Grapefruit!!

We have very large grapefruit this year - too bad the rind is almost an inch thick!!

Tet Festival

My parents took us to a Tet Festival (Vietnamese New Year festival) near downtown Mesa. We had arrived early in the day and we were actually a minority among the Asian attendees. We purchased authentic Vietnamese food and watched a variety of Asian performances (the historic dances were beautiful!).  It was a great cultural experience for the girls, but I think they may have enjoyed the rides more ☺

On the Pepper Patch ride, you sit inside the pepper and it twirls like a tea-cup ride...

There were also 2 lion dancers going around the festivities doing their dance. It was for good luck and prosperity in the year to come. Eva was especially fascinated with them.

There were 2 LONG rows of firecrackers that were set off. Sophia didn't care for them - a little loud!

The lion dancers then went in the mall this festival was held at and did a special good luck/prosperity dance at each door upon entering and then throughout the store/restaurant. They always backed their way out the door.  It was REALLY NEAT!!

Eva's Soccer

Eva was enrolled in her first soccer playing/instruction these past few weeks. Yes, we play soccer in winter here☺ Eva did really well for her first formal instruction! It was a parent-assisted class, so I was able to enjoy some soccer again!

Practicing passing:

The man in blue is "Coach Wes", the instructor. He was amazing and really knew how to keep the youngsters engaged. The way he taught the skills was fun for the kids and easy for them to understand!

All lined up...

Ready, set, kick...

My soccer girl ☺

On the last day, the children each received a participation medal. Eva loved it!

George Strait Concert

For our anniversary, we attended the George Strait concert here in Phoenix. This is the stage before the concert started:

First up was Lee Ann Womack, whom Shane had always liked.

Then out came the queen of country, Miss Reba McEntire herself.

When Reba started singing "Does He Love You" (a duet between a woman and her husband's mistress), Lee Ann came out to sing the "other woman" part. They sang really well together!

The funniest part was when Reba's sitcom partner (from her show "Reba"), came out to do jokes. She of course was in character - always funny!!

They actually sang a duet to "I'm a Survivor". Melissa Peterman wasn't too bad.

Of course Reba HAD to come out in a red dress to sing "Fancy".

Lastly, was MY George! He is yummy, I must admit!

He just stands there, strumming his guitar and singing, but his voice is wonderful ; )

10 new posts!

Okay, I know, I am SO SO far behind!

but guess what... you can see 10 new posts starting on November 18th, 2009!!

I still have 5 more to be completely caught up...so keep checking back!

Prolonging Christmas...

So I was FINALLY getting the Christmas tree taken down (the ornaments had been put away, but the tree was still up), when the girls decided to re-decorate the tree. This is their masterpiece... ☺

Sophia's First Haircut!

Well, I thought the time had come for Sophia to have her first haircut - just to even out the back of her hair.

I decided to go ahead and do the trim myself and Sophia did a GREAT JOB for Mommy...

I am torn now, since I didn't have her first haircut by a professional, like Eva did. However, we did save money.

I think her hair is more curly now than it was before!! Keep on the lookout for posted pics that show her curls! ☺

The beach in January...

The girls and I drove with Mama and Papa to California this weekend to visit Auntie Alisha. This trip we brought my parents' dog, Teddy, with. The girls enjoyed having a puppy along!

Of course, while we there we had to go to the beach. ☺ Even though it was winter, the girls had a lot of fun running around. There was no one there really and since there was a BIG storm earlier that week, there were a ton of shells to be picked up!!

There's Teddy! This was his 1st time at the beach and boy did he love barking at and chasing the seagulls! Well, as much as he could with his leash on ☺
A nice gentleman that was walking by asked if we wanted a bag to put our shells in - so nice! Here is Sophia giving Papa some shells (Papa had to sort through them because Sophia picked up "every" shell!)
Look at the cool rock I found!
Here I come...

Chasing the birds...

My two beauties! ☺

Cheese!

Visiting Great Aunt Yvonne

This past weekend my Mom, the girls and I flew up to Oregon (just outside of Portland) to visit my Mom's sister, Yvonne. Alisha flew in from California to join us. Yvonne isn't able to fly down to visit us any more, so we thought we would go visit her and celebrate her birthday while we were there.

Yvonne has never met Sophia and the last time she saw Eva, Eva was 1 month old!

Here is everyone (minus me, of course - I took the pic)...

Sisters...

Here I am with Yvonne...
We decided on cupcakes to celebrate Yvonne's birthday and drove to downtown Portland for what we heard were the BEST cupcakes... Cupcake Jones. Let me tell you, I have never tasted such delectable cupcakes - they have fillings in them and are SO tasty!!
Here are some shots of the girls enjoying our birthday cupcakes...