Overjoyed

Loved ice skating with these cuties.

And making gingerbread men.

Santa dumping his sleigh at our house.

Which meant we had 2 happy girls.

Spending Christmas vacation just hanging with the girls!

Naughty or Nice

This gem is from Matt's office Christmas Party. I laughed till I cried.

Holiday Cheer

We've had a ton if Holiday Cheer this week. We celebrated Grandpa's 89th birthday with 7 of Grandpa's 28 great-grandkids. Grandpa always loves his birthday and his favorite part is celebrating it with lots of family.

Immediately following Grandpa's Birthday celebration, we headed to Karissa's school musical. The 4 Kindergarten classes at her school danced and sang to "Run-Run Rudolph." It was super cute. I attempted to record it and the video did not turn out. Bummer.

Here is Karissa with 2 her 2 buddies from church. Both their dads serve in the military and are currently deployed to Iraq.

Up to speed

Our blog needs to be brought up to speed. Here's what you missed;

Karissa played soccer with her cousin Kayley their team was called, The Wild Raspberries. They won most of their games. Karissa's favorite part was that her Uncle Matt was the coach.

Matt went to Prague, Vienna and Budapest on a Trafalgar Escorted Tour. He had a great time and got to see a lot of places he missed during the time he lived in England.

Blurry crown jewels photo. I'll let Matt post more details about his trip.

Matt and I celebrated our 9 yr Wedding Anniversary on December 8.

It was a quiet evening at home with the girls.

We've had several failed attempts at Christmas Card photos. We'll be getting serious about it this week or one of our bloopers will be sent out.

Here are the girls in dressed Matt brought them from Hungary.

Helpful?

Karissa decided on her own to start taking her plate to the sink. For a while she had me fooled. I'd give her tons of praise for being helpful. Of course she'd beam and all was well.

Until this morning.......

I was on her case to finish her breakfast so she wouldn't be late for school. Addi and I were getting her shoes on when I noticed Karissa had taken her plate to the sink. As I walked over to put them in the dishwasher I noticed her entire breakfast had been dumped in the trash.

The gig is up little girl!

Thanks!

I could write a really long list of all the things I am thankful for, but I decided that this pretty much sums it up!

BlockBUSTED

Not sure if anyone else has noticed the cost to rent movies at Blockbuster has significantly increased. After reconciling my checking account tonight I noticed there was a mysterious charge from Blockbuster a few days ago. Suddenly I was in panic mode. I thought someone had stolen my credit card number. I immediately called the local store and inquired about the charge. The man on the other end gave me a very lengthy explanation for the charge.

Basically it goes like this. The geek must have seen the gleam in my girls' eyes when we rented, Angelina Ballerina and Strawberry Shortcake. He noted my account that all late fees were to be charged to my card. Of course he must have known we'd return the movies late. (Aren't all kids movies returned late?) In summary, don't return your Blockbuster movies late, they automatically charge your card now for any late fees. The fees can no longer be deferred to your next visit.

Thanks Blockbuster besides your new increased rental rates, now I have another reason not to rent from you.

Halloween x3

Karissa and some super cute classmates.
Even Addi got to join in on the spooky spider making fun.

Love this face.

Trick or Treat!

We got a million compliments on Matt (my brother), and Kayley's Boo Pumpkin.

Wedding & Wild Animals

We traveled to San Diego earlier this month for Matt's cousin, Erin's wedding to Mr. Garrett Williams. It was a beautiful warm day and the wedding was awesome. This was about the only picture I took because I forgot to charge my camera and my batteries were dead. (I am still mad at myself for being so lame!)

Erin and Garrett got married at the former Hanalei Hotel.

(My grandparents honeymooned here oh, like 67 years ago.)

Karissa and her cousin Paisley Kinnon.

Addi just being her normal cute self.


San Diego Wild Animal park. We loved it and can't wait to go back.
We could not cover the entire zoo in the time we had.

The gorillas were my favorite. I was perfectly content to sit here all day and watch them. This is mama, Azizi. She has a 2 yr old baby named, Frank. We loved him. He was very fun and playful and seemed to love the kids pressed against the glass watching his every move.

Gorillas are absolutely fascinating to me.

My batteries are dead

This is pretty much how I'm feeling these days. Juggling work and being mommy is not fun or easy.

A sweet lady I know sent me a card with a great quote;

"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" -George Eliot

Thanks to all the special people in my life that make my life less difficult. You know who you are.
I appreciate you.

What's going on?

Where shall I start.

I hate all my maternity clothes. I've been avoiding them like the plague. Since I can't afford new ones, they'll have to do for now.

Karissa is loving school, ballet, gymnatics and soccer.

Addison is in the midst of potty training. This is not going as quickly as I thought it would. Matt and I are getting tired of her ordering us to change her diaper.

