new year's day—rose parade

my sister laura and my brother-in-law mark have really good friends who live at the end of the parade route. and every year, a group of their friends mark off "their spot" and head down around 10am, since that's the time the parade gets to that area. they are very organized and bring everything from coffee to bloody mary's to bagels and donuts for during the parade. and then afterwards, their friends host a delicious bbq at their home. i was very happy to be included in this yearly tradition...it was a great time and it was REALLY neat to see the floats and bands, etc. up close and personal!

my nephew david and his friend trey

my sister laura and me (just about everyone was wearing USC garb
for the big game later that day...not me! i was cheering "go penn!")

my niece mari looking pretty sassy with her juice drink

my nephew and the other kids were having a great time "high-fiving"
all the bands that were coming by...their favorite, of course,
was the U$C marching band.

new year's eve

dennis went back to AZ on dec. 27 (someone has to work...thanks my love!) but i stayed in CA thru the new year. on NYE, i went to laura and mark's and spent a fun night with them and their friends carol, jeff and their daughter hannah. we ate, drank and were generally silly! fun time...

miss mari had her own plans that night, but i snapped
a photo of her before she left us for the evening.

david feeling the baby move...

laura and carol

carol, hannah and jeff

happy new year...2009, here we come!!

christmas in CA

it's hard to believe another christmas has come and gone. we had a wonderful time in CA with my family and dennis' family. from burbank airport, dennis and i went directly to my sister and brother-in-law's home on christmas eve. unfortunately, i have no photos from that night b/c my luggage didn't make it on our flight (we were, however, able to get it on the way to westlake later that night...yay!), but we had a wonderful time and the food was excellent, thanks laura! ** i now have a couple of photos from xmas eve that my sister sent me...enjoy!



on christmas day we awoke at my parents home to a leisurely day filled with food, fun and gift opening.



from there, dennis and i went to his dad and glenda's to open more gifts and enjoy the company of family.

and from there, we went to dayvid and glenda's good friend ann's house for a delicious christmas dinner.
all in all, a wonderful christmas celebration spent with family and friends and great food...as it should be!

early christmas celebration

dennis' family came over today for lunch and to celebrate christmas with us since we'll be in CA for the actual holiday. we had a lovely meal (everyone brought something--thank you!) complete with mimosas, honey-glazed ham, sweet potatoes with pecans, green bean/broccoli casserole, salad and dinner rolls. and for dessert we had lemon/chocolate chip bundt cake (my favorite) and a peppermint ice cream pie...it was all delicious. we all got a lot of fun and useful gifts and overall all it was a great day!

some homemade hummus and tzatziki

my handsome husband; his brother howie and his girl, michelle;
dennis' mom, darlyene; her sister ilene; and dennis' stepdad, dave.

me after a long day of festivities...

and sherman after a long day of festivities...

karyn's kia!

after 8.5 years, i finally said good bye to my sweet, reliable audi A4. as dennis said, it was time for a "baby mobile." we found this great mid-sized SUV, the kia sorento. not only does it have great safety ratings, it's pretty luxurious and fun to drive! now i'll look forward to the LONG drives to CA!

as far as "baby mobiles" go, this one's not too bad!

i know these rims are a little "pimp my ride,"
but they'll do for now!