We're "vintage"

One day, the girls were describing this cool "vintage" sweater they saw at Heritage. I didn't quite understand what they were describing. Then they came out of the store with it and I had to laugh. It's the middle one below and it looks like some sweatshirt I might have worn in the 80's.

Then, after Brynn received her new DSLR camera for Christmas and we realized it was compatible with some of Wayne's old lenses (from the SLR he got in high school!), he pulled out this baby seen around Cassie's neck:

The girls went crazy. "It's Sooo Vintage!" Hmmm.
I guess Wayne and I are too ;)

Holiday highlights

It's taken me a few weeks to get on track again, but now as Christmas is put away and the 2010 calendar is out and getting full already, I want to make sure we remember our fun times from the end of the year.

4th graders got dressed up for a New Year's celebration. Ethan was looking sharp! (This outfit did not come home in this condition ;)

Lots of cookies baked:

Gingerbread house, made by a few kids who were thinking outside the box.
Cassie called it the "Clarke Hotel", but Brynn and Ethan, after getting a hysterical sugar high from the frosting, decided to call it the "Crazy House."

The sugar high led to lots of this:

Christmas favorites:A new camera

which takes much better shots like this:

a "vintage" Snoopy shirt (I have more to say about what my girls consider to be "vintage"...maybe in my next post.)

Another wonderful Christmas:

Driver's permit!

It begins....

Giving Thanks

We have a lot to be thankful for this year, including wonderful friends! We have known Roger & Lisa since we were all newlyweds in Pasadena. It's been so fun over the years to see our kids develop friendships, too (we both have two girls and a boy!) It was a blast to have them for Thanksgiving this year. We wish they just didn't live so far!

Ethan & Ian were bear stalkers...

Cassie's cute place cards/treat bags:

a visit to the temple...

Better get these in...

before Thanksgiving arrives! We were pretty bummed to miss Trunk or Treat this year and not do our family costumes. I think it was mostly Wayne who was disappointed. Trunk or treat fell on Cassie's birthday and she had made other plans, so we'll catch 'em next year.

Thanks to my kids for the easiest and cheapest costumes this year! And you should know that Brynn decided on her costume (her alter ego, Tink) one hour before the Halloween dance. Gave me a small heart attack, but she had a Tinkerbell skirt from a previous year and it all worked out. Ethan's was just an Einstein wig and moustache and we put the rest together just before he went trick or treating. It's one of my most favorite costumes he's ever worn. (Runs a close second to the gorilla costume ;)
Thanks to Drapers for the fun "Thing" shirt and Sandi for the photo. I think there were a total of eight "Things". Cassie embraced the blue wig and wore it proud.

The trick-or-treaters loved Taylor and many stopped to take pictures with him. It's a pretty good security system with this guy in the window.

Happy 13th Birthday!

Cassie spent her big day at Disneyland. It's been years since we went, so it was time to go again and especially fun to enjoy all the Halloween decor and special effects. Cass said it was the "best birthday ever!"

She received a lifesize cutout of Taylor Lautner (thank you Rachel) which continues to scare me & Brynn when Wayne or Ethan moves it around the house without our knowledge. Actually, I was alone in the house last week doing laundry and I totally jumped and caught my breath as I walked by Cassie's room....."who is that man in there??!" Seriously, it's very real looking! It was sure fun on Halloween. More pictures to come on that...

We managed to stretch the celebrating through all of Halloween weekend, finishing with Cassie's favorite Oreo ice-cream pie....yum!

(TWO teenagers living here now...whoa!)

U2

Fun weekend in Vegas with U2...

Great weather, great company(Ken & Teri), great music!

This stage is amazing. It's 82 ft. high and 170 ft. to the top of the spire. It takes 4 days to assemble and 2 to take down. They have 3 of them at $25 million each!

The Black Eyed Peas opened for U2 and were also incredible!

Me & Teri

YW in Excellence

Last week, the girls had a chance to show what they've been working on in Personal Progress this year.

Earlier in the year, we posted about Brynn organizing "New Beginnings" (another YW program). It was titled "A Royal Heritage" and she put a ton of thought and work into every detail. It turned out beautifully!

Here' s what the dining room looked like as we were preparing....

For her project, Cassie showed how she participated in "OC Idol" over the summer. (It's a take-off on "American Idol", but for Orange County.) She had to practice a few different songs and participate in an all day audition at South Coast Plaza. Then, after making the first cut, she went on to a stage performance a few weeks later.

We're proud of our girls!