CASTRO VALLEY, CA - I'm back, did you miss me? Happy Thanksgiving! Had a great time at Grandma & Grandpa's house. I ate some turkey, mashed potatoes, and orange fluff, but didn't try the yam casserole.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to a Wildlife Center and saw lots of birds, some snakes and some bears that were holding very still. My dad says they used to be alive, but now they're not. I learned that the black bear is the only kind of bear left in California, and all black bears aren't black!

Later that night I got to have a sleepover at my cousin's house! I really like Thanksgiving break - how long until Christmas??

FULLERTON, CA - I'm 7! We celebrated my birthday this weekend. Mommy did a fab job of decorating our house to make it look like a Parisian spa - I hope I get to go to Paris someday!

I had a few friends over and got pampered by mommy and Aunt Julie. Jake had a "beepover" at his cