Joshua and Mia 11-7-09

It's official, Josha and Mia are married! After being together 6+ years, they tied the knot on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Orlando, Florida. Tim, Becky and I flew down on Friday, enjoyed all the festivities on Saturday, and flew back to Seattle at 5am on Sunday! Can you say "tired?" But, it was all worth it. What a happy, happy day!Cedric, Mia's dad, walking the bride down the aisle. Isn't she beautiful!?The bridal party

Becky and Vanessa enjoyed being 2 of Mia's bridesmaids. Of course, Giovanni was a cute Ring Bearer. It was so nice to see Stephanie (Josh and Vanessa's half-sister) who lives in Florida. She and Becky are about the same age and these 3 girls hung out all day!Nobody told 8-year-old Giovanni that the love of his life is also his Aunt Vanessa. He just loved giving hugs!The first dance

After the wedding we all headed over to the Metrowest Golf Club for a great reception. Josh and Mia went all out! We had a nice dinner, DJ and dancing. They even had a second Carribean DJ that played some fun Island music. Mia and her family are from the Island of Dominica. We enjoyed getting to know much of her family better. Vanessa caught Mia's bouquet. Will she really be the next to be married?

We couldn't believe how much Aidan had grown since we saw him in June. Aunt Becky couldn't resist holding her sweet Nephew!
Toward the end of the reception, Josh's Uncle Bobby whispered in the DJ's ear that the famous "Midnight Magic" was in the room! For anyone who didn't know, Tim used to be a DJ in the 80's in NYC. He was actually pretty famous, DJing for parties all around the city when hip hop was born. Although scratching on the turntable has been replaced with computer technology, Midnight Magic will always be remembered in important circles! The DJ brought him up and asked Tim why he ended his DJ career. Tim answered, "kids and family." The DJ responded, "Well I guess that's why I never got married!" So here's to kids and family!! We wouldn't change a thing...(But, he's still my "Midnight Magic!")

They're creepy and they're kooky...

Check out the creepy's this year...This Halloween we had some ups and downs, some tears and some laughs...But, the candy certainly wasn't in short supply! Becky's crazy Jack.

We all put a little more effort into our carvings this year and convinced Becky and Dad that it just wasn't Halloween if they didn't carve a pumpkin! Neither of them like to get their hands dirty....what wimps! After all was said and done, our creations turned out pretty darn good! Shhhh, don't tell, I think Becky and Dad even enjoyed it! (a little)

"Scooby, Dooby, Doo!"

Good job, Dad!

Natty and her preschool buddies.

I was in charge of the party and I think it went well with a Halloween Cake Walk, spider web and spooky craft necklaces, and decorating cookies.

The Vampire

All was fine and dandy until Celeste got dressed in her vampire costume complete with teeth and blood. Natty was so scared she almost refused to go trick-or-treating with us.

In fact, Natty and I walked on opposite sides of the street to stay as far away from the vampire as possible! Everytime Celeste would get into the car, out came the tears. We are still hearing all about it a week later!

Disco Diva Audrey

Need I say more? You go girl!!

Little Miss Sophia Spider

Vanessa, does this costume look familiar? You never know what you might find in the costume box...our own personal Halloween store. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Alisha and kids

Alisha was in Seattle a couple weeks ago to stay goodbye to her Grandma Lydia before she passed away this last Sunday. We were so glad Alisha stayed with us so we could play with Sydnee, Kip and Kayla. I wish I had pictures of the girls' dance performance we enjoyed the night before they left. Watch out Disney Channel! Natty and Sydnee couldn't get enough of each other and EVERYBODY just wanted to hold Kip. Who could blame them? He's such a sweetie! It was great to head out for few hours shopping just Alisha and me on Saturday. It has been a long time since we've done that!

School Pictures

This year I decided to forgo school pictures and put my new camera to work, taking my own pictures of the kids as they start a new school year. They were great guinea pigs! I have yet to enlarge and print them out for my frames. So, we'll see if they turnout ok. Thanks kiddos for being patient with your amatuer mommy photographer.

Family night outside the temple

We took advantage of the last, warm, sunny evenings of Fall by going to the temple last Monday. I brought my camera in case we wanted to take a few pictures...but that ended up being the theme of our trip...photos at the temple. Some are a little crazy, some are a little cheezy, but all show how much fun we had!
The Seattle Temple has some beautiful bronze statues. We decided to see how close we could replicate them in real life!"...I love to see the Temple...I'm going there some day..."I can't take credit for any of these pictures...Tim did a great job behind the lens!

Go Green Geckos

Sophia tried soccer for the first time this Fall and is loving it. The season is almost over as quickly as it came. But, we have been enjoying her Tuesday the Thursday games. Go Green Geckos!

"Once in a lifetime"

Last Saturday night was incredible! Tim bought 2 tickets for us to celebrate our anniversary early and go to the Keith Urban concert at the Tacoma Dome. Keith Urban is probably my favorate musician. Tim ended up coming down with a stomach bug and couldn't go. So, Becky took his ticket and we enjoyed a girls night out! He gave a great concert...very cool, down to earth guy with an incredible voice that sounds even better in person! He played all over the Tacoma Dome...on stage, in the middle of the floor, and even in the crowd. He walked all through the ground floor. We were close enough that Becky actually reached out and touched him! (she called it "Keith Sweat!")

The opening act was Little Big Town and they also gave a rockin' performance to get things warmed up. They came back out on stage to sing with Keith half way through the concert.