{First ♥!}

{Meghann & David}

{David & Meghann @ Dave & Buster's}

{Megs & David @ Dave & Buster's}

{Curtis co-chaperoned 'cause Mike had to work that night}

On Monday the 18th the kids didn't have school. So I told them that I would take them out to Dave & Buster's for lunch and games after I got off of work. Since Mike was working that night, I roped Curtis into going with me so I didn't have to be alone with the ♥birds! They had a wonderful time!

David is a very nice, respectful boy and we're happy to have him as part of Meghann's life. He really makes her happy! His parents are on the same page that we are as far as "dating". Groups or parent chaperoned outings...the kids are VERY respectful of our rules because at least they are able to be together. It's great when your kids respect you...but respect is something that has to be earned by both parents AND kids. We've worked hard to earn Meghann's respect as she has to earn ours. We're so proud of our wonderful daughter and how she's maturing. She's chosen a Godly boyfriend who is a great match for her. ♥

{Mike's New Landscaping Project}

{This is what was @ the house when we moved in...of course it doesn't look good for long, it was done just to sell the house. So the bark all dissipates and then just looks bad after time.}

{Mike knows that I love the little multiple palms and the sago palms, so he made a better border and planted all the pretty stuff I like! Meghann helped him a lot during this project...they were both VERY muddy!}

{Meghann planted all the blue fescue grasses...}

{She did a great job...the grass will eventually re-grow nicely up against the bender board border.}

Mom & Dad gave us some $$$ for Christmas, so Mike and I decided to use it to buy plants and improve the beauty of our house! He did a REALLY good job and Meghann did a great job helping! I'm THRILLED with the way it turned out! Good job, Mike & Megs!

{God's Beautiful Artwork}

{I took this one first...}

{About 5 minutes later the whole backyard was awash in a pink light, so I ran back to the front yard to catch this shot!}

{And this one...}

{And THIS one....ahhh!}

I LOVE the early morning...God has a paintbrush that makes me SWOON! Our house is situated perfectly to see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets, I want to take pictures almost EVERY morning/evening! Thank you Lord for sharing with us Your beautiful artwork!

{Happy 2010!}

Happy New Year!

We hope you have a wonderful 2010! 2009 was very good to us and we hope it continues on into the new year. Wow...a decade into the 21st century already, how strange. How fast time flies! If we didn't see you in '09 we hope to see you in '10! Everyone gets busy, but it's nice to have some "face time" with our family and friends!

♥ to you all!
M, M, M

{Merry Christmas to All!!}

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! We did Christmas early this year to accommodate everyone's work schedules! So we opened our gifts 2 days ago! We all got wonderful things that we'd asked for! Meghann got a dressing table for her room from Grandma & Papa. I had one growing up and LOVED it...Meghann will too as she'll be able to do her makeup and hair in her room instead of leaning over the sink in her bathroom! She got some art supplies since she loves to draw and accessories for her dressing table to keep it all organized! She got a 32 inch flat panel HDTV and the wall mount from Mom and Dad...so she'll be super happy to be able to play her games and stuff on the big screen! Mike got a new watch, a new wallet, a new Gerber knife, some grillin' cookbooks, an iPod touch and some Truefitt & Hill shaving soap refills. I got some new Rodney Kent pieces for my collection, candles, outdoor speakers, and Mike gave me a coupon for a Mexican cruise for the 2 of us! We plan on doing it in February when he has 3 weeks vacation and it's a birthday gift for Mike too. It'll be a blast!

It's a nice relaxing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for us! Meghann went to the Hernandez family bash last night while Mike worked and I chillaxed. Today we're just going to hang out and relax...since we had 4 days of Christmas fun @ my parent's house, we're happy to just enjoy each other's company. We hope you all are enjoying your Christmas day...and remember that we are celebrating the greatest Gift of all, a Baby in a Manger that came to be our Saviour!

♥, MMM

{Our Little Meggie Elf!}

Meghann came out all dressed up one night, so I "forced" her to be my photo shoot model! Can you tell that she thinks it's torture? Ha, ha! She LOVES the camera and the camera loves her!

{Another Gray Hair from Mike's Job!}

Oh geez...I'm wondering how many more gray hairs I'll get! Last night Mike was in a televised pursuit. He was in it for 26 miles. I'm glad that he came home safely...and that I didn't know about it 'til it was all over! It's much easier on me that way, and for him too since I'm not freaking out here @ home! Thanks to Mom for all her prayers that help keep our boy safe! And to all our friends that keep him (and Meghann & I) in their prayers all the time. He's had a few close calls...hopefully won't be involved in another "incident" for awhile! Sheesh...gray hair @ 37!

{♫♪ Megs' 1st H.S. Orchestra Concert ♪♫}

Wowzers! Can it be? Now she's a Freshman in High School and Los Alamitos High School just had their first concert of the year! They did a WONDERFUL job and we're so proud of our beautiful girl! She plays the bass so well and we really enjoy watching her progress through the years! This is her 4th year playing and she's GREAT! The last picture is her friend, Jacob, that's been her "string bass buddy" for the past 3 years...the only 2 from middle school that are still playing into High School. We look forward to her next concert in February!

{A Wonderful Holiday Season!}

Well...I ordered our Christmas stamps from USPS.com like I do EVERY year. They STILL have not arrived, and the post office says that I have to wait until 10 business days have passed before they'll do anything about it! So, we've had our photo card since the day after Thanksgiving, and they are all sitting here, addressed and ready to be in your mailbox! So I'm still waiting, 'cause you KNOW as soon as I go out and spend another $44 on stamps...they'll show up in the mail! I don't need THAT many Christmas stamps! I thought I'd post the card here for you all to see, and let you know you'll be getting the real thing in the mail soon!
☺
Of course you're probably wondering why I didn't hand make the cards this year. I've had a pinched nerve in my neck (well, actually 2 pinched nerves!) for about 2 months now. So my right arm has been numb and is really hard to "work" with. Everything is pretty much running on "muscle memory", and it's annoying. I didn't want to commit to hand crafting all my cards when the work might not have been my best, thus frustrating me. So this year, I decided to give myself a break and use the professional pictures our friend Rachael took last year during the Christmas holidays for our photo card instead! Hopefully it'll arrive in your mailboxes soon! We ♥ you all!