Fa La La La La

Christmas this year started a few days early for us...first year we weren't going to be with the Pena's so we celebrated at our house early, the Thursday before...kiddos with their fun hats and our very own Santa!
food, presents and Just Dance!
rematch to come with Uncle Marv!
girls attempting to make a gingerbread house
this one just ate graham crackers and frosting
could not get the roof up right so we settled for a flat house :)

Friday was our family day...went to church, which was an awesome service, always amazing music
this year, 3D glasses for part of it. After, we let the kids exchange the gifts they got each other. Christmas eve morning did our stockings before hitting the road to San Jose...excited for these car slippers he had been wanting :)
Christmas eve at Melissa's...just in time, arrived at about 7-8pm
anxious!
with Auntie Tania and Uncle Mark
Christmas Day with my dad's side of the family...Great grandma with all the kids
lovely cousins
spent the rest of Christmas Day with Jay's family...the day after had a field trip to McDonald's...they all got gift cards from Auntie Kat & Uncle Perry, so wanted to let them all go together before cousins had to leave...they went to town with those cards, excited to pay themselves...meals, cookies, apple pies, mcflurrys
spent the rest of the week hanging out, sleeping in, no big plans, which is what Jay wanted...He said we always have an agenda :) so this time we really didn't do much...eat, sleep and hung out at home
the kids got to play with cousins & close family friends they haven't seen in forever
we did some shopping, got a couple's massage, ate lots...
Love Honey Berry...tried an ice-cream waffle sandwich which was good, but still like their Roti Buns better!
what is a Roti Bun? :) my weakness, anything pastry related!
got to celebrate Tyler's 4th birthday at Bounce-O-Rama...Jayson favorite part of the trip, this and going to Starbucks with daddy :)
had dinner with Rosalynn's family...my godson Christian does not like me, would not even say hi to me, even spit out a piece of gum when he found out it was from me :( was so funny, but sad...hee! I have to come around more often!
Melissa's was our home for over a week so had to open up some presents...was supposed to help daddy build it, but daddy pretty much did all the work :)
Ruby was able to get the gang together for a last minute brunch the day before leaving...
What a Welcome! Thanks Nora! Was so nice to get a cheers for coming :)
finally saw some of the new babies...Mari!
Chase wouldn't go to me, but liked Jay
finally saw the Abar girls...big fan of Miss Eden's hair, finally saw it in person :)
New Year's eve I was a happy camper, all I wanted was to be with my husband eating crab...and that's exactly what we did, he picked up boiling crab to go...is it scary I almost ate this whole thing alone :)
Ended our trip with a Crab Feast on New Year's day, a new tradition Uncle Son started...back to back crab days...I was happy!
played with some of them first
the amazing stew it cooked in
ready to eat...I was the last one at our table :)
kids even enjoyed it...well Jaylin and Jayson anyway. Jayme not into seafood, but loves her bread & butter and corn
Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!!! Many of you have seen this, was trying to be funny with the Spirit Hoods :)
Thanks to everyone who donated to charity water for the kids...they were so excited every time they got a donation :) They raised $615. They are so lucky to still have gotten presents! We are blessed by all of you! 2012 is going to be great!

Thirthy and Flirty and Thriving

Dee celebrated the big 30 this year! Melissa came down from SJ to celebrate with our little sister, whom we always give a hard time about being the youngest but the tallest! Not fair! Started off the weekend with massages and lunch by the lakes at Marche Bacchus in Summerlin...Cheers to being thirty, flirty & thriving! I do believe you get smarter at 30, told to me by my cousin Tippie and So True!
the girls joined us for manis
and pedis...next time totally getting the deluxe pedi that Melissa got, had hot stones and everything!
ready for GNO
dinner at Sushi Samba...Dee loves their chilean sea bass and corn
was so yummy! The few times Jay and I went we thought it was okay, but the last few times I have gone it has been so much better because of the tasting menu...you get a little bit of all their best dishes...definitely the way to go here!
some other favs...yellowtail taquitos and gyoza
raw fish platter, from left to right...yellowtail jalapeno & lemongrass, tuna w/ jalapeno, yellowtail with ginger & soy, salmon in orange & mustard miso
rolls...the top 2 were yummy, the bottom not so great. The top one was the El Topo, salmon, jalapeƱo, shiso leaf, fresh melted mozzarella and crispy onion. The jalepeno kept my mouth on fire for a while, so had to pick the rest out. The middle one was my favorite, Carnaval roll, shrimp, avocado, yellowtail tartare, crispy rice paper. The third had a weird taste/after taste, the Yamato, tuna, foie gras, osetra caviar, gold leaf
Surprise birthday dessert...I swear I don't remember telling them the reservation was for a birthday, so was surprised myself when they brought this out. I actually was feeling bad that I didn't mention it, but I guess I did...either way, YAY!
the rest of the night we hung out at Lavo in the Palazzo Hotel
I know, sucky picture, but we saw LA Laker, Ron Artest. We tried to get his picture with Dee, but we didn't want to disturb him during his dinner...he had a super long dinner...was still at the table when we left, Darn!
the next day we had the girls join us again for a tea party at Town Square, English's Quintessentially British Restaurant
wouldn't be a tea party without pinkies up!
we did some shopping and buffet at the Cosmopolitan
so fancy and cute how they do their buffet...little pots, deep fryers, so you get your own individual portion...these were my favorite dishes, the beef with onions & rice and the chicken wings...didn't even need ranch!
dessert was amazing
not only macarons which of course were the highlight, mini candy apples
almond joy ice-cream, apple crisp and a whole bunch of other goodies
and to top it off we got free bloody marys...Cheers again to Dee's 30th birthday! It was such a nice long weekend to spend together with my sissies :) Love you Dee!