Let's Talk Movies, Shall We?

I haven't talked about movies forever, because I haven't really seen one that I was gaga over. I think the last was Proposal, which I loved!! Well, I saw one on Saturday that I, for lack of a better word, was beyond GaGa for this movie!!

I absolutely loved this movie!! Now I am the type that likes a good Sci-Fi, but it isn't really my favorite. I am a total romantic at heart and that is usually where my favorites come from. This movie totally had both. It was a Sci-Fi for sure, we are talking aliens that live on another planet, but it was one of the best love stories I have seen in a really long time. I loved the chemistry between Neytiri and Jake. It was amazing. I am a total sucker for strong female leads and boy was she one. I liked Jake too. Didn't hurt that he was a Marine and easy on the eyes.
Together, they were totally awesome.

The character development in this movie was insane. In just a few short scenes James Cameron was able to do what it took Stephanie Meyers three books to do. You knew who the characters were immediately, and not just the leading characters, but all of the characters. You were drawn to them quickly because you already felt like you knew who they were.

Second to the love story was this amazing planet that they were on. Even with all of the weird creatures that were roaming around I would jump ship and move there in a minute. It was so stunning. I was just totally taken in by all of it. Very Cool. The interactions of the characters with the environment is incredible. They physically could link themselves to parts of the planet, how cool is that?

I am sure that lots of people will argue that it is a story that has been told before in different ways, Randy mentioned Dances with Wolves, but once I was in it, I was stuck. I didn't even realize that 3 hours had almost passed. I was in for the ride and enjoyed every moment of it.
Anyway, if you haven't seen it, it is totally worth price of the ticket. Love, love, loved it!!!! Oh and so did Randy and Ryen.

A Little More Christmas

Christmas 09 was just the four of us and was so nice and quiet. We started our celebration on Christmas Eve with our traditional Christmas dinner of Honey Baked Ham and Funeral Potatoes. It was delicious.

Notice Ali is eating waffles. Ahhhh..... I have decided that we definitely need to set a pretty table next year.

Then it was over the the Christmas tree to open presents. (Our tradition over the years has morphed into opening all of the presents on Christmas Eve, except for the gifts from Santa.)
First we opened the girls pjs. Because I am a mean Mom I made them stop opening gifts and go change into their pjs for pics.

Ali was showing us her muscles.

Ryen is always willing to strike a pose.

Then the fun of opening presents started......

Grandma and Grandpa sent these really cool marshmellow shooters.

Ali was excited to just open presents. Not sure she even cared what was in them.

Because the 2 million stuffed animals in this house aren't enough, Ryen added just one more.

There are always lots of hugs between opening gifts.

The next morning was a little bit more of present opening and then it was off to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squekel, or whatever it was called. When we got there the movie was sold out so we bowled a game and then finally got to the movie. We also played the new Mario Brothers Game on the Wii, ate more ham and funeral potatoes, and spent a countless amount hours trying to figure out how to get iTunes to work on our new computer, but that is a whole other post.
We talked to family and listened to Grandma J read the Christmas story over and over. By far one of our favorite Christmas presents ever!!! The best part of the weekend was just being able to be together. We have never taken that granted spending time as a family (most military families don't), so we savor all of the moments when all that is in front of us is time together. Love it!!!!!!
We sure hope that everyone else had as good as Christmas as we were able to have. Thanks to all that sent Christmas gifts and cards. We loved them all.

Christmas 09

Things were really crazy at the end of November and just got crazier throughout the month of December so I never got the girls together to take pics in front of the tree. Finally I got around to it on Christmas Eve and thought that I would share.

Could the be any cuter? I think not!

How come they get so old so fast?

They are cuttle bugs for sure!!

Friends, well at least for that moment!

Christmas Parties!

Last Saturday, (nope the Saturday before that. See, I am way behind), we went to two Christmas parties. The first was our ward Christmas breakfast. It was so amazing. The activities committee did a great job. Everything was decorated so beautifully and the food was delicious! The kids loved the fresh donuts and Randy and I thought the home made syrups were scrumptious!!
Anyway, they had a short little program and then Santa came. They even had a photo op place so the kids could take their pic with Santa.

