At first she wanted to go out for a Slurpee, but when Shane suggested Frozen Yogurt, she was all over that!
It was so crowded that she got to eat in the front seat of Shane's car...that's a treat in itself!
Rylie took this picture of Shane on their date!
Rylie and Shane on the night of their big date! They had a great time!!! Ok...I'm hooked! I finally decided to see what the whole Digi Scrapping thing is all about...and I LOVE IT!!! I stayed away from it mainly because Photoshop scares me! All the layers...AAAHHH!!! Well, I found a tutorial online that taught me the basics of Photoshop and Digi Scrapping...and it is actually very fun! I've been up until all hours the past few nights downloading free digi scrap kits...thank goodness for my new portable hard drive...my husband gets me the best presents! (He's the one who pointed out that I'm obsessed!) My friend Amber once told me that she has to make herself do all the things she needs to around the house before she turns her computer on because Digi Scrapping is addicting...she is so right!
So...I haven't really scrapped anything yet. My first attempt on my own was my new header. I know, it's pretty basic...but I think it turned out pretty good for a newbie! Hopefully I'll get better! If I do anything worthy of posting, you'll see it!
Sorry there aren't any pics with this post...the holidays are always so exciting and there is always something to blog...now that they are over and life is back to normal...not much to post! I should be grateful though...baseball starts soon and then life is crazy once again!
So...we took off for Dallas on the 20th...to spend Christmas and New Years with my family. We haven't all been together for the holidays since I was pregnant with Rylie...so we were all very excited! There are 19 of us in all now! 10 kids and 9 adults...and we all stayed at my parents!!! It was CRAZY and AWESOME!!!
The kids loved the plane ride...Shane and I were glad it was a direct flight!!! Especially with the 9 pieces of luggage we had!!!
So, after we spent an awesome time at Kari and Rick's (yes, they live about 30 min from my parents, and they still moved in for the holidays!) we headed out for the BIG FAMILY PICTURE! It was FREEZING and WINDY!!! But, such as it is, here we all are!
Here is my family...Kelsey, Kari, Donny, (a crazy space where Katie should be...no that wasn't planned) and me, with our parents!
Here we are with our spouses...one day Donny will have one...and she will be cute!
That night was my parents Christmas Party at church. There is a holiday talent show for the entertainment each year...so, no surprise to those of you that know my mom, she signed up the whole family to do what she called, "a production number"! Shane and Donny got to be trees! It was actually really good and more fun than any of us wanted to admit to mom at the time! It was good to get to sing with my sisters and mom...something that we only do at the holidays and at funerals...crazy I know!
Can you believe that we got all the kids ready for 8:30 church...and we were on time! (No, we didn't plan the outfits...sisters just think alike!)
Donny brought his airsoft rifles...the boys loved shooting them! Shane, Rick, Donny, and some of the little boys went out shooting "each other" a few times...they had a blast!
Santa made a surprise visit! The kids loved it!
For those of you who know my sister Kelsey...this is her with her daughter Samantha...or shall I say mini-Kelsey! They are exactly alike!
Our family on Christmas Eve! We always have a huge turkey dinner and then do a little program that ends with the story of the birth of our Savior. The program was fabulous this year!
On Christmas morning, my mom always used to make us line up on the stairs for pictures before we could go see what Santa brought. Sorry to say for our children, the girls and I have carried on the tradition! Another tradition we have carried on is "the piles"! Santa leaves each child a pile of presents with his or her own wrapping paper. Then, the kids open one present and we take turns all around so that we can see what everyone got. Believe it or not...all 10 kids took their turns! They were great!!!
Look...it's two Rylies!
Mason can't wait to dig in!
More games for Parker's Wii!
The day after Christmas, all of the girls went shopping...of course! First we went to Sam Moon...for those of you who have been there, I need not say another word! Then we went to the mall and took the little girls to Libby Lu. It was Rylie and Sami's first time there. They wanted to be "Rock Stars"! They loved being pampered!
Rylie, Paige, and Sami...our little Rock Stars! (Rylie and Sami thought they were Hannah Montana...thus the additions to our favorite songs on this blog!)
Kelsey, Kari, and Kristen...I do believe that this picture was taken after Shane and I beat the girls and their hubbies at the Newly Wed Game! (We weren't the big winners however, my aunt and uncle...who actually are pretty newly wed, won the whole thing!)
For Kelsey's Birthday we took her to the Texas Roadhouse. This is her with Mike and the twins (I think Gavin is next to Kelsey, but I'm probably wrong)!
She didn't know that she'd have to saddle up! 
Me and Kelsey...in case you're wondering, she's older...she just turned 30 you know! (ha!)
Rylie and "Codeman" (Cody...Kari's youngest)
Grandma spent the day making gingerbread cookies with the kids! She had aprons made for each one of them! I don't kn0w if they put more candy on the cookies or in their mouths!
On New Years Eve, we have a tradition when we're at my parent's house that we get in the hot tub. This year was no exception. It was freezing outside...but all the kids got right in. The crazies even jumped in the swimming pool...every one of them! (Rylie and Cody stuck their feet in the shallow end...everyone else went off the diving board!) The adults got in after we got the kids to bed...around 1 a.m.! No...we didn't get in the pool!
Me with mom and dad...next to the fire of course!
