and had never put an offer on a single home). I picked up the girls and went home. All afternoon I kept thinking about the first home I saw. I looked at the pictures I had taken while there and I started getting excited. I instant messaged Paul. I told him what I did. He was really surprised that I was looking at homes (actually I think I told him before I went, but either way, he was scratching his head at me, because it was quite out of character for me to look at a home without him). Anyway, I instant messaged Paul and told him I liked a home I saw.....that I REALLY liked it. I called our realtor again and made an appointment to show the home to Paul that next morning before Paul headed to work. That night, when Paul got home from work, I told him if he liked the home, I wanted to put an offer on it, and that we would have to act fast. The next morning came and Paul went with me to look at the house. He liked it too! We decided right there to put an offer on the house. Our realtor drew up the paperwork, we signed it all the next morning and had the offer in that afternoon. Four other offers were already on the table and going to the bank with ours the next day. We knew it could be a long wait. Monday morning came and I had a dentist appointment. It was December 22nd. I got home from my appointment and started rambling to Paul about what happened. He kept looking at me all funny, so I stopped talking and said, WHAT??? Why are you looking at me like that? He said our realtor called and that we got the house! I jumped up out of my seat and screamed and then hugged Paul over and over. I couldn't believe it. Before Christmas, we were in escrow. We closed the end of January. Fixed the house up the whole month of February (thanks to lots...and I mean LOTS....of help from family and friends). We moved in the last Saturday in February and have been happy here ever since.

Now, I'm not saying I am some spiritually wonderful person. I'm not. But I am saying this....Heavenly Father put that thought into my head to sit down and look at homes online that day (turned out our house had only been on the market for 4 days and was priced well below fair market value.) Heavenly Father made it possible for everything to work out so I could go see the home. And Heavenly Father helped us get this home when we weren't even the highest offer. I will be forever grateful for the tender love and mercy of a wonderful Heavenly Father who cared enough about me and my little family to help us get a home that we love and could afford.

A little bit of a lot

These pictures are completely out of order and go back as far as a month and a half ago, but oh well.

I went out with some friends back in early November to celebrate Kristina's birthday. Yummy food, good conversation and no kids. It was a fun night.

This is Kristina with Jenn. She's my cardiobarre teacher. She's awesome. Too bad I missed class tonight. Drats! Isn't she cute though? I think Kristina told me she use to be a Laker's girl! Is that what they're called? Dancers for The Lakers. I don't know. Anyhow, she's good! She teaches class 6 times a week and has a 4 month old. INSANE!

Me and my bud Kristina (who hasn't called me back for over a week now). Yes, I'm calling you out on it girl. And I'm going to have to direct you to my blog, so you know I'm calling you out on it. Since I know you don't ever look at it.

Leah fell asleep like this after church whilst watching a Christmas cartoon (Yes we watch those on Sunday. In fact, we watch them everyday starting November 1st. Ask Rebecca.) She slept like this for a good hour. I bet her wrist hurt when she woke up.

Paul's Birthday. He wanted pie instead of a cake. It was a low key day. I got him a chair to match our couch set. He loved it. Me and the girls made him breakfast in bed. He had to work and we had tacos for dinner. Love you honey!!! (But don't worry, we did go out that weekend just me and him for dinner and some Christmas shopping. I love any excuse to have date night.)

We took the girls to a free screening of Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure. It was a really cute movie. I liked it better than the first Tinkerbell movie. And yes I know Leah isn't looking and Ashlyn isn't smiling. It's the best I could get. Isn't Ashlyn's hair beautiful in this picture though? I love it.

Me, Becky, and Brooke threw a baby shower for our friend Jenna. It ended up being only like 4 days before she had her cute little boy, but still. Glad she didn't go any earlier. We had a crepe bar (thanks to Becky), and me and Brooke made eggs, bacon and sausage. Oh wait, Brooke did those. Okay, I did help with something. It was quite the breakfast bash.