Here's Ali telling Santa that she wants a Sponge Bob Operation Game. Don't ask! I have no idea why that is the must have this Christmas.

I don't think Ryen even went into the room with Santa. I guess she is done with that. I think this is the only pic of her that I got the whole day.

I gave my camera to one of my friends and she took great pics of the ward, I just forgot to get any of the family. I promise we looked really cute. Everyone was supposed to wear their pajamas, Ali was the only one in our family that did it.

That evening Randy and I went to his work party. They had the party at a restaurant in the Aliente Casino. Everything was pretty cool. This would be the only pic I took the whole night.
Fun times!

The Magical Forest

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Magical Forest. All of the proceeds for this awesome place go back to Opportunity Village, a place that helps people with disabilities. Something so near and dear to my heart. I thought it was so wonderfully done. Everything was so gorgeous. I love Christmas scenes and lights anyway, but this was really cool. We rode the carousel, the train, went down the slide, and looked at all of the cool stuff. It was little cold (it was cold for those of us that live in Vegas so leave me alone) so we didn't stay as long as I wanted too, but what we saw was pretty cool. Here are a few pics from the night.

My cuddling girls!!

Ryen and Chris sitting in the sleigh and drinking hot cocoa. The guys making the hot chocolate sprayed the whip cream in Ryens mouth. It was pretty nasty and I was so glad that there were not a lot of people around to see.

Chris and Emilee posing in front of the little house.

Ali loved the reindeer. She only managed to break the antlers off of this one. Luckily, it went right back on. Gotta love that kid.

The girls had fun trying on silly hats with Emilee.

We had a great time and I can't wait to go back next year.

Rockin' in Honor Choir

Rye tried out and made the honor choir at her school and the other day they had their first official concert. They did a variety of music, starting out with some really cool, kind of Halloweenish songs and ending with Christmas songs. My favorite was about shopping (of course) and was followed closely by a reindeer rap that was so funny. All of the kids were great, but of course Ryen was the best.
I will share the two semi good pics that worked out. Her auditorium is like a death trap for cameras. The lighting is terrible making for really bad pics, but here are a few anyway.

Ryen and her really cute friends.

Rye is on the top row 2nd in on the left.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Dare Graduation

Rye and Officer Closi

A few weeks ago (I know I am behind) Ryen graduated from the Dare program at her school. It was an awesome 10 week program that covered everything from meth to graffiti. I really think that Rye learned a lot from the program and seemed to enjoy it.
To graduate they had to write an essay that explained everything they felt they learned from the program. Ryen's essay was chosen, along with 2 others, to be read at the graduation. I was so proud of her and have tried for days to get the video to upload and it just won't, so you will have to just take my word that it was totally awesome. She was so nervous to read it, but she did great.
She is growing up so fast that it seems I can't catch up. Way to go, Rye!!

My Cheesecake Birthday!

This year my family and a couple of friends took me to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. I am a super fan of cheesecake so I was really excited. I mostly love any dinner or dessert that I don' t have to fix myself.
We decided to be adventurous and order a bunch of appetizers instead of ordering our own dishes. We had all sorts of stuff-nachos, lettuce wraps, salmon (okay, so I didn't eat that, but some of the others did), something that was called a buffalo blast that was so delicious, and tex mex rolls. We ordered two different kinds of cheesecake-the 30th anniversary and the banana. The boys were bums and didn't even eat any, so Ryen, Emily and I had to eat them ourselves. We did not even come close to finishing them. Sad for us that we could not take any left overs home because we were leaving the next morning.
I am pretty certain that birthday calories don't count so I totally ignored that fact that all of those things are terribly fattening :)
Anyway, we had a great time. Here are a few pics

Me and the cheesecakes! UMMM.. banana my favorite!

Randy and Ryen looking so stinking cute!
The family!

Chris and Emily!

