prettiest house on the block

My family was never one to go all out in decorating the outside of our house for Christmas. I only remember putting up lights a few years and this just consisted of one strand outlining our front door. But you know what? I loved every time we turned the corner and I saw that one strand. I remember thinking we had the most beautiful house. I guess when it is your own place, no matter how many lights you put up, what you end up with is always beautiful.

I actually am still the same way. All I do at our home now is put lights in a little shrub right outside our door. But for some reason I think it looks so pretty and I love driving up to our home in the dark. Yes, it pales in comparison to the job some of our neighbors have done, but I don't care. It's perfect for me.

thanksgiving #1

We returned last night from a couple of nights spent with Chris's family. I'll have more pictures in a few days as my sister-in-law was able to take quite a few good ones. Here are just a couple random ones I snapped with our little camera.

After the big meal, Chris, his brother, and his dad had a chipping (I think that is what you call it) contest in the backyard while their grandpa watched from the sidelines, heckling and adding a good dose of humor to the competition.



One thing we were not in lack of was dessert. There were a total of 10 adults and here was our dessert spread. Do you think we had enough?? :)



I'll have more pictures another time. Tomorrow we'll celebrate with my parents.

it's beginning to look...

...a lot like Christmas!!! Don't you love hanging ornaments? Cam does...click here

sunday

Here are a couple of pics from yesterday. We drove out to OC to have lunch with some friends. We really enjoyed our visit with them. The day overall was a pretty rough one with Cam (I don't quite have the energy to go into all the details, plus I don't want to be a Debbie Downer)...but I did think these pictures were worth posting.

As soon as Cam discovered that this game involved turning and pulling knobs...he was in! He spent quite a bit of time here, which meant more time for us to visit. :)



Here we are with Natalie/Kyle (front) and Steve/Brenda. Steve has been a business mentor/good friend for Chris and Kyle for a few years. They meet a few times a year and we have been trying to find a time for the spouses to join. It finally worked out and we enjoyed a nice visit, and Brenda's delicious homemade spaghetti!

tips

Last night Chris and I were able to get away to Macaroni Grill for dinner while my mom watched Cam. Our waiter was GREAT! It got me to thinking about what makes a "great" waiter. I think it is probably different for everyone. I can say that for Chris, the main thing that he notices is if the waiter keeps on top of his drink refills. Chris is one that will stop mid-meal and wait until his drink is refilled because he has to have something sweet with what he is eating. So if he ends up having to wait several minutes while his food gets cold, it's not a good thing. I think for me, the thing I like the most is my food to come hot (I mean steaming hot) and I can tell it hasn't been sitting under the heat lamp for a long time.

Now this brings me to tipping. We always tip (at least now we do-don't get me started on how horrible and tacky I was in high school), but in cases like last night, we usually will double the tax and then add a few bucks. If the waiter wasn't very good, we'll just double the tax and that's it. I've never had a situation so bad where I hesitated tipping at all. My mom had a recent experience with her friends in which the waiter was rude and condescending. I wonder what I would have done in that situation. Have you ever not tipped because it has been so bad??

p.s. Could you not just make a meal off of Macaroni's bread?? Yum!!
p.p.s. Not sure if you can tell what time I wrote this blog, but let's just say I needed something to do while Chris went in and rocked Cam. Nothing more relaxing on a Sunday morning then getting woken up at 5:09.

just a few...

Ok, so I promise I won't post pictures EVERY time we go to Disneyland as there is only so much one can see of Main Street and carousels! But I just had to post a few from our trip yesterday. Luckily It's a Small World was open. Cam loved it and it was so fun to see his little head darting back and forth, taking it all in. :)

Loves to be on daddy's shoulders!

some bullets

*After hearing about our great day at Disneyland last week, Chris's parents offered to get us passes for Christmas! We are going to get them early so that we can go as much as possible before the baby. We are actually going again tomorrow, except this time with Chris and my mom. I'm so excited for them to experience it with Cam!

*Last night Chris made dinner. It was sooo yummy! He gave it a "9" and I a "10". We love Pillsbury pizza crust and like to experiment with toppings. So last night he put Alfredo sauce, jack cheese, mozzarella, chicken, sundried tomatoes, green onions, and bacon (I know...not the healthiest). It turned out great! We realized, however, that most of the toppings were overpowered by the flavor of the bacon. Not that I was complaining, but it is a good thing to remember for the future. Bacon on things is going to taste like bacon!!!



*Cam slept for 1 hour 45 min. today. Oh I wish I knew how to recreate this every day!

*When we moved to our home, we did some rearranging of the layout. Typically homes come with two living areas. Usually the "formal" living area is for looks only and seems like such a waste of space. So we ended up creating one big living area and moving the dining into the kitchen. Because of this, our fire place is in the dining room, which bums me out. So instead of snuggling up on the couch next to the fire, I have to cozy up in a dining room chair. Oh well, I still prefer our arrangement. Here is my "cozy corner" set up.



*Every time we drive by the exit used for church, Cam says "bye, bye, church!" (due to the fact that he is not the biggest fan of church/nursery). This morning as we approached...
Cam: Bye, bye, church!
Kelly: Actually, this morning we are going to church! It will be fun!!
Cam: Bye, bye, fun!!
Apparently there is no convincing. :)

*We all have our little pet peeves about our spouses. One of Chris's is that I am constantly leaving 1/2 empty water bottles around the house without the lids. On more than one occasion, he has discovered this by accidently knocking it over and thereby spilling it. Oops.