Promise

During my pregnancy with Addison, I had often pondered whether or not I'd have another child. At the time I was working full-time. The cost of daycare for Karissa was $800 a month. Matt and I knew that with Addi's arrival we were looking at doubling the cost of childcare. Yet we couldn't afford for me to stay home.

Fast forward to delivery day. I was induced with Addi and spent a lot of quality time resting before her arrival. As the hours passed my thoughts were on the new baby and trying to enjoy every moment. I wasn't sure if this would be Matt and my last time to the delivery room. Just after 3:00 pm Addison made her grand entrance. As the nurses were cleaning her off and my attention was focused on my new love I had a very strong impression that this wasn't my last time in the delivery room. The best way I can describe it was like someone was saying, "Don't forget about me." I knew with every fiber of my being that we were destined for three.

Over the past 2 years our lives have changed pretty dramatically. We moved from Simi to Camarillo. Both Matt and I lost our jobs and found new ones. My mothering skills have vastly improved. Yet over all the trials I never forgot that day in the delivery room and the promise I made.

As of today I am 12 weeks and 5 days pregnant with our 3rd child. The funny thing is Matt and I weren't trying to get pregnant it just happened. (I'm still kind of in shock.) We had an appointment today with my perinateologist (I am officially old!) and all is well with baby #3. And so our journey continues.

(My apologies if I never shared this story with you. It was very personal and I only shared it with Matt a few months ago. I just felt compelled to share the story now.)

Have Passport will travel

Earlier this year when watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I never would have imagined I'd be there in a few short months. Thanks to my part-time job at Rocky Mountaineer not only did I get to go to their headquarter offices in Vancouver, I got to take the train from Vancouver to Banff.

A shot of Vancouver Harbor and a float plane taking off.

The dome coach I experienced aboard the Rocky Mountaineer. Complete luxury on every level.

Just before passing through Hell's Gate on our way to the Rockies, we passed another Rocky Mountaineer train heading to Vancouver.

The Fairmont Banff Springs in the background. Built as a replica of a Scottish Castle. I got to be a princess for a few nights.

Here I am in front of the breathtaking Lake Louise. It was so peaceful and unspoiled

I started to cry. The majestic beauty of the Canadian Rockies is a must.

I had a fabulous time in Canada. My kids on the other hand had a very hard time with Mommy being away for a week. We've had a rough adjustment back to our normal schedule. Hopefully everyone sleeps well tonight and in their own beds.

Goodbye Summer - Hello School

Karissa was all smiles while Matt and I were holding back tears.
Addison was beyond thrilled that she'd be getting rid of her sissy for a few hours.

First Day of School!

Looking back at the month of August - Karissa moved up to the shooting stars class at Gymnastics.

The girls had a great time watching Uncle Matt (my brother), ride in the Ventura County Fair parade and the Santa Barbara Fiesta parade.

Kayley and Addi loved the rides at the parade.

Travis and Karissa LOVED riding together.

Kayley and Karissa playing at the beach.

Addi had her first surf lesson with Mary at Solimar Beach.

Karissa and Addi egging each other at the Fiesta Parade in Santa Barbara.

Matt (my brother) and Ringo in Ventura at the VC Fair Kick-off parade.

Karissa, Kayley and Megan playing with Zoe on our last playdate of the summer.

Maui'd - part 2

Matt and the girls on our glass bottom boat ride. I love that the only thing Addi would wear that day was her Ballerina bathing suit!

Just before the boat trip. This was a heck of a morning. Addi was pretty much sick up until I took her to Dr's on call that very morning.

My brother Trevor, nephew Brennan and Karissa making dolphins in the sand!

I love this picture because the kids were totally zoned out after a day at the beach and pool!

Playing choo-choo train with the couch footstools.

The tops came off and they were on rollers, why not!

Maui'd - part 1

(Dear blogger staff, I strongly dislike the way we have to upload pictures.)

As may of you may recall from my post last August... http://kinnonfamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/maui-nokaoi.html

I love Maui.

Matt and I decided to return again this year for a few important reasons;

1. Matt hadn't been to Maui in over 5 years

2. It was free!

I'm thankful that Matt worked his tail-off this year booking Hawaii so he could earn a trip for our family. We had a wonderful time together and look forward to returning again in a

few years. Here are a few highlights from our trip. There will be another posting with more pictures to follow.

Here is the top of Haleakala, Maui's dormant Volcano. Of the near 10 times we've been to Maui, we've never seen the top. It's usually hiding under the clouds.

Karissa made a bird feeding station on our Lanai - over looking the island of Lana`i.

Riding Mr. Crocodile

Addi hiding behind a coconut tree.

Karissa on the water slide at the Westin Maui Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas.

I think she rode that slide about 20 times a day!

K-Feeding the Koi fish.

The girls on Uncle Trevor's Lifeguard tower.

Our favorite thing about Maui, the warm Ocean and abundance of sea life.