Sea World Part 2

We went to Sea World for a second time this year. When we went the first time a few months ago we had tickets to go again free before the year end. So a couple of weeks ago, we decided to head to San Diego. This was very exciting for Emily to go again since she thanks God every night in her prayers for Sea World, dophins, and most recently bat rays. The day looked a little dreary but the weatherman said no rain until the evening. He was wrong. Fortunately we got a few hours in before the rain started and that was just enough because the kids were beat. Sea World had all of there Christmas decorations up and carolers singing (which was a hit with the kids). Here are a few pics for the day.

Playing in the Elmo playground

Singing and dancing with the Christmas carolers

Sleepy time

Christmas Time

WARNING- REALLY LONG AND LOTS OF PICTURES

Merry Christmas from the Doerrs


I really love Christmas Time. Although it can be super busy, I just love spending time with family and friends. It's always so nice to see relatives that you don't get to see throughout the year and spend time talking and catching up with them. This year was extra-special because my uncle Roger was in town from Minnesota. I haven't seen him since Matt and I got married and even then I really didn't get to spend time with him because I was so busy with the wedding. So it's been a number of years since I've actually got together with him but I think we made up for lost time. He was also a hit with the kids. Emily and Jack thought he was great and are still talking about him (he had to leave this past Tuesday after being here for a week).

The last few weeks have flown by. Here are some pictures of the fun times we had this holiday season.

We went to see Santa Clause at the mall again this year. He was a hit with Emily but Jack didn't like him at all. Emily kept trying to hold his hand and tell him, 'it's okay, your sisters here with you.' She told me after that she was trying to take care of him and protect him. It's so sweet when your kids show love to each other.


Grammy and Papa (Matt's parents) came over for dinner (and so Brittany could color my hair) and Grammy made Reindeer ears with the kids. They were really cute and the kids enjoyed doing the project with her. She substitutes in Kindergarten a lot so she has a lot of good ideas like that.


Emily had her holiday performance and party at preschool about a week before Christmas. She was so adorable up there singing her Christmas songs. Her favorite one was Feliz Navidad. All the kids in her class really got in to that one. It was also a special treat that Matt got to be there pretty much the whole time. My mom and sister and Lauren were also there watching her so she had quite an audience. The picture below is Matt in her classroom reading a book to Emily and a bunch of her friends. Those are the moments that are priceless. I do thank God that my kids have such a wonderful daddy.




This is just a picture of my sister's family and my family at church on the Sunday before Christmas. My mom bought the kids their Christmas outfits and they all wore them that morning.

Christmas Eve was spent at my Uncle Ralph and Aunt Carla's house (my dads side). There was about 25 people there, including Carla's family. Since Carla isn't blood related, we only get to see that side once a year. So it's a lot of fun to catch up with them and their lives. We have a traditional Norwegian dinner with lefse and lutfisk (yuck). Luckily, we also have Swedish meatballs and other yummy food.

The kids and a few of the adults

My dad, Amanda, and Uncle Roger

Carla's dad is Jewish and behind the kids he lighted the manor a




Opening presents Christmas morning. Both the kids were a little overwhelmed. They would have been fine getting one present. I think that the whole thing was a just a little too much for them to handle.


What a mess... look at what this house has turned in to!


After we opened presents at home, we went over to my parents for a little bit to open some more presents. Since my uncle was staying with my parents on Christmas Eve, he got to be part of the Christmas morning chaos. From there we headed over to my grandparents house.




At Papa and Gaga Basses house we had a wonderful lunch, opened presents, the kids got to play with their toys and chatted.
This was Jack doing his hohoho face for the camera.

Emily got a makeup kit from Papa and Gaga. She loved it but it got all over her face.


Jack kissing Grandma under the mistletoe.

My aunt Kerrie Sue and cousin Kacy taking the kids and the dog on a walk.


Our final stop on Christmas Day was to the Doerrs house. We did more presents, more food, and more chatting. It was so very nice to see Matt's side of the family. We are so spoiled that we live near both of our parents and get to see them quite frequently. But it's always nice to see the extended family on this special holiday.
My sister in laws and I (and Emily)