Donny, Kari, and I...Kelsey and Mike left a few days before New Years.
Yes...the Bills Family still bangs pots and pans at midnight! Very OBNOXIOUS and LOUD...but there is no other way to bring in a new year!
Unless, you are toasting...with Martinellis, of course!Merry Christmas Eve to all! We are enjoying our holiday in Texas...and I have no way to upload pics...so they will all be up after the holidays...stay tuned for the recap! Until then, have a wonderful Christmas! We watched the Nativity Story last night. It was a great reminder of what this holiday is really all about! Tonight...lots of food and presents!!! (With 10 kids between us all, you can imagine what under the tree looks like...and Santa hasn't even come yet!) We will be thinking about all of you!!!
As you can see from the pictures, Shane took me to Disneyland this past Saturday to celebrate! He knows that it is one of my very most favorite places in the whole entire world! He didn't tell me where we were going...and to keep me in suspense even longer, he went a different way to Disneyland than we normally go! He's so sneaky!
In all the time we have lived in Southern California, I have never seen Disneyland at Christmas time. When my parents took Parker a few weeks ago, I kept hinting as to how much I would LOVE to go at Christmas...well...my FABULOUS husband was listening!
The lines were huge, and there were people EVERYWHERE...so we took in all the sights. Mason, Parker and Rylie were shocked that we didn't go on any rides!
The parade was so fun...I got to see all the princesses (my favorites!) and the fireworks were amazing! It even snowed on us a few times!
We had a great time! We ate dinner at the ESPN Zone, and they even wished us a Happy Anniversary across the ticker! As most of you know, I'm a huge sports fan, so I got a pretty big kick out of that...I think Shane liked it too! My husband really knows how to spoil me!!!
For those of you who don't get any snow...makes you miss it...doesn't it!!!
My brother Donny lives in Utah right now. He's working at a camera shop, so he decided to try out one of the cameras at night...just after a snowfall! (Donny's the one on the right!) My kids are so jealous that he has this much snow! Yesterday they saw a car in a parking lot that had snow on it (it must have come down from the mountains) and they stole some to have a "snowball fight"! At least they are creative!!!
We got tickets for DECEMBER 1...and after much anticipation, the day FINALLY arrived!!! We decided to make a day of it, so we headed off for L.A. around 1...and the adventure began! As we got off the Hollywood Freeway at Melrose, after sitting in nasty L.A. traffic for what seemed to be forever, we were greeted by a guy selling cut fruit on the side of the road...what it was and where it was cut, we didn't really want to know! We were trying to turn at the light and all of a sudden we hear, "No Mas, No Mas, Comprende?" It was the cop behind us yelling at the "street vendor" through his loud speaker!
So...we FINALLY got to the Beverly Center! Our first stop was H&M...Karolin's favorite store...and we love it too! As we were getting off the elevator, I was putting my camera away, because I had to take a picture in the elevator...why, who knows...and Aimee wasn't paying attention...Karolin just stopped in her tracks and kind of froze. She was starring at the guy walking into the elevator we just got off of...she says..."DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?" Aimee and I both just looked at her, because we had totally missed it...then Karolin said, "It was that guy...the first black guy to win an Oscar." Of course, I said, "Denzel?" Karolin said, "no, the other guy...the one who was in black in white movies!" Yes everyone...she saw...and Aimee and I walked right past, SIDNEY PORTIER! Famous person sighting numero uno! So after we went into H&M, we were taking the escalator down (the elevators are SO SLOW) to the next floor and as we approach the bar in the middle of the mall...yes, only in L.A., Aimee makes a comment about the tall black guy in the bar and says, "He must be a basketball player or something." Karolin look at him, and we both recognize him...but can't figure out his name. So of course, we ask...and it was John Salley...former Piston and Laker, and currently a Fox Sportscaster! The picture above was taken while I was trying to inconspicuously get a picture of him, but he was too far for the flash to work! (He was standing between the blue and red lights to the right of Karolin in the picture.) Famous person sighting numero dos!
We decided to get out of the Beverly Center and head over to The Grove. Very smart of us! The Grove is AWESOME!!! It is our new favorite shopping place...for when we feel crazy enough to head out to L.A.! It had every cool store known to man...and the HUGEST CHILDREN'S PLACE EVER is next door!!! (No, we didn't got there...it was a no kid day!) We ate at The Cheesecake Factory and we ate A LOT of food! Then, thinking we were going to be good, we got our cheesecake to go (we also got extra ones for our hubbies who were home with the kids...aren't we nice!). But, when they came, we started eating them right out the box! They have an awesome peppermint swirl cheesecake for the holidays...you should try it!
This is us in front of the HUGE tree in the square...very festive and fun! It even snowed! (We missed that by five minutes, but we are sure it was awesome!) After the picture in front of the tree, we headed off to the parking lot to find the car...and to change for the play...yes, we changed in the car! Very crazy things happened in the many parking lots we visited during the day...and our motto was, "what happens in the parking lot, stays in the parking lot!" If you ask Karolin, her favorite parts of the day were the parking lots!
So, we FINALLY made it to Wicked! It was soooooo good! Aimee and I now know why Karolin gladly went with us to see it...for her third time! If you have the opportunity to go, YOU MUST!!!! We had an awesome day! Thanks for the fun time girls!!! 
