Ho Ho NO!

Our visit with Santa on Christmas Island at The Lakes went as predicted, Rachel was scared of Santa Claus this year. She kept saying "Shanta", but when it was our turn, she tightened up her grip on me & didn't want anything to do with him.

Julia made a gingerbread house. Julia, Madi, Hunter Riley and I made a bunch of Christmas cards and sent them to the Pat Tillman USO at Bagram AFB in Afghanistan.

Which photo to submit to Raising Hope Contest

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

Fall Break Cruise

We took the girls on a cruise for Fall Break this year. We sailed on Carnival's Paradise out of Long Beach on a 4-day cruise with stops in Ensenada, Mexico and Catalina Island. Kids enjoyed roaming freely on the ship, dessert buffets, 24-hour ice cream & pizza, sitting in the hot tub. Mark won the Ping Pong Tourney & garnered a cheesy plastic trophy for his feat. Diane & I enjoyed a spa treatment; we all worked out once & played basketball on the top deck. I can sum it up in 3 words: FOOD, FOOD, FOOD.