Royce and Emily playing in the couch with the puppies

Aunt Kelly and Jack looking at the big blowup at Grammy and Papas house

Cousin Dave and his cute little guy, Charlie

Ed and Alyce, such a sweet couple

Grammy and Jack at the end of the day

Our 2 day getaway to Seattle, Washington

I have so much to write about. Where to start..... Let's start with a little get away Matt and I took a few weeks ago. Matt had to go to Seattle for a business trip and wanted me to come along. Since my kids are a little older and Matt has been asking me to go for the last 4 years, I thought this might be a good time to get away for a couple of days. We had a fantastic time. We really needed this little getaway for many reasons. Since Matt had to work the majority of the first day, I did A LOT of shopping and sight seeing around Seattle by myself. I also got to take a nice long hot shower (those come rare in my house these days :-)). It was really cold out but just beautiful. The trees and the green and clean air.... all of it was just great. They have great shopping in Seattle. It reminded me very much of NYC. They had a huge Macys and their flagship Nordstroms is there too. Since it was so close to Christmas, every store and tree and building was really done up in decorations. That evening we went to dinner, did a little shopping, saw a movie (Four Christmases), and took the monorail to the Space Needle at 11pm. I had been on the Space Needle when I was a kid but you can really appreciate the beauty of the city when you get older. It was beyond freezing, in my book, outside but the views are quite breathtaking.
The next morning we went to breakfast at a really cute cafe and went down and spent the morning at Pikes Place. Went to the first Starbucks ever, went to Pikes Place fish market, and shopped some more. We also made it down to University of Washington and toured the campus a little bit and went to their football field to check out the Huskys. Last stop of the day was to REI and then on the plane to come home. Two full days was just perfect to get away. I missed the kids like crazy and called my mom a hundred times but in the end I was so glad that I got this opportunity to go. And a huge thank you to my mom again. I am very protective of my kids and don't trust them with a lot of people so I'm really glad to have my mom so close to us and I know that I can trust her 100%. The only problem is that Jack took up biting his sister when we were gone. I don't know, maybe my mom was trying to teach him self defense. Hahaha.
Okay, so here's a bunch of pictures from our trip.

At the top of the space needle

A picture of the space needle from the freeway

Pikes Place Fish Market

Matt in front of the original Starbucks

University of Washington

Showing my loyalty to our beloved Trojans

Celine Dion concert with my mom

My mom and I at the Honda Center

I had the best night this past Saturday. About 9 months ago I bought tickets to the Celine Dion concert as a gift to my mom (and myself) for Mothers Day. It finally came this past weekend and it was better than expected.

My mom and I went shopping on Friday night and got new clothes, purse, and jewelry for our special night. On Saturday evening we went to dinner at JT Schmidt's. We had a couple of hours to eat and sit around and chat. After dinner we went to the concert which was at the Honda Center in Anaheim. At the start of her show, she had a singing comedian. He was hilarious. That was actually a treat because we laughed so hard and was a perfect start to a wonderful show. Celine was AWESOME! That woman can sing. The pipes on her are crazy. She makes singing that good look effortless. I have been to a lot of concerts in my past and Celine definitely has the best vocals I've ever heard. I'm so glad that I got to share this memory with my mom. My mom is my best friend and I love her so very much. To have her in my life and to be able to live so close to her has been a blessing to me and my kids. We are lucky to have such a wonderful example of a women, mother, wife, and friend in our lives. Thank you for sharing this wonderful night with me mom and Happy Mothers Day!

Dinner at J.T. Schmidts

My mom and I in our seats at the concert

Celine looked absolutely gorgeous!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with great food and great family. We were blessed to have my grandparents, my uncle and aunt and family from Ventura, my sister and her family, my cousins and aunt from Chicago, and my parents to share it with this year. A total of 21 at my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a crazy household full of kids running around, screaming and having a great time playing, while us adults ate, talked and relaxed (well, sort of!).

I had intentions of talking cute pictures of everyone all day but my camera battery ran out early on in the afternoon so all I got was a cute picture of the kids and some hilarious pictures of my sister. My sister had gotten an eye infection the day before and couldn't wear her contacts or makeup so I pretty much played the part of the annoying little sister and took pictures of her all day to annoy her. It was really fun until my camera battery ran out and I had only a few Thanksgiving pictures. I guess that's what I get. Here are some of my favorites of my glasses wearing, make-up less sister.

Emily's Thanksgiving party at school

Emily eating Turkey and mashed potatoes

Jack at Gaga and Papa's house with all the cousins the day before Thanksgiving

The only picture I could get with her glasses on. Doesn't she look beautiful? I think she should sport this look more often.

Showing off her eye infection while eating

Jack and my cousin Zack's girlfriend coloring Thanksgiving place mats

Some of the guys doing what they do best......

I know this is terribly rude but I had to post this picture of my dad. I couldn't stop laughing when I was taking this picture. You can't even get a good nap in this house without some annoying daughter right there to capture a not-so-cute picture of you. Needless to say, he was afraid to sleep after this...... Sorry dad. You really are a very handsome man!