Christmas 2010

After a wonderful evening at the Perkins headquarters... we were scheduled back around 6am to open gifts. Tyson and Sabin had to work on Christmas Day so we had to start at the crack. This has always been a tradition and we didn't feel like changing that so 6am it was....

My wonderful husband got me a new camera! Perfect timing for Baby P's arrival :) 5 months ahead of schedule

Grabbing a quick snack from the kitchen. Home made bread and jam from mimi :)

I had to comment on Sabin's exceptional wrap job...

After lots of gifts, the men had to head off to work. I headed over to Ty's station for a lovely brunch. So much for a quiet Christmas, they had two calls while I was there..

Then it was down to Mimi's to open gifts and visit with my sister and Rich.
Milo got a new toy from Santa
Dax was being his model self...

THEN.... I was off to Granny and Dave's for Christmas dinner. Ty was working so my Dad was my date <3

Auntie Heidi and her kids, Cole (cousin), Dana (cousin)

Mimi and Rich
The table
The Kent's dog "Beach"
The Bouche de Noel
Little to say... things got a little crazy... I think there were about 10+ bottles of wine and many cocktails to be had. It was very interesting being the ONLY sober one at Christmas but I enjoyed being with my family and celebrating the occasion!
Strange to think that next Christmas, we will have a 7 month old baby in our arms :)
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

Christmas Eve 2010

The festivities in the Perkin's family start Christmas eve around 10am. Unfortunately, things were a little busy that day for (K&T perk) so we didn't actually get over to headquarters till around 4pm. The whole Perk family headed over to the Free Methodist Church for a Christmas Eve service at 5pm. It was filled with singing and the lighting of the Christ candle. Everyone in the church (seemed like 500 people) had their own candle and Pastor Denny lights his candle from the Christ candle and then the light is passed down the pews till the whole church is filled with candle light. The service ended with everyone singing "Joy to the World," it still gives me goose bumps :)
We all headed back to the Perkins headquarters to enjoy a fabulous meal made by the one and only Jeannie Perkins. We had Prime Rib, double baked potatoes, green beans with bacon, a beautiful salad and rolls galore! Mimi and Rich were even invited to join us from Oxnard! It was nice having a couple new crew members around :) After dinner, we played "Screw your neighbor" of course to see who did the dishes... The evening was sooo wonderful that I only actually took one picture of the beautiful table setting.

Christmas Shopping

This is what happens when we go Christmas Shopping all day....

Nutcracker 2010

As many of you know, ballet is a huge part of my life and has been since I was about 3 but more seriously at the age of 8 when I started dancing with Gustafson Dance Theater. This December we had our Rudolph show for students ages 2 1/2-18 and then a couple weekends after that it was time for Nutcracker for students ages 5-18. For the past few years the ballet school has been collaborating with the professional company (State Street Ballet) and incorporating our younger dancers into their show. I personally feel this is such an amazing opportunity for the younger students to feel a part of something much bigger, a professional ballet. I was able to be a part of some wonderful performances and dance a little with State Street Ballet but never at a young age and I really think this would have been very exciting!
With our new addition (Baby P) on the way... this Nutcracker will be the last for a little while. I will hopefully still be a part of the ballet school but as for teaching, that will have to be put on hold :( Here are some photos from my "Mother Ginger Bon Bon" group (age 6) from behind the scenes.

Luckily for me, I had two helpers in my class so I didn't need to be on stage. Not to mention this class had a total of 16 dancers!

Sorry the pics are a little blurry...

I will miss you Nutcracker...

Hiking Hiking Hiking

After over indulging at the Fireman's Ball... we decided it would be a good idea to go on a hike and burn some of those virgin Pina Colada calories :) We headed up to the Tunnel Service Trail to enjoy the beautiful 80 degree Santa Barbara day. It was actually blistering hot, not likely but also not surprising for SB in December... I could hardly breathe in the swealtering heat and I almost joined the boys (Ty and Eddie) in taking our shirts off... poor Kayda was wearing her best fur coat too. I have never appreciated the shade sooo much in my entire life. We reached the top, almost the top of the trail and Ty was nice enough to pour lots of cool water on my head to cool me off. I am very glad they didn't throw me down the mountain for complaining about the heat so much :)

Just starting our journey

Kayda was sooo hot

This felt sooo amazing.
The Barbara Bush Hair do...

Fireman's Ball

This weekend, we attended the Santa Barbara County Fire Ball. It was held at the beautiful Bacara resort and luckily we were able to pull our pennies out of our piggy bank and stay for the night :) Not only is the Bacara beautiful but it just happened to be a beautiful summer day in the middle of December... what? We lounged by the pool and strolled around the grounds as a happy couple and got some much needed alone time!
The Ball was so much fun... we danced our hearts out being goofballs and got to sleep late in the morning stretched out in a huge King bed! I am still trying to convince Ty that we need one!
The next morning we opened the doors to our balcony and we weren't quite sure if we were in Santa Barbara or Hawaii! It was sooo amazing, we were in awe of the sunshine and beauty of the day. We decided to forgo breakfast in bed and head down to the restaurant for a buffet breakfast on the patio in the sunshine! Then we headed to the pool... at 10am :) We thought we slept in but apparently we are early risers.... preparing for parenthood.
Ty ordered a bloody mary, I drooled.... and ordered an ice water. We soaked in the sun and splashed in the pool.
I am still wondering where this came from.... Apparently 4 months pregnant shows! It is a lot harder to keep it all tucked in so I just let it ride..... I know Baby P loved the sunshine and the oreo shake I had later! This is my 16 week bump update. It seems huge..very thick.... is that normal? I have a feeling I am going to have a 9 pound baby!

