Happy Birthday Jesus!

Joy to the World the Lord has come! Merry Christmas! The Christmas for us Livingston's was very busy. On Christmas Eve we had dinner with my dad and Susan, then we spent the night at my mom and Jack's house for breakfast and gifts, next we ventured back to my dad's house for gift opening, and then bolted down to Jeff's parents for Christmas dinner and gifts with his family. It was crazy. No matter where we were it felt rushed and we didn't want to leave, but there really was no way to be able to see everyone other than rushing! It was nice to be able to share a little bit of the day with everyone, and especially eachother!

Here are a few photos from our very Merry Christmas:
This is my sister's newest edition (Bailey the pug) - I was tempted to kidnap Bailey she was so cute as you can see:

Here's the full pug line up from left: Bear, Bailey, Gretel, Hanzel, and Angel!

Here is my mom and Jack-o-lantern opening gifts!

Jeff and Corey (my bro) hanging out:

Me and my sissy posing for pictures! Love you Krissy!

My Dad opening his Wii! He was very excited!

Susan trying on her new sunglasses!

Back at Jeff's parents. From left: Uncle Dave, Jeff's mom & dad, & Brook and Justin on the floor making it snow (aka. a mess)!

Busy

Just wanted to leave a little note and say that I am still around and sorry for not updating recently. I have tons to blog on...Christmas, New Year's in the desert and a few other fun things! I am at a training conference for the next week in Phoenix, Arizona...so, I will have lots of updating to do when I return! Thanks for checking in - new pictures soon!

Natalie Livingston Day!

It is official - December 11th, 2008 was proclaimed as "Natalie Livingston Day in the City of Vista"! I actually had my very own day! It was an honor that they Mayor of Vista and City Council gave me for being awarded Manager of the Year. On Tuesday I went to the City Council meeting and they Mayor read me my proclamation and presented me with it! It was pretty special, since not a lot of people I know get their very own day! My boss gave me a princess crown to wear all day, and I took most of the day off too! Also, our new niece Isabella was born on "Natalie Livingston Day" (Congrats to Russ and Justina and big sister Sophia)! Here is a picture of me at the council meeting shaking the Mayor's hand! I hope you celebrated!

2 years of marital bliss!

Happy Anniversary to us! December 10th was officially our 2 year anniversary. It seems like just yesterday we were newly married - time sure does fly when you are having fun! Jeff and I had a great celebration together. He planned a romantic dinner at Orange Hill Restaurant. It was a fancy place overlooking the entire county and the food was fabulous! It was very romantic, and a fun time to reflect on our past 2 years and talk about our future. Jeff also got me a diamond necklace and I surprised him with the Wii game console. It has been forever since he has played a video game, and I thought it would be something fun we can do together! They are super popular this year, so I was lucky to get one before the Christmas rush! All I can say is what a wonderful two years it has been - definately the best 2 years of my life! I have the best husband ever, God has truly blessed us both! Happy Anniversary to us!

Here are some pictures from our dinner:

Pricky! Pricky! Pricky!

My cousin Pricky (her real name is Jamie - the Pricky nickname is a long story from when we were kids) came out to Cali to visit from Colorado! It was so good to see her finally. We haven't seen eachother since our wedding - 2 years ago :-( We had a great time of lunch and catching up! Thanks to Randy for the new airline benefits! Good times!

Bonnie's Christmas Party

Every year Bonnie (Jeff's mom) hosts her annual Christmas Party. She invites her best friends from high school and all of their kids, and their kids...We ended up having 28 people for dinner! It was a fun evening of catching up, eating good food, and playing Don't Forget the Lyrics Game - Christmas Version (thank you Kristan - it was very funny). Here are a few pictures of the family and group.

This is the picture we took for Bonnie's Christmas card. From Left: Jeff, Me, Steve, Bonnie, Dan, Kristan & in front Justin, Brooke:

Here is a group shot of the "grown kids" on the stairs. From bottom to top: Jeff & I, Debby & Jeff, Wendy & Mike, Dan & Kristan, Eric & April! This shot is a family tradition!

Thanksgiving at the desert!

I know it has been awhile, and I have a few events to catch up on...First, Thanksgiving. Jeff and I had a wonderful weekend. We enjoyed the Thanksgiving dinner that Bonnie cooked and then left super early Friday morning for the desert and a weekend of dirtbike riding! The weekend was quite memorable. Jeff rode his new bike for the first time. Jeff used some restraint in climbing hills on his bike (it is his new mild & married side :-). Brooke (our niece) rode her quad for the first time by herself - she is 4 1/2! We completed a teambuilding activity of pitching our first tent together, and I got sick :-(. Enjoy the pictures!

Here we are trying to get a family photo before Thanksgiving dinner - the kids weren't too excited!

Here is our fabulous new tent!
Jeff on his new bike - very HOT!
Awe! Dirtbikers in Love! Kissing through the helmets!
Natalie and Brookie (before she had me get off and rode around by herself!)