Festivities Abounding!

The past 10 days have been full of events, everything from cookie decorating to weddings!

Through this season of festivities we are reminded of what a blessing our friends and family are to us.

Cookie decorating with cherished friends!

A precious date night!

A traditional dinner long treasured!

A meeting with old friends and new!

A performance so sweet!

Cheers! A celebration of love!

Deck the Halls

Christmas time is here! This is a festive time; full of traditions, parties and special celebrations!

To start the season off right everyone needs a tree!

This year we had to go to a tree lot to get our tree. Luckily they were packed pretty close together so we told Nora it was the forest and to make her way through to find the best tree. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons!

The angel takes her position.

Ready for Christmas, bring on the festivities!

Tulip Season

One of the treasures I brought back from the Netherlands were tulip bulbs. I did my research, and in the Bay Area you don't have to plant them until November or December because the ground never really freezes. Last week, Nora and I finally planted my bulbs and just in the nick-of-time too because we have been having freeze warnings all this week!

I dug the hole and Nora placed the bulb. Amazingly enough this activity kept her attention through all 36 bulbs!

She "dug" a few holes too.

The bulb would go in, we would whisper a few encouraging words to it, cover it up and say "see you in the springtime", Nora would say "see you in the sprinkletime" (which I thought was adorable and a good description of what springtime really is)!

A Triple Happy Day!

On Thanksgiving I got a text from my good friend saying what a double happy day it must be for me since it was my birthday and Thanksgiving on the same day! I responded that it was a triple happy day because it was my birthday, Thanksgiving and we were going to Disneyland!

Road Trip!

30 years old, triple happy yet slightly intimated by the age!

Because we were on the road on Thanksgiving I made reservation at a restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner...yes that is Paul scrapping away his sweet potatoes, not a fan.
We are so thankful for our family, our friends, our feast, and festivities to follow!


We took a short bus ride into Disneyland each morning and afternoon. Nora was always so excited to ride the bus, almost as excited as she was about Disneyland itself! Go figure!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

We spent a fair amount of time meeting our favorite Disney characters, who we now consider to be our friends!

One splurge we treated Nora to was a lunch with the princesses. It was fantastic! For us, the food was good and for Nora, seeing all the princesses, in one place, was magical!

Mesmerized by It's a Small World.

Energized by the new Toy Story ride!

Imprisoned with Uncle Ethan and Aunt Jessica, Nora would be a happy inmate if these two could be with her all the time!

Blast Off!

Sleeping Beauty

Disney's President...

and his bride!

Nora was so happy to meet Jesse from Toy Story that the only thing she could remember to tell her was that she had her on her panties!

Rapunzel

I had gotten in line early to see Rapunzel so we were only #4 in line but when she actually showed up the line time to meet her was over 1 hour and 45 minutes! Amazing!

Chatting up her age with Cinderella!

Amazed to be spending time with Snow White!

Tiana (from Princess & the Frog)

And last but certainly not least, Tinker Bell!

These characters are amazing!

They have such patience and kindness with all these kids and yet they still made Nora feel special, like she was the only little girl they were going to see all day.

I think they all get an extra dose of pixie dust to make them all so sweet!

Thank you family for a special birthday, thank you for spending Thanksgiving away from home, thank you for all the wonderful memories made in the Happiest Place on Earth!

2 New Hinkles!

So they aren't new to the family but they have new last names!

My brother and sister-in-law have officially adopted their two foster boys, DeShaun & DeMarr! They have been with Josh and Angie for a year and a half and now they are officially Hinkles! Nora and I got to go to Fairfield and witness the adoption process in the courtroom and then enjoy a big celebratory lunch afterwards!

Meeting with the judge. He stood right next to them the entire time, it made it much more personal than sitting up there on his throne.

We got them official Hinkle t-shirts!

Welcome to the family!

Halloween 2011...Finally!

It seems like with all the festivities of Harvest Parties, School Parties, Birthday Parties that Halloween now is an afterthought. none-the-less, Tinker Bell came out again for her final flight, more candy was commandeered and a new pair of tights where lost, all in a nights work!

It's not every day that you open your door to Peter Pan!

What a pair!

We have a couple of neighbors that we have gotten to know well. It was fun sharing another holiday with them as well.

By the end of the walk around the block the kids had Trick-or-Treating down to a science.

Things for Nora to work on for next year: ringing the door bell only 1 time and graciously taking whatever candy is offered.

It's so fun to see the courage and spunk of this little girl. Where did she come from?!?!

Birthday Blessings

We were blessed with another year with our Nora Rose! What joy you bring to our lives. Mommy & Daddy love you, to the moon and back!

The theme was "Barbie Goes Country"

The table of honor.

Having fun with her best friend!

Have you ever seen so much pink in one place at one time before in your life?!?!

Surveying her stack of barbies!
Nora is totally into Barbie right now.
She really loves the girliness of them, with their pretty dresses, hair and accessories.

Passing out goodies.

A fun day, good memories, much love!