Tis the season for a tree!

Mimi (sister) came up for the day on Sunday and she was absolutely flabergasted that we didn't have a tree yet! Mimi gets her tree the day after Thanksgiving so we were waaaay behind! I could barely muster up the energy to even think about getting a tree and trying to coordinate my schedule with tyson's is a disaster.... so, we got a tree. Eddie was nice enough to trade cars for a couple hours, so mimi and I headed to Big Wave Dave's Christmas Trees and picked out a winner. It was raining of course, so I had very little time to take pictures but luckily I got the beginning and final products!
At this point, we were just relieved we actually got the dang tree in the door!
This is our final product! Lots of hand-me-down ornaments from mimi but a few of ours that we have been gifted over the years :) The house smells amazing and there really is something about having a Christmas tree in your house that lifts your spirits!!

14 weeks

Is there anything there? All I can see is a round belly that looks like I have eaten a few too many chocolates.... that may be the case but I really can't wait till Baby P makes his/her grand appearance :)
I have finally reached the second trimester and I feel great. Just a little occasional dizziness and very very slooow digestion but all else is hopefully on track!

Thanksgiving Feast!

Eating, Eating and more eating...... Sometimes I feel like that is all I do around Thanksgiving. This year was no exception. There was everything you might expect... a perfect turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, peas, stuffing, cranberry sauce and fluffy rolls! The best party about this Thanksgiving was sitting around the table with family. I am so thankful for all the blessings in my life and this holiday just confirmed all of them! Thank you Jeannie for such a fabulous meal - Yes, she cooked it ALL!

This is how the boys started their Turkey Day

Beautiful Table


Yes this was my plate... I also added the cranberry and a second helping of mashed potatoes and gravy!



Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

This was Granny Biz's safety at our game of "Screw your neighbor" - No touching your face or pointing :)

12 Week check up

Tuesday we had a visit with Dr. Soffici and boy did he have a lot to show us! In a little less than 4 weeks, our baby grew from what looked like a Lima bean to now a real live baby! We were soooo happy to see a little moving baby on the monitor. Dr. Soffici could hardly get a good picture because our little baby was sooo active :) He said everything was great, and we had a very healthy, happy, active baby.
After measuring our little bundle.... he said our baby was measuring 5 days ahead of schedule... Here are the stats:
-about 3.7 inches long (9.3 cm)
-about the size of a lime

I am feeling quite round these days but still can't justify an actual bump.... I really need one of those shirts that says, "I'm not fat...I'm pregnant!" That's pretty much my life these days... I have some energy back but now I get these lingering headaches :( But it is all worth it for our little babe!

Profile.. my nose or Ty's?


Lying down and you can see the brain sectioned

More updates to come...

12 weeks

Ok, So all joking aside, here is my first belly picture. I have asked my loving husband many times to take a belly pic of me so I didn't have to hold the camera, but unfortunatly all my requests were usually around 9pm when our eyes were half open ready for bed.
My first trimester is over in just a few short days and I swear there still isn't any baby in there. Although I feel as round as the Pillsburry dough boy, I am hoping and hoping that there really is a little baby inside :)
I am feeling well, little more energy but now I am accompanied by lingering headaches all day. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I will fill in again hopefully with an actual picture of a baby and not just a little "peanut".

Mr. and Mrs. Berrett

The whole Perkins family had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Sam Berrett and Julie Angelos. They are the sweetest couple and you could really see the love shining through their lives. The ceremony was held at the Greek Orthodox Church off Hwy 154. The setting was spectacular and the weather couldn't have been better.

Julie and her father <3 style="text-decoration: underline;">


The Perkins Gang
(Tyson, Me, Jeannie, Sabin, Wyatt, Dylan)

We then headed down to the historic Granada Theater for the reception. I had never thought to have a reception here but it was perfect and such a great idea! We walked into the cocktail area to socialize for a moment. It was draped with gorgeous royal velvet which lined the grand staircases along each side of the entrance way. There were passed appetizers of scallop cevice, grilled shrimp, and Caprese toasts... yum! When Sam and Julie arrived everyone went crazy and they even had their first dance in front of all of us right there in the moment. Even better, their son R.J. joined them and I am pretty sure the whole room teared up!
We were then escorted upstairs to the main reception hall to dine and dance. There were several tables decorated with beautiful champagne linens and tall centerpieces of candles and bouquets of flowers. Dinner was served, a selection of pan seared halibut, roasted chicken, or steak accompanied with fresh asparagus and mashed potatoes.... also YUM! Oh and how could I forget the dessert? Red velvet cake... I ate mine and Ty's :)



We sat at the "kids" table :)


Too bad this is blurry, but it gives you an idea of the fun that was had at this event! Did I mention that Ty ran a marathon that day? He was such a trooper... soon after this photo was taken we headed home.

Congratulations Berrett Family! We love you!

Pumpkin Carving...

This last Saturday, we invited a few friends over to carve pumpkins! Everyone thought out their best creation.. I even brought out the Martha Stewart mag for ideas :) It is amazing what some people come up with!

Sofia and Charlie were beginning their creation


Ty was prepared!


Chris was hard at work!


This is what they came up with!


creepy!

one-eyed-pumpkin

I was amazed at Rusty's abilities!

This was ty's! adorable

still figuring out the hipstamatic app...