It must be love when...

your husband goes with you to a Celine Dion concert!  For my 34th birthday Jon surprised me and got 4 tickets for us to see her show at the Staples Center.  We went with our friends the Ords and had amazing seats.  I loved every single minute of it.  Jon and Jonathan were REALLY good sports.  They definitely deserved these kisses after having to sway back and forth with us to the Titanic Ballad while Stacey and I were all choked-up.  Hilarious!  We have a Celine Dion concert recorded on our TV and Elle and Gwen LOVE to dance to it...it is a daily occurence at our home.  Seriously.  We got Elle a concert tee and she wears it for a nightshirt.  When I drove Elle's preschool carpool the day after I made the kids listen to my Celine CD extra loud the whole ride home.  And you thought you knew me...

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

We headed out to the Christmas tree lot tonight.  It brought back so many childhood memories for both Jon and me.  The girls played hide-n-seek in the rows of trees and sucked on candy canes.  The magic has officially begun at our house.  Decorations are going up and memories are being made.  The girls are at such an amazing age and are so excited about every light and decoration they see.  Jon and I went round and round about which tree to decide on.  I think we picked a beauty.  We tied it to the roof of our car and set off for home.  We all can't wait to see it all lit up and Elle is beyond excited about getting to put the star on top.

Pure Joy

Jeep Ride

These 2 sisters had the time of their lives in this little jeep.  Elle kept it floored and Gwen was waving to everyone and everything they passed.  Too cute.

Thanksgiving: The Feast

My sister, Megan, and her family hosted Thanksgiving this year.  All 5 of us 'West kids' were there with our families along with Jon's brother Syd and his wife Shea.  The dinner was delicious and the company was even better.  Each Thanksgiving we go around the table and say something we are grateful for.  It was unanimous that each of us was grateful that we could all be together.  I feel truly blessed to not only count these amazing people as my best friends but also as my family.   

Thanksgiving: The Festivities

The main highlight of the weekend for me was watching all of these little cousins playing together.  They all camped out in the same room each night and were inseperable during the day. Their days were filled with swimming, playing dress-up, riding bikes and running around the house.  We as adults played a lot too.  We went to a huge warehouse that had wall to wall trampolines, swam, shopped, had a kicking contest (which I clearly dominated), the dads took all the "big kids" to see Madagascar 2 at the Imax, and last but not least we had a dance-off.

We called it the "Turkey Trot".  Each couple had to come prepared with a dance choreographed to music complete with a costume.  We made it a "safe-zone" and PROMISED no pictures or videos would end up on any blogs.  I am keeping my word, but boy do I wish I could post those photos!  All I can say is that I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time.  It was an amazing weekend and I can't wait until we can all be together again.  I sure love All Of You!  XOXO

Family Pictures

One of my best (and favorite) friends, Elizabeth, is an amazing photographer.  I asked her to take our family photos this year.  I love that she captured this magical time in our little girls' lives.  Here is a sampling of a few of my favorites (the family shot I am saving for our Christmas card).  She has an amazing talent and I am so grateful she shared it with us! 

Dress-Up

Elle and Gwen emerged from the playroom just like this.  I love having girls but more importantly, I love that they have eachother.  

Sparkly Feet and Zebra Stripes

It's official.  I am completely and totally in love with this little one.  The best word to describe her is 'fun'.  I love, love, love being with her.  She is a performer!  Her latest antic is to yell, "mom, mom, mom" while I am driving.  When I glance back at her in her carseat she does a funny dance and makes a silly face.  She just wants to make her mama laugh.  I bought her these cute sparkly shoes today and she fell in love.  I was sitting on the rug with her helping her put them on and she just grabbed my neck from behind, gave me a huge hug and kissed my head.  So, so sweet.

My Little Baker

Elle LOVES to cook.  Whatever I am doing in the kitchen, she insists on helping.  She climbs onto the counter and does whatever it is I ask of her.  Her helping usually means that whatever I am doing is going to take longer and there will be a much bigger mess to clean up but it is totally worth it.  It is something fun we can do together.  Last week after preschool she hopped into the car and said, "mama, we made this chef hat because my teacher knows I am a chef"!   She wears that cute little paper  hat with pride along with her own apron.  Well, today she was my little baker.  And just like when I was her age, her favorite part of making cookies is getting to sneak a little pinch of brown sugar for herself.  A girl after my own heart.