Our Tree is Up!

me and the kiddos decorated our Christmas tree this morning, now the house smells like Christmas!

I used my tablet to snap a few photos to share..although the kiddos were not very cooperative!

Here's what happened when I asked them to stay still:

HAHAHA! ...here Josh is semi still :

Then, here is what happened when I asked them to hug each other;

a mini wrestling match occurred..

Although Sophie did manage to sneak in a choke hold hug while she smiled at the camera!

Poor Joshie wanted out of that hug so badly!

hahaha...

And here are a few more of our decorating time together.

We used all shatter proof ornaments this year so that they could be involved in the decorating without Mommy having a heart attack,making less mess and to save our precious glass ornaments!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

-Debra Lea

Enjoying The Duckies

We decided to get out on a relatively nice Vegas early evening and enjoy the ducks!

The little baby duckies are so cuuute!

We enjoyed watching them dive under the water :0)

This little park was a nice hidden oasis, looking in certain directions it was hard to believe we were in the middle of the desert.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Debra Lea

Fun Short Trip To San Diego

While our family was in town we decided to take them to San Diego to

escape the crazy heat for a couple days.

It was so beautiful and cool there!! What a blessing it was to spend a little time at the

beach, I wish I was there again right now!

Coronado Beach is so lovely! The sand looked like it had specks of gold in it, 

that's probably what this couple was looking at! :)

We also went to La Jolla to check out the seals..gorgeous!!

By the time we got there, it was actually cold! 

Memories of smoldering Vegas left happily behind!

The next day we enjoyed the harbor cruise and my brother in law snapped these nice shots.

I can't wait until we get to go back again!!

-Debra Lea

Playing Tourists

We had some family visit from out of the country, so 

we had a chance to act like tourists a little. :0)

It was soooo hot!! It really felt like my shoes were going to just melt right onto my feet!

My brother in law took this lovely photo of the bridge at Hoover Dam.

We also took them up the Stratosphere so they could give the crazy rides a try!

Here are the kiddos enjoying the view and trying not to melt into the concrete! :P

Thanks for stopping by!

-Debra Lea

Texas Vacation- San Antonio Pt2!

Every time I go to San Antonio I make it a point to visit at least one of the missions there. We have Missions

San Jose, Espada, San Juan, Concepcion and of course The Alamo.

I love the grounds so much, I feel as if I can feel something pulling at my soul when I am at the missions,

it's really a beautiful thing. This is where my Ancestors come from. 

If you'd like to read more about any of the Missions, you can go here.

My mom actually grew up on the grounds of San Juan but had to move when she was young because they were making it into a national historical site.

 There is also a  little house at Mission San Juan where my great great grandfather Julio was born.

On my father's side of the family, my Grandmother always told us that we were distantly related to the man who carved the Rose Window at Mission San Jose.

Here is a photo of the Rose Window, they were cleaning it up and restoring it that day.

Needless to say every time I am there I can feel the connection. <3 p="">

I was sooo happy to share this place with Sophie and Josh too!

This time around we went to visit Mission San Jose

I love this part of the wall, it's amazing to imagine that the stone building I've come to love was actually covered in this pattern and color all those years ago.

 Here is a look inside the church.

The Rose window from the inside

Surrounding the mission are many small rooms where the priests and Native Americans once lived.

This is a photo of their "kitchen"

This photo was snapped in a few seconds, their faces are hilarious!

I adore the trees that grow there.

Sophie reallly LOVED San Jose, she said that she really needed to find the King that lived there

(she thought it was a castle) and thank him for letting her visit, because it was so awesome!!

While in San Antonio we also attended The battle of Flowers day parade 

and the Fiesta Flambeau night parade.

I miss being around for Fiesta Time!

Sophie was in awe because Cinderella was there!

These horses are so majestic and gorgeous.

I couldn't believe the beauty and detail of work that went into the dresses!

This one was my favorite, it was styled after the Rose window!

Our little camera wasn't able to catch many photos of the night parade, 

There were too many moving, flashing or glow in the dark things and everything came out blurry, lol

After the day parade we had a lunch BBQ picnic at the park by 

the San Antonio river with some family.

Sophie of course promptly made some quick friends!

It was such a lovely day. I really miss Texas and all it's lovely greeness (is that a word, lol)!

Thanks for sharing some time with us!

Take care and God bless.

-Debra Lea

Texas Vacation- San Antonio Pt1!

The most beautiful music to my ears while in Texas was hearing my sweet little Sophie say, "I love San Antonio, Mommy!!" That warmed my heart so much!! San Antonio is my Home Sweet Home and I have been waiting to share this wonderful city with my kids for what seems like forever, but it's really only been since their birth which hasn't actually been that long of a wait, right?! hehe ;0)

We of course couldn't miss the zoo, this will always be my favorite zoo since it's where I grew up!

Sophie and josh couldn't pass up a chance to sit on a komodo dragon either!

Me and my husband Sher once saw one of these creatures in Malaysia, just crawling out of a water ditch and into a little neighborhood park lake! It was amazing and I was so glad to be up above it on a bridge looking down upon him. I will never forget his majestic swag as he climbed out of the water. 

San Antonio Zoo has this really great Butterfly exhibit, there are beautiful butterflies in there from all over the world! It's a magical place and I usually get lucky and have a butterfly land on me! 

This butterfly fell asleep on my shirt! I had to actually nudge it up and place it on a near by tree to enjoy the rest of it's nap. So sweet!

The zoo is full of all kinds of birds that are free to roam around and choose to live there.

 I dubbed this bird the "Sher bird" because it was sporting a hairdo similar to Sher's that day.

This bird and that nest were massive!

A little snack time

This was the bravest squirrel I've ever seen! He was sitting in the Lion's food dish and stealing the Lion's lunch!

I wish I was back there :0) The second I drive or fly away I'm already homesick.

Thanks for stopping by!! God bless.

-Debra Lea