My sweet little (weirdo) spirit...

I was in the dressing room at Target and Cashel was looking in the opposite mirror (averting her eyes from what she hopes she doesn't turn out to be) and I caught her making this face. She is always crossing her eyes all crazy and sometimes it happens when she is talking to you...talk about scary beyond all belief! Well, I pulled out the ole' mom line, "Don't do that! What if your eyes get stuck that way!?!?" So out of the mouth of my little babe comes "Then Jesus will just heal me. He heals people you know."
How can I argue with that?

Bringing in the New Year Rose Parade style!

Happy Belated New Years! For new years eve Cierra, Alfredo and i went to Pasadena for the Rose Parade! I have a friend who lives there and so we decided to take advantage! after a delish dinner we walked along the streets of the parade route...pure insanity! People who have been camped out for days lined the street! While we drove down the road we got marshmallows, silly string and tortillas with shaving cream thrown at us! We kept rolling down the windows so Alfredo would get hit! We met up with Connie, Kathy and Kathy's sister Debbie who drove down from St. George to spend the night and watch the parade! We counted down to 2008 with them and had a blast! Then they were kind enough to save us a front row spot for the morning so we didn't have to sleep on the street! Love you guys :) ! Now I can check the rose parade off my list!

Love my Conster!

The Crazyiest ones on the strip!

Theres nothing like ringing in the new year on a street corner in front of Jack in the Box!

This float was beautiful, and it had sweet Polynesian men who were practically naked following behind....oh how I love lava-lavas! I was too tired to take pictures of all the floats.... sorry folks!

Sorry.....

I know I'm a little slow....my life is insane right now...hence the blog name...I'm trying to catch up a little at a time, so be patient with me! And I'll try to comment more too! Thanks Aunt Kathy for caring about me! :)

Merry Christmas!!! We had a totally amazing Christmas...we are truly blessed thanks to family and friends! The kids got some great gifts and were very happy! My mom, dad, micah, sam, Cierra and alfredo all came to me and bruce's (oh, greg was there too!) on Christmas morning! It was wonderful except for the fact that mom and dad were totally sick :( We draw names for presents and Kimmy got me! I told her instead of one big gift I wanted a bunch of little presents so I could open alot! She did a great job! I got like 10 presents and I loved them all!!! Good job lady! :) All in all it was an amazing day!!

Waiting for all the mornings gloriousness!

So far so good...

Cashel's Zac Efron pillowcase....I get to sleep with it on the weekends...

Two happy kiddos!

Avalon among her goodies

Kobe with his stash!

Look at that load! Santa loves us! :)

Christmas eve with the family!

The Nativity doesn't get any better then this....seriously

My cute little Joseph!

Another Tradition...

The Slide show below is from Sunday night! We had our Annual Gingerbread House decorating and Sound of Music Sing-a-long! This is definitely one of my fav traditions! We all decorate gingerbread houses while we watch "Sound of Music"! We don't just watch. We sing. At the top of our lungs. Even Micah. Everyone has their special parts they like to sing the best ( I of course love them all) Since Kimmy has joined the family though ( I can't believe she still did after witnessing this tradition) I must say I love when she sings "How do you solve a problem like Marissa", the song my mom used to sing to me when i was little! :) Everyone did a wonderful job on their houses...(I tried to post everyones, but the slider was getting mad at me) We usually vote on who's is the best but everyone got sick of me winning so they stopped that!! And we even got to celebrate Aunt Kathy's 29th b-day! We had a blast! I love my Family and that we still do all our crazy traditions! Thanks to my Mom who has brought so much fun and memories to our family!! :) Enjoy the show....

The GingerBread Challenge/Sound of Music sing-along!

*Christmas Boat Parade *

It's tradition to go to Balboa and watch the boat parade! It's so fun to see all the boats and gorgeous homes decorated! My mom always brings Hot Cocoa and donuts and we get all our warm cozy gear on and stroll down the boardwalk! It's one of those things that really gets you in the Holiday spirit!

My sweet little family! :)

Ceej and I didn't even plan this! She said it matches us perfect...because she has white hair (platinum blond, same thing) and I have brown! Aren't we just the cutest?

The two little Braithwaite men! Ben was not into picture taking at the moment:)

My kids really do love each other...most of the time!

Cashel and Tio Alfredo! She is so excited they are here for Christmas!

December Randomness!

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

O' Christmas Tree. O' Christmas Tree

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!!!

Kobe's two front teeth have been loose for FOREVER!He wouldn't let anyone touch them but he finally got sick of them because at Kimmy's bday party he let her try to pull it out! He was really brave and she really pulled and wiggled that thing!

Kimmy is a professional tooth puller so Kobe felt confident in her....you can tell by the look on his face! He would clap his hands if he couldn't take the pain anymore!

Well Kimmys fingers couldn't get it out, so Baca wanted to try his ole' dental floss trick....

Let's just say after a traumatizing few seconds that didn't work either....

After all that hoopla it finally came out the next night, after biting into dinner! He just needed mom to make him some hard-as-rock food as normal! (just kidding...I'm an excellent cook... ask anyone...hot pockets are hard to make...jeesh)

Now we need to just work on that other one....

"Goth guyths, whaths tho hilariouth?"

I taught him all the hot looks of course.

For those who are interested....

My Dear sweet darling daughter has decided to start her own blog! I think its mainly to have her collection of youtube clips in one convenient place....should be interesting...and hilarious. It is of course titled - www.avalondepp.blogspot.com...check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Attack of the Lorakeets!!

I know everyone has pics with Lorakeets but i just love them. They are so pretty and even though they are a little scary how they just attack sometimes I can't resist going in their lair...

Cute little love birds! awww...

Cashel is my brave one! She wanted them all over!

Baca was our wrangler...he kept catching them and putting them on the kids! He is a bird whisperer

"Why are you making me take this picture?...I can't take my eyes off these things for more than a second mom...."

I'm a wuss and have to use my sleeve. I fully admit it. But look at him. Totally trying to peck off my arm.

This bird totally flew down and attacked Papa!!! He was like "what the...!" and started swating at it with his hat! So hilarious!

Cashel with two!!! She rocks, not even scared. well, this picture looks like shes freaked out a little....ok, i forced her to put them on her...kidding :p

The day before Thanksgiving we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific with Mimi, Baca, Mima and Papa! there was hardly anyone there so we had a blast seeing everything without the crowds. We have an annual pass and the kids really enjoy it there. It's not as big as Sea World , no Shamu or dolphins, but it has great sea life and a lot of hands on exhibits.

Marissa, Avy, Mima and Kobe watching the seals and sea lions

Mom's really excited about those Seals....

Kobe petting the baby Hammerhead Shark!

The petting tank with rays and sharks!

ummm...scary.

The crew in front of this 3 story tank!

My future marine biologists!

This Sea Turtle was trying to kiss Kobe!

Da dum, da dum, da dum