Poster!

Nicole created a poster for Dunamix to promote the upcoming Bring A Friend Week. She used one of the pictures taken of Zoe and we think it's pretty darn awesome!

Sunset

I've been trying to get to the beach at sunset for weeks now! It was a perfect afternoon to head over. Cooper didn't want to go, but we were happy to have Lacey join us.

 I am thankful every day that Zoe has Lacey in her life! She couldn't ask for a better friend.

More Christmas!

Since Martin had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the fire station we weren't able to celebrate together. So we met up with him and Jess for dinner for an after-Christmas celebration.

 We had a great time catching up, laughing, and enjoying some delicious food!

Christmas 2016

Boy has life changed since the kids were little! I had to wake them up and drag them out of bed to come downstairs to open presents.

Zoe loves her new hammock!!

 

 and Coop was happy to get his hands on his new fishing rod...

 They both got some clothes too...

and stockings stuffed with goodies...

We quickly cleaned up and headed to Mimi and Gramp's house. It was a full house and so nice to spend the day with family!

Cousin love...

 

We ate a ton of food, and opened gifts...

It was so great having a baby around...Noah was fun to play with all day!

Mimi and Gramps go above and beyond to always make this such a special day. I don't know what we'd do without them!

 I'm so thankful for this time with family...lots of love, laughter and memories being made. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We had a quiet, but nice Christmas Eve. The kids have been staying up very late every night, so they slept in until almost noon! We lounged around and had a lazy time before getting ready for Candlelight Service at church.

 We had a nice dinner out...

 and drove around town looking at Christmas lights before heading home to open their yearly ornaments and pajamas...

We curled up on the couch for a holiday movie before heading to bed. :)

Pre-holiday fun

It's been a pretty busy month, but now that school and work are pretty much done, we finally get to catch up on stuff, finish shopping, and squeeze in a few things before Christmas Day is here.

Mimi took Cooper and I to get new iPhones for Christmas, so of course she wanted to snap this picture by the tree when we were done. Cooper has passed me up in height, so I am officially the shortest in my house...

 Martin and Jess swung by for a quick visit, so I gave them their gifts from Mimi and Gramps since they won't see them on Christmas. Part of their gift was the glass turkey that has been part of our Thanksgiving tradition for the past 15 years or so, that he has been mocking forever. He secretly loves it!

 Cooper finally picked out what he wanted for Christmas...

 and even though he is a year away from getting his permit, we went out for a parking lot driving lesson.

 Although they were reluctant, we enjoyed decorating a gingerbread house...

and lots of couch time with the pups...

It's so nice to have some down time this week...no schedules, nowhere to be!

Paid to dance!

Zoe got her first solo paid dance job tonight! One of the people that attended a promo performance she had done earlier in the month contacted Nicole to see if she would be interested in doing a special dance for a proposal he was planning for his girlfriend. We weren't sure what it would involve, but Zoe jumped at the opportunity! She met with the guy on Friday, got the music, worked on some choreography, and got her costume together. Since the job was in Newport, I decided to drive, and we took Lacey along with us. We made an afternoon of it and went to Fashion Island for a little shopping and food. They have the most beautiful Christmas tree there.

 We arrived at the gorgeous home in Newport just at sunset.

 Zoe did a run through while they worked on setting up the sound.

 I must say, these were some of the nicest people we've ever met. They welcomed us graciously, and Zoe hung out with some of the younger crowd, while pretending to be a guest at the Christmas party, before sneaking away to change into her costume.

 The guy made an announcement that he had a special surprise. While Zoe started dancing, he recited a long poem he had written before he met his girlfriend about his search for love and what he was looking for.

 It ended with a beautiful proposal...and a big YES!

 It was such a sweet, precious family event. The girlfriend was thrilled with Zoe and they both showered her with hugs and praises for being such a special part of their engagement.

It turned out to be such a wonderful experience for her. Now if only she could pick up more random jobs like that!

First Noel Pictures~

We got some more photos back from the photographer from the show. Love seeing my girl do her thing!