This post is a little late, but better late than never….right?  I’ll blame it on the food poisoning, but it’s the truth.  That stupid food poisoning really set me back.  But I still had to share our family Christmas in one very magical place…..Disney World!  The happiest place ever!  Ok, it is when you have 4 year old little girls and you see their faces when they see Mickey and the castle.  Every worry in the world disappears….and you are happy being with your kids and being kids with your hubby.  Pretty magical if you ask me. 

So our trip to Disney was filled with lights….and lots of them.  Hollywood Studios is pretty amazing at Christmas.  We happen to be there the night of Christmas Eve.  Imagine walking the corner and seeing nothing but this

….and with Christmas music blaring from speakers….pretty freakin magical.  Then you throw fake snow falling from the sky and you get pretty spectacular!!

And just when you think it couldn’t get any better you get to see a Disney Christmas parade

and see some of your favorite characters….

And you look up and you see this….

There is nothing like seeing your child happy!  Again, magical!

And of course seeing your children make these faces after just buying them Minnie hats

pretty great and pretty funny at the same time!  I love my two little munchkins!!

And what’s a trip to Disney World without a picture in front of the castle

Or a picture with Mickey and Minnie!!!

We had a wonderful time at Disney and our trip will forever be a memory.  Christmas 2011 + Disney = Family and a whole bunch of fun!! 

Hope you all had a magical Christmas and holiday too!

I’m thankful for many things….so much that I couldn’t put them all above.  Thank you to everyone for being such great readers!  I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!  And I hope you have a very special day with those you love!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is part 2 of my trip to Sedona.

Again, we stayed at the Enchantment Resort and it was amazing.  Included at the resort is their spa called Miiamo….which by the way is amazing and offers different kinds of services from your typical spa.  I actually took advantage of those different services and tried acupuncture for the first time and also at a reading of the moment which consisted of a palm reading, tarot cards, numerology, and the pendulum.  Pretty amazing stuff from my reading!  Highly recommend that service if you make your way to the Mii amo Spa. 

On most evenings and early mornings it was common to see wild life along the property of the resort.  We mostly saw deer and we also saw several baby deer.  When calling home I would tell the girls that mommy saw baby deer and their reply was “you mean you saw Bambi”.  So I should tell you all that I saw Bambi!  And Bambi and her mom were ok with you coming within a close distance to capture a picture or two.  Also during our visit we spotted what look to us as wild boar, but there in Sedona they call them a different name….which of course is escaping my mind right now.  I didn’t have my camera at the time to capture a picture of that little critter.  Maybe next time?

And lastly I had to include a picture of the flowers my wonderful husband sent to our room to wish me a happy birthday.  It made our room smell amazing during our stay and luckily my cousin who came up to visit one day from Phoenix was able to take them back to her place to enjoy.

So there you have it folks….part 2 of my wonderful birthday trip to Sedona.  Again if I haven’t said it enough….you must go!

HAPPY 2011!!  Hard to believe 2010 is behind us and a new year is upon us.  A fresh start, a new beginning, and new memories to have.  I always have mixed feelings as one year ends and one begins.  Sad that another year has disappeared before our eyes and happy because new things are on the horizon.  I have big expectation for 2011 and hoping new and great things will come.  I was talking to my best friend recently and we both have these dreams for the new year.  Fingers and toes crossed that they will happen.  Maybe I should wish upon a star too just to make sure??  

Sorry I’m a few days late with this post but it’s been a busy few days as we all prepared to get back into our normal routines of work and school.  I have come to the realization that vacation is a very wonderful thing.  Especially, a week and a half vacation!  New Year’s Eve we didn’t do too much but we got out our hats and noisemakers and still made a little noise in our neighborhood. 

Even our golden retriever Parker joined in for the celebrations.  However, he preferred not to wear the hat but I do think he looked the best in it.  Don’t you think?

We all had some laughs as we partied in the street.  I’m not sure who had more fun though?

Our party in the neighborhood was a short celebration, but a fun one.  I have recently come to realize when you have two busy three year old’s the attention span soon finds other things to interest them.  Like going to the park!

Hoping everyone else had a fun and safe New Year’s celebration.  Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!  Hope you all have a fabulous one!

Every year people celebrate Christmas all over the world and each person and family has their own traditions. Growing up, Christmas was a favorite holiday in my house. We had several traditions but one of the most memorable traditions was the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. My dad and I looked forward to getting up on that first Saturday morning of December to pack into his truck and head to the state’s farmers market to find the biggest and best Christmas tree ever. My mom would just shake her head in amazement as we walked from vendor to vendor looking and inspecting the Christmas trees. No, too skinny….No, not tall enough….no, not full enough. These were common words spoken between my dad and I. He would hold them up and I would stand back and inspect. My dad and I felt that picking the right Christmas tree was what started the holiday season. We would sometimes spend hours walking around the outdoor farmers market but there were some years that we found the right tree right away. My mom liked those outings because it meant she could get back into the truck where the heater would be blasting. It also meant she could get back home and prepare for our annual Christmas party which was always held the first Sunday of December. That’s why finding the right Christmas tree was so important. Our Christmas party was a little different because we would ask all our friends and family to come over to help us decorate our tree. My parents started this tradition when I was super little and it quickly grew to a favorite that our friends and family looked forward to attending every year. After all it wasn’t unexpected to find a 15 foot Christmas tree in our house to decorate. That’s right you read that right. We had to climb on furniture in order to decorate the top of the tree. It may have been hard to find, hard to get in the house, and even hard to get it to stand straight but in the end it was the perfect Christmas tree. Every year we would claim it was better then the year before.

Continue to read about my childhood Christmas Traditions on my guest post at Smithfield.com…….

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