My Encino friends (minus Beth....and Renee) took me and Jackie out to lunch in November to celebrate our December birthdays. Christmas always gets so busy that we don't get to go out. I think this was a great way to go. Brooke bought me and Jackie lunch at Olive Garden and Emily got me the YUMMIEST cupcakes ever. Mmmmm....I'm still thinking about that mint chocolate chip one. And the Red velvet. Okay, I'm glad we have a Cupcake shop in our little town now. I'm gonna have to go again soon.

This is the line at Toys R Us on Black Friday. Technically when this picture was taken it was still Thanksgiving day. The store opened at midnight and Becky talked me and Brooke into going with her. It was cold and I was tired, but it was lots of fun. The line was INSANE! Seriously this picture does NOT do it justice. (Did I already blog about this? It's sounding very familiar to me.)

On Saturday (day after Black Friday) we took the girls to Mountasia to go on the bumper boats and go carts. We had to take turns so one of us could stay with Snugs, but really it helped stretch out the time. The girls thought we were there a REALLY long time. But really they both only rode each ride once. We went for sandwiches afterward at Submarina and got three kids meals for $1.00 each. Score one for us!

I guess that's all for now. Feels good to do a little catch up.

Temple Lights

This year we went with our "Encino Friends", as I affectionately call them. But come to think of it, we went with them last year. Or at least some of them. This year we were all able to come. So it was extra fun. It's our tradition and I hope we always do it. It was a cold night. Everyone was nicely bundled up. Jackie and Brad brought hot chocolate with marshmallows for everyone. We walked around. Looked at the lights and chatted. It was a great night and I'm so glad we could all make it.

Craft night

Darn blogger. Why is my text underlined??? I can't figure out how to fix it.

Anyhow, last weekend me and a few friends got together to get our craft on. It seems that I just about have to have people with me, otherwise I always find something else I need to do instead. So it was SO fun to all hang out together and work on our "craft". Tonight we were all doing jewelry. I actually got some good work done and was fairly pleased with the outcome, until the next day that is, when I went to a craft show down in Burbank. There were a couple of jewelry stands with AMAZING handmade jewelry. All the sudden, my stuff looked pretty darn LAME! But oh well, I'm still gonna work on it. I may never get as good as those people, put it makes me happy to have something that is all mine to work on. And like my friend Brooke said, "it's cheaper than therapy!" Ha. That girl cracks me up on a daily basis.

See those little red things. Beads right??? Nope....They're Hot Tamales. Perfect place for my snack while working on my bracelet.

Too much

There is too much to blog about right now. But I am tired, so I will just start with one. The girls got BUNK BEDS!!! Hooray. Yes, I am embarrassed to say that Ashlyn has been in a toddler bed since she was 2 years old. I know....I know....that's bad. But hey, she's small. And technically, she still fits. But we found a good deal and we took it. Here they are in all their glory. The girls, of course, got to pick out their new bedding. "Hello Kitty" for Ashlyn and "Princess and the Frog" for Leah. And the best part about it all is there is actually MORE space in their room than with the two toddler beds. Go figure. And I told them if they get scared at night (which they do....a lot), that they can now climb in bed with each other, instead of coming into our bed. (That's the real reason we finally got the bunkbeds. It's all about me and my sleep! ha....I'm so bad.)

Thanks to a wonderful hubby who spent all morning putting the darn thing together, and with "help" from his girls who were eager to lend a hand. We all know how "helpful" they really were to him. It's a good thing Paul is such a good sport about things like that.

A must do Christmas Tradition

We use to live a LOT closer to this place. But as we have moved, it seems to have gotten further and further away. We love it so much though that we still manage to come back here every Christmas to see the lights, get some yummy hot chocolate and wait for the "snow". If you've never been to The Grove, you HAVE to go at Christmastime. It's so much fun. This year we went with the Tait's, but unfortunately got NO pictures with them. I guess we were both busy snapping pictures of the kids that we forgot to get one together. Well, we always have next year right Beth? And if you choose to head over to their Farmer's Market, the Brazilian place is the yummiest!

When we lived closer, I got to actually watch them put this tree together one year. It's massive.

The water and lights actually dance to the music. It's so fun to watch.

Some shots of me and the kiddos. I guess Paul didn't want to get in any pictures this year cuz he didn't end up in a single one of them. Sorry honey! He was a great camera man though.