Taco Night...

The title says it all... My Mom is in town for a month and we got to have Mom's famous tacos. Yummmmmm!!!

Thanksgiving for Two...

This year Jim and I decided to do things a little differently. Instead of traveling from house to house and having many Thanksgiving dinners with each side of our the families, we made a thanksgiving dinner for us. I had never made my own turkey without the help of my Mom and I must say it turned out perfectly. We brined the turkey so the flavor was to die for. Jim had never carved a turkey before so that was a first for him as well. Perhaps we have started our own tradition. A Thanksgiving for Two...

Trick or Treating...

It's been years since Jim and I have been able to go trick or treating and this year Becky and Brian allowed us to take the boys trick or treating with our friends, Katie and Jarrod and their daughter Madison.

Little did we know, trick or treating with a 2 and 3 year old is tuff work. They boys were very good at saying Trick Or Treat and Thank You and Brian would say "More Candy... more Candy" as we walked to the next house. We taught Brian that houses without porch lights on meant that we could not go to their door to trick or treat and he would Say "no light" and would keep walking. The teenagers loved the boys' costumes and the adults just adored them too.

As for the tuff part... I think my Brother and Becky must have thought it would be funny to trick Uncle Jim and Aunt Lara with making these awesome halloween costumes that at times could not fit through the entry ways of homes. Katie and I continually laughed cause I would have to back (walking backward) Lil B up from the door and try to manuvour him around without knocking over doorway decorations, plants or knocking over other kids. You never really realize how many steps people have to get to their doors until you have to tell a 2 and 3 year old "Step, walk, Step, walk, Step, walk" It was hilarious! Good Trick Big B... I will get you back one day. But we had an amazing time and enjoyed every minute of it.

Pumpkin Carving

Grams had sent me a special request that I buy pumpkins for the boy and do pumpkin carving with them. She also requested that I cook the pumpkin seeds and give them to my Brother. (haha... I will explain what happened to those seeds later)


So, Becky and the boys came up before Halloween to carve pumpkins. It was so funny to see the differences between Lil B and Lucas. Lil B did not want to get dirt and there was not way that he was touch the slimey stuff that was inside there. Lucas loved it! I think he loved it so much that he kept biting the pieces of pumpkin that were carved out of the pumpkin. Silly Boy!! Jim is great at carving pumpkins and Lil B loved sitting on Uncle Jim's lap and helping him carve the pumpkin.

Becky was sweet enough to cook us a wonderful dinner and after that she got in on the action too!

Oh and about those pumpkin seeds for my Brother... Well, I have never made them before but thought I would try. I cleaned them and let them soak in salt water over night but over night turned into 2 days. I cooked them aways and to my surprise they were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-L-Y yummy and tryign them out turned into Jim and I eating them all. Hahaha... Sorry B. I have 3 pumpkins that still are not carved so I will make some more... promise.

They're Here! They're Here!!

Brian, Becky and the boy made it quickly but safely to California and I couldnt be happier. I got to visit with them and meet Jacob for the first time. I might be a bit partial ut all 3 boys are soooo stinkin cute.




During the week, they came to visit after Jim and I got off work and we all went for mexican food. From what I hear, Alabama does not have "real" mexican food like California does. The boys loved the chips and salsa and the adults loved everything else. Fajitas, gucamole, flautas, tacos, bean and rice. Of course, it wouldnt be a fun dinner or Mitchell tradition without trying to convince the boys to eat lemons and guess what... they did! :)

A Family Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Since I can remember, I have always heard that Cal Poly Pomona has a weekend where they sale large beach ball size pumpkins for cheap from their pumpkin patch. This year we went and took Jim's parents with us. Let's just say we were not prepared... People flocked to the pumpkin patch in masses and had empty strollers and wheel barrels. Us... we had two hands and my purse. So, of course I has to get 5 large beach ball size pumpkins because they were 5 for $20.00 and then I had to get a small pumpkin for my youngest Nephew, Jacob. Let just say the 1 mile walk back to the car was not very fun and there were a few not so nice words coming from my Husband's mouth. lol. I cant wait to go back next year... with a wheel barrel!!!

It's Hallooooooo- Weeeeen Time...

I have been looking forward to the holiday's for months now and they are finally here. I started decorating for Halloween and the Halloween party that Jim and I are throwing on 10/23/2010 with our close friends. Here are some of the decoration that I have done for the holiday. There will be more put up on Saturday for the party but those seem to be more "party" decorations.

A Great Visit...

