Mormon Battalion

Today we went to the Mormon Battalion Commemoration in Old Town San Diego. That is what my niece wanted to do for the day for her birthday. It was actually a lot of fun. There were so many activities for family and children of all ages.

Here is Kaylie, Courtney and Craig panning for gold. I didn't have the heart to tell them it wasn't real gold.



Craig the wolf man. Just kidding! That is a fur skin over his face. That's kind of gross. Hehehe...





My Charlie's Angel girls!



Look, there I am again! I actually made into the pictures of this event! This house we are in was cool. It was an original house in Old Town and it has been recently restored.



There were people firing off rifles and cannons. That was kind of cool to watch.

Seaport Village 1/30/09

My parents came out to San Diego the last weekend in January for my niece Courtney's baptism. The day they got in we decided to go to the House of Blues down town for lunch. House of Blues was offering free lunch that day so we thought what a great idea. That was a dumb mistake, duh... The line was wrapped around the block, it was ridiculous! So we decided to go to Seaport Village and spend the afternoon there. The weather was great, the company was great and the atmosphere was stunning! All in all it is one of my most favorite afternoons with my parents. Plus I had fun taking random pictures with my Dad's Nikon camera. I personally like Canon's better. ;o) They are much more user friendly! When we got there I asked my Dad "Can I play with your camera!?!?!" I forgot mine, so I was grateful none the less to be able to use his even if it was a Nikon... Anyways here are some of my favorite pictures I took there.





Two of my most favorite people in the world!!!

Mike's Birthday 1/18/09

We celebrated my brother in law's 16th birthday party on January 18th. Of course this is a big birthday for him since he can drive now!!! He is actually a pretty good driver. I feel very safe and comfortable when I am in the car with him. Here are some pictures from his birthday party at Grandma Krafft's house.



Grandma Krafft and Mike







And last but not least, here is a picture to prove I was actually there. Being the photographer in the family, I rarely ever get to be in pictures. And look, you can kind of see my new hair cut. My hair is actually shorter than that now!

New Year's Day - 1/1/2009

It is finally 2009!!! 2008 has flown by so fast. I am excited to see what 2009 will bring us. I will say so far it has started out great since we just got renters in our house!!! We didn't have any for 5 months so it was a blessing to finally get some in there.

On New Year's Day we just kind of hung out... didn't do anything productive. But I was ok with that. I ended up going to Ocean Beach with Scot, Debbie, Jessa, and baby Maddie. It was flippin' cold there! We were not prepared for that since it was nice and sunny in East County. We met up with Stephanie and her boy friend. Stephanie was going back to Virginia the next day so we all wanted to see her one last time. She joined the National Guard a few months ago and she only had so much time for leave until she had to go back. I was glad I got to see her before she left. Here is a picture of Stephanie and her boy friend.



We went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner and we all shared crabs. Hehehe... I haven't had crab legs in awhile and they did not agree with me, but they tasted amazing.



As we were leaving Oceanside we stopped off to see this really cool tree. We just liked how it was decorated. The lights made the tree look like a weeping willow.



After we left Ocean Beach we went back to Santee. Which for some reason we had some nasty fog on the way home. It was the worse fog I have ever seen. We went to our friend's house and started watching the best of 90's music on MTV. It was awesome! I loved seeing all the fashion in the early 90's, it was just awful! Here are some pictures of Don and baby Maddie rocking it out! ;o)

New Year's Eve - 12/31/2008

For New Year's Eve we kept it low key. We went to our neighbor's house, made dinner and played games. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Don, Scot, & Debbie.



Ben dealing cards. I was excited to get this shot. I just liked the angle.



Here are the first kisses of 2009!!!





And this one is pathetic. I tried taking the picture while kissing Don. Didn't really work out. It's a great shot of my hair! ;o)

Old Town San Diego - 12/27/2008

While my parents and brother were still in town we went to Old Town San Diego. We decided to ride the Trolley to Old Town just for fun. Well... my parents, me and my sister's family rode the trolley. Everyone else drove up there.

While we were in Old Town we saw the cutest dog! He wore these little sunglasses and it seemed like the glasses didn't even bother him. When the little dog would walk, he walked like a drunken sailor. Not sure if it was because he couldn't see through the glasses or if his oodles and oodles of hair made him top heavy. Either way he was too cute.



This is Craig inside the first public School House in San Diego County. It was called Mason School House and it was built in 1865.



This is the outside of the Mason School House in front of the plaque.



This is some Christmas decorations inside one of the first Catholic Churches here in San Diego. I thought it was very pretty.



And here is my Dad sleeping on the Trolley on our way back home. I have to admit we all kind of fell asleep. It was kind of relaxing with the sun shining on us and listening to the lull of the trolley. I wish I could commute on the trolley to work everyday. Unfortunately the trolley doesn't even go close to my work...

Christmas

Christmas!!!!! My big present for Christmas this year was my Canon 580 EX II External Flash. It made me salivate a bit! This flash just rocks my world! My Dad commented when I opened it up that, "We used to get that same expression from you when you opened up Barbie Dolls for Christmas." My tastes have changed dramatically. Although I still love Barbies, but my passion is photography! So the following pictures were taken with my brand new flash. Mind you I have no idea how to work it. I was having some issues with controlling it. It is one POWERFUL flash. I think I got it under control for now, but I will definitely be buying a book on how to operate this thing. It is kind of complicated. So our first stop on Christmas was my sister's house. Here are some pictures from there.



My nephew Craig.



My niece Kaylie hamming it up for me as usual. I don't even have to prompt her. She just goes into this montage of the grossest/weirdest/face contorting poses.







And this one tops all of her poses this year. Drum roll please........................



I asked my niece Courtney to smile for this picture and this is what I got.



Here are some pictures at Don's Aunt Shadie's house.



Here is why we don't have children yet. Our poor kids wouldn't get to play with their toys because Don would steal them!!!



Christmas at Don's Mom's house.

Christmas Eve

This year my parents and my brother Joe came to San Diego for Christmas. It seriously made my whole year to have them here. We usually spend Christmas in San Diego and this year since we didn't go to Arizona for Thanksgiving, I was bummed I would not see my family. So to have them come out here was just the best present they could have given me. I know it was a sacrifice for my brother and I was so grateful he came too. My brother Joe and I have about a 9 year difference between us and as I have gotten older, we have become closer. I get so excited to see or hang out with him. He is just a lot of fun. Same with my sister Marza, we have about 10 years between us and since I have gotten older we have become very close. I consider her to be one of my best friends. I feel so lucky to have her here in San Diego close to me.

So for Christmas Eve, my parents and brother went with Don and I to my Father in law's house in Ramona. Of course the drive up Wild Cat Canyon Road made us all sick. Well, my Mom, Joe and I got sick. That road has too many curves for my liking. But we all had a great time with my husband's family. They are wonderful people and I am so glad they offered to have my family come up. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Here are my parents, Joe and Don.



My brother in law Jon.



Some of Don's familia



Me trying to warm up by the fire place. It was frickin' cold!



Grandma Horn



Don's cousin Brandie and her daughter Kylie.



And here is my father in law with his two boys.