So as tradition goes, every year we take the kids to ethel m chocolates

and sunset park to look at the lights.

Its always cold but the kids love it. this year when we went through

they were already boxing up valentine candy

and making peanut brittle. yum yum

my brother and his family always go, and we all have such a blast.

For the love of a dog.

puppy kennel....$30.00

blanket....$10.00

the look on their faces....priceless.

This year, last minute, we decided that it was time for a dog. I have had a really hard time agreeing to the pet thing in the past because of the responsibility that inevitably falls upon the mommy.....no matter how much they promise that it will be theirs and that they will feed and clean up after it. So Justin calls me and says "you have to go NOW, I found a dog." Be there asap! He conned this poor woman into selling to him instead of the person she had already promised him to! SO WRONG..but we are so lucky.

Total surprise to the boys though. It was great!

My boys love this animal. It is already part of this family and gets more attention that anyone or anything else....even me... :(

They are still trying to set the name in stone but for now its Mohawk. So cute because his hair sticks up on top of his head.

So lots has happened in the last several months so here's a brief update.

We moved back to the east side and love the place we are in. Lots of space and freedom for the boys and the perfect place to kick back and relax in.

We've all got birthdays coming up and you know what that means...that we are getting old. Austin is going to be 13 next month and it seems only yesterday he was starting to walk. Christopher will be 11 in February and Cam will turn 10 shortly after that. The hardest to believe is that our baby will be 8 come this summer.

In September we took the kids to the most magical place on earth and had a blast. All of the kids were old enough to ride together which was sooo fun! They must have gone on "mulholand madness" 5 times in a row. By the last time though, Austin was done! He looked like he was going to loose his cookies...and whatever else he had eaten that day.