During our mini-vacation, Jim and were very excited to be able to visit Aunt Sally. Patti was at work but Ed was there as well so we had a great 2 hour visit. I love talking to Aunt sally because she reminds me so much of my Grandma. Aunt Sally showed us some pictures that she had of Aunt Sally and Grandma Eve, their Parents and family. It was very cool to see. When we were leaving, Ed gave me a ceramic vase that he made himself. It's beautiful and very sweet of him to give to us.

Poor Lucy...

The 4th of July is over and I can finally have my "normal" dog back. Not that Lucy is normal but that is why we love her. Lucy has always been scared of fireworks but this year was the worst we have seen her yet. In our city, fireworks are legal during the weeks of 4th of July and starting about 2 weeks ago, Lucy became a ball of anxiety. Every evening around 7pm, she starts to breath heavier and once she hears a firework, she is in our laps trying to hide. Now we all know Lucy is not a small dog and 50+lbs of dog in your lap in not fun. So as you can imagine, yesterday was terrible. Lucy hid all day and when she did come out for food or water, she was shaking so much it made my heart drop. We did everything we could imagine to try to keep her from panicking. We closed up the house and kept the AC on (even thought the weather was beautiful), we turned on the TV louder than normal to try to hide the noise of the fireworks, we turned on fans to mask the fireworks and we got out her crate so that she would have a place to feel secure. Unfortunately none of these things helped. Next year, a trip to the Vet will be a must to see what they sugguest to help her anxiety and fear of fireworks.

We love being Uncle Meme and Aunt Lara

Being an Uncle and Aunt is the BEST!!! Jim and I are an Uncle and Aunt to 4 (soon to be 5) Nephews, 2 Neices and 2 Great-Neice and we love every minute of it. One of my favorite sayings is "Aunt... like a Mom only cooler."
Well this past month we had some proud and exciting moments as Aunt and Uncle. Daniel, our oldest Nephew, graduated High School. It was so exciting to hear them call his name and watch him walk acrossed that stage. It gave me goosebumps and tears all at the same time. I didnt know I could scream that loud with tears overflowing. We couldn't be prouder.






Another exciting moment was that Chris, our second oldest Nephew, lost his first tooth. This doesnt sound that exciting but Uncle Meme and I got to be the tooth fairy for his first tooth which was also our first time as the Tooth Fairy. Chris had wanted to spend the night (before the tooth fell out) and later that day it did. It was so much fun to see him wake up to find a crisp 5.00 bills under his pillow. He even explained to us how the first tooth is alway worth the most. Wow, good thing the Tooth Fairy had a 5.00 bill and not a 1.00 bill. Then again, its a good thing the Tooth Fairy didnt have a 20.00 because that could really cause problems when the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. fall out and his parents have to explain why the tooth fairy only gave 1.00 for those and 20.00 for the first one. lol.

Next Aunt and Uncle adventures... We are taking Gwen to the Aquarium of the Pacific for her birthday and waiting for our newest Nephew to arrive. We cant wait to meet Baby "Tres" in October.
(get it Becky???... B.L.T.)

The BIG 3-0... ouch!

Well this year I turned the dreaded 3-0. I cant believe I am actually 30 years old. I have been trying to figure out why I am disliking 30 so much but still haven't figured it out quite yet. I think a part of it is that I thought my life would be different at 30. Some of those "ideas" I have no control over but there is a positive to that as well.
For part of my birthday celebrations, my friend and I went to Rock the Keys. It was great to have my friend there with me to celebrate. Later that evening Katie, Jarrod, Jim and I decided to go to the Brandin Iron too. I started going to the Brandin Iron when I was 20 and have been there every year for part of my birthday celebrations so I guess it was something we just had to do... its a Tradition! Katie and I laugh when we think about being 21 and would say "Can you imagine us coming here when we are old and 30?" Awwww, to be young again naive again.

On my actual birthday, I worked that day and came home to a great surprise. Jim has a bouquet of balloons, decorations, presents, dinner (made by Jim and he never cooks) and the pool was ready. I got some very thoughtful gifts from Jim this year. He got me a thermos coffee mug since I cant live without my morning coffee, the Wave by the Firm (excersize program that I wanted) which I have been wanting for months now and the best present of all, a set of our wedding china. I was so surprised that he thought about the wedding china since it is not something that I have told him I want more of and because I never thought he would know which one it was in a department store full of china. I have an amazing husband!!!




As a birthday present to myself, I cut my hair. I have had my hair long for years and decided that it would be nice to have short hair again. They cut about 6 to 7 inches atleast. Its a fresh starts...