Getting ready for Christmas!!!

Last week some of my friends included me in making
gift tags for our gifts this year.

I decided to go simple...
...so I could get more done.

Here are a few which I cut out by using my
Cricut machine, which I love and use all the time.

When I got home I added some glitter so they didn't look
quite soooo simple.

There was a bit of giggling when the girls discovered
that both Susan and I
(Susan is my son's mother-in-law)
had brought samples of our
wrapping paper so our tags would match!!!

So... I am thinking...just what was the giggling for?
Why wouldn't we want our tags
to match our wrapping paper?

Just what were they thinking?
(I hope you know that I am kidding)

I had a great time, Lisa!!! Thanks for the fun day.
We will have to do it again next year.
(and have everyone bring their wrapping paper!!!)

OK...So it's not a Macy's parade........

...but it was fun and we only had to travel
to Sulphur for their annual
balloon parade.

We thought they were only going to have
the "balloon shaped" balloons
but they also had these cute
balloons....
(I know they are not flying but Sulphur has low hanging electrical wires)

...and even some cute puppies...

And here is Wayne trying to get as much candy as possible
before the little girls gets it all.
(Not really, there was tons of candy for everyone)

We also picked up a bunch of beads...
I have been out since I gave all of mine away.
So all the people around us started to give us
their beads too...

And here is our stash of candy...
Can you find the crawfish?
The sucker in the shape of a cross?
Two old pieces of Halloween candy...
...and how many tootsie rolls are there?

Visiting the Fam

About a month ago
(I know why didn't I blog about this earlier)
I went to visit my dad, my sister Mary Jane
and her husband, Rob, in Washington.
(My dad has Merrick and Berkleigh's hugs around his neck)

We had a great time hanging out together
which is what I miss the most.
But one day we went to Tacoma
to see the Museum of Glass...
It was fantastic!!!

We saw these beautiful glass
sculptures outside...

...and inside we watched them make some of their
sculptures which they display or sell.

This one was huge and they added silver and
glass pieces to the side.
This pictures makes it look like a reflection but it is
actually the design in the glass.
It only took them about an hour and we were
mesmerized from start to finish.
Of course Mary and I could have stayed here
all day....

...but we went back outside to see the glass bridge
and more amazing sculptures.

The glass bridge had glass pieces in the ceiling...

...and more on the walls, which was amazing because
it was an amazing day and the sun was shining through
these amazing pieces of art.
(do you understand that it was amazing!!!!!)

I also took pictures of my dad's dahlias.
They are really pretty (amazing).
He is really proud of them.
While I was there we always had at least
one vase of flowers on the table.

Love you guys!!! Thanks for letting me come
and hang out with you!!!!

We had the opportunity to go on a fabulous trip

to Canada a couple of weeks ago with some
wonderful friends of ours.

We flew into Montreal and went sightseeing
to "Old Montreal."
I love old buildings and especially cathedrals so
we went inside this Catholic church.
It was very ornate and kind of dark so most of my
pictures didn't turn out....

...but I did get a good picture of this
stained glass window which was
in the ceiling...very cool...

We walked around this part of town and
went into some of the shops..

...before we traveled on to where we were
staying for the week.

Mont-Tremblant is about 75 miles north
of Montreal and it was really beautiful!!!

"Halte du quai" means "Stop at the wharf"

Here we are with our friends the Smiths and the Neeleys
just after our cruise around the lake.

We stayed in this fun apartment...

...which looked out over the golf course.

We went on hikes and saw a few deer.
This one was really tame. If we would have had some
food I think she would have eaten right out of our hand.

There were flowers everywhere!!!
On the bridges...

On the side of the road...

...and even above the road.

One morning we went exploring and found this
old covered bridge...

...and took more pictures through the sides of the bridge.
(this is one of my favorites!!!)

Right near the bridge was this quaint
farm...

...and this cool sign post.

Of course we had to get in our daily
required amount of shopping.

This is the Mont-Tramblant village which had
lots of shops and fun things to do!!!

Such as the candy shop....

... and the Christmas store, which we found
ourselves in almost every day.

Before we left the owner new our names and
gave us each a friendship angel ornament...
just for coming in every day.


This was one of our favorite places to eat...
Crepes!!!
We had dinner crepes one night and dessert crepes
one afternoon. They were heavenly.

They even had a "Build a Bear Workshop"...

Before we left, I decided to take more pictures of the
signs...since they were in French and
kind of fascinating....

Some were very familiar....

...and others I had to look twice to figure out
what they were trying to say!!!

We had a great time and like most places
we visit, I hope I can return someday...

More vacation pictures...

Here are some more pictures of the fun we had
during our vacation in California.

One day we rode the ferry out to Balboa
Island. It is not an actual island because
you can also drive there but the ferry is
the way to go....

It is a really cute little place with lots of fun
shops. We walked out onto the pier,
watched the waves and hung out...

They had a great playground where the kids
had a fun time climbing on this crazy
spider-webby shaped thing that must
have been about 25 feet tall!!!
Merrick of course climbed all the way to the top.

And of course the swings were super fun too!!!

The fire station was displaying
their antique fire engine so we
went in and had a look...

But...my favorite part was watching the twins walking
around in their fire hats.

Part of the time we just hung out...

One day the twins took us to a reptile store.
It must have had every kind of snake, spider or
reptile that you would ever want for a pet.
(...or not)
We bought the food so we could feed the turtles...
little did I know that the food would be alive...
and that the turtles would be soooo hungry...
There was even a huge catfish in the bottom of this
pond that loved the worms...

We also enjoyed our helium balloon ride...
We had to wait for a couple of hours until it was
our turn... but it was worth the wait.

It was dark by the time we went up
but it was a wonderful evening and the
surrounding city lights were beautiful.
We could even see Disneyland's fireworks
off in the distance.

Of course one of my favorite places to go is the zoo...
and I have always wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo.

Giraffes are always my favorite...

...but I also loved the seals....

...and the bugs!!!
You have to agree that these are the cutest
bugs you have ever seen!!!

Of course the pandas are amazing....
This is the dad.

The mom and baby were kept separately.
(but those pics didn't turn out as well)

The night before I came home,
we went to Disneyland to watch the
fireworks and hang out at
Downtown Disney
We had benets at the Jazz kitchen...

....saw the lifesize Woody in the Lego store...

...and watched this lady, who reminded us of Snow White,
make these incredible Mickey Mouse candy apples!!!



We were all pooped by the end of our trip...

....but we can't wait to go back again!!!!
Love you guys!!!
Thanks for such a fun time!!!