The BIG 30!

Well, today is my 30th birthday. 3 decades old. Humph! The good thing about getting older is that you don't really feel it until it is too late. I don't feel any different other than having to convince people that I am 30 and not 17. I am married. I get strange looks-like "You are too young to be married". I have a child. That seems to push them over the edge- "Really? Hmmm...you still look 17". I guess it is a good thing and I am glad that it is that way and not the other "You are only ___?" that would really suck.
It was a really good couple of days-other than the fact that Matt had to work a lot of hours because he has a demo on Tuesday.

Dinner last night consisted of Kisho's. It is a teppan style restaurant and Katie loved it. The food was excellent as always and it was Matt, Katie, mom, sis, her boyfriend, bro and dad. We went to my house and ate the cake I made-Pineapple-Coconut Cake AKA: Better than Sex Cake. My grandma used to make this cake for all our birthdays for as long as I can remember. What a treat it is. I opened my gifts.....a sewing machine, boots, face mask/facial scrub/facial lotion, a dragonfly necklace, Twilight (the book), a sweater dress and the razor I have been looking for for years. OMG! My DAD of all people got me this razor. How funny is that? When Matt and I had our house fumigated in July, we stayed with my parents. I used her razor (the same exact one I first shaved my legs with when I was 12!!!!!!) and could not stop talking about how close it shaves. It is actually discontinued and has been for a long time. My dad found it on E-bay and won it for me. Kudos to dad for: 1. Listening to what I like 2. Doing something about it 3. Suprising everyone with it.....especially me. I *LOVE* all my gifts. Good job everyone!

Today, Matt and I went to dinner at Sushimi. The one thing I asked him for-a nice sushi dinner. It was the yummiest dinner I have had in a long time. Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls made to order "With the tuna chunked, not mixed. Add cucumber, gobo, sprouts. No mayo. Medium to Hot spicy." Katie stayed with my mom and dad. My mom taught her how to say "snowman" and "Happy Birthday". Yes, she is 13 months old and can say "Happy Birthday"....lol. She has the most incredible vocabulary I have ever seen!

Where is Katie????

There she is!!!!

Holiday Pictures are a pain in the butt!

Well, what used to be so easy to do is not nearly impossible. Matt and I used to be able to take our family pictures by ourselves and it was super easy and usually took less than 30 seconds and was done in about 5 shots. Not any more. Katie would rather look at everything except for the camera. She pointed out ducks, dogs, places and papa and grandma while we were trying to get a decent shot. There are a few that came out really nice. The only problem is that it was so sunny and bright we are all squinting and somehow my sisters camera was set on a blue tint, so we are a little blue. Not quite smurfarific, but close. Anyways, here are a few shots!

Bro-N-Law's B-Day

Today we went to the Cheesecake Factory in Sherman Oaks for my brother-in-law's birthday. It was nice and it was even nicer because my father-in-law picked up the bill. Katie got a kick out of Nicholas and thought he was so funny! She kept laughing at him and making a squishy face smile at him all night long. We also got a nice picture of us infront of a big tree.

Here Matt, Katie and I are....

Earlier today, I took Katie to my mom's work and we visited Castaic Middle School and Castaic Elementary School. There were a few teachers that I knew when I was a little kidd-o. Katie really liked school and wanted to go run around with all the kids there. One day too soon she will be there.

Did I ever tell you how much this little girl loves Elmo? lol...too cute! nice hair, huh? Bed head!

This is the view from our bedroom window....

Here are some of the pictures that I took when I was going to (and on the way home from) my grandpa's.

In the picture below, you can see the firefighters in yellow and if you blow the picture up, you can even see the cadaver dogs....

So sad.....

Fire! Fire! Everywhere!

It is amazing how much of Southern California can burn. Not only did we have the huge fire in Montecito, but Friday night and Saturday gave us more fires. The Sayre fire in Sylmar and the Freeway Complex fire that was in Corona, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, and a lot of other locations. Horrible is all I can describe it as. We were lucky in the sense that all the smoke was blowing the other way and not into the Santa Clarita Valley. Matt and I went to visit my grandpa in Sunland yesterday and drove right by the Oakridge Mobile Home Park. OMG! There was pretty much nothing left. We could even see cadaver dogs and firefighters looking through the mess. As of yet, I have not heard of anyone who had been found-which is quite amazing considering the amount of damage and the time and the number of people who was there.

Last night I stayed up watching the news, basically watching Montecito burn down. I had tears in my eyes...so sad for all those people. It was horrible. The news footage-showing house after house burn, not that it matters, but these houses are-were-so beautiful. I remember wandering through the canyons with Matt looking and dreaming of owning one of these houses. We even told each other if we were ever to win the lotto or come into a ton of money-this is where we would move. We found an empty lot and decided we would build from scratch and I had it all laid out in my head. Kitchen here, Master bedroom here-with this as the view.....just to imagine how many people were able to just that and actually build their dream house. Then to watch it be destroyed with no mercy as firefighters and news crews watched helplessly. There were about a hundred that are now just tiles and chimeys and burn rubbish. I could not imagine what these people must be going through.....so sad.

Katie and I had a fun day. We played, did a few errands and then had lunch at Jack-in-the-box with grandma and then went to the Americana at Brand with Matt. It was nice....we saw "the" tree that will be lit tomorrow-it is HUGE!

Here are a few pictures of this little girl who has stole my heart!

Here is my avacado tree. :0)