Happy Happy Birthday Mommy Dear!!

Today is my Mom's birthday. She happens to be one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world. She is the best mom and grandma ever, not only because she took care of all of us when we were sick last week, but because she has been there for every important moment of my life. I am not even sure how she did it but she always did. She is Super Mom, believe me.
I really wish that we could be there to celebrate with you! Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma we love your gutz!!

Happy Birthday To Our Mae-Meeeee!!!!!

Happy Birthday dear sister. We love you and miss you so much. Have a great day and feel free to eat all of the cake that you want.
Ali says "you live in the zoo, you smell like a monkey and you look like one too."
She is still at that age when she will just say it as it is :).

So You Think You Can Dance!!!

Last August my awesome husband bought Ryen and I tickets to So You Think You Can Dance. Well we waited and waited and finally we got to go last Saturday!!
We had such a great time and loved seeing some of our favorite dances!! My favorite dance of the night that was a group dance that was choreographed by Dmitri, Napoleon, and Tabitha. Loved it!
Anyway, it was such a fun night. I love being able to go out with my girls.
Here are some pics

Rye and I waiting for the show to start!

My favorite dancer-Brandon! Even though I thought that Phillip was by far the most fun to watch of the evening.

All 12 dancers. As you can see we were to the side of the stage. I was a moron-in my head I thought we were seeing it in a theater, not a stadium so I asked for balcony seating. We were in row B so we were right there, but next season we are definitely sitting on the floor.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you so much!

Happy Birthday Evan!!

Two years ago today this little guy was born and I got to be part of it!! It was so awesome! Happy Birthday Evanator. We love your gutz!!

Celebrating 234 Years...

On Saturday we got together with some friends and former Marines to celebrate the Birthday of the Marine Corps. It was great to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, and celebrate a tradition that is well.. totally awesome. Here are some of the highlights of the evening.

The Family

The Fun

Some more fun. These guys are crazy!

The Marines

The Tradition...

This is Rich reading General LeJeune's birthday message. Read it here if you are interested. After the reading we watched the message from the current Comadant, talk about a tear jerker. I cried through the whole thing.

The Toast.

The Cake.

Traditional cutting of the cake. The cake is being cut with a K-Bar by the oldest Marine in the group.

The Passing of the cake to the youngest Marine in the group.

I have heard the message and seen the cake cutting ceremony many times and it makes me cry every time. It was so great to be part of it again this year. I do have to say that I missed the wonderful uniforms, but the feeling was still there. They are for sure a select group of men and women and we are really lucky to have them.

Happy Happy Birthday!!

Happy 234 Devil Dogs.

Thanks for all you have done, all that you do, and all that you will do.

If you see a Marine today make sure to hug him and wish him Happy Birthday!

Trunk or Treat

We celebrated Halloween for days this year and have the candy to prove it. I will be throwing candy away forever!! Our first night was our annual Trunk or Treat. We have been going for like 9 years and have attended in 3 states. I think it is the best way to do trick or treating.

First things first, the costumes!

Ryen was all about the mask this year. She didn't really care what she was as long as she got to wear this awesome mask. So we took the mask and turned her into a party girl. She was so stinkin' cute!! Love the sparkly shirt? It was originally a dress for an angel, but we thought it was the perfect party girl shirt.

Ali was all about the fairy costume that lit up. I didn't get a single picture of it lit up, but the skirt glowed and it was pretty cool.

This is the only pic I really got of the two of them together. They were much more cooperative last year.

Unfortunately, it was freezing that night, so this was how the girls spent a huge chunk of the night.
I was totally into it this year and wore really long sparkly eye lashes and this fun tattoo on my face. Gee Chris wasn't really sure about the lashes.

We weren't really feeling the chili, so we headed off to Rosetti's for yummy pizza and things. I love this picture of Ali and Randy.

We trick or treated door to door this year, but I didn't take any pictures. I made them stop after like 8 houses because their buckets were already full. We had so much fun both nights and can't wait to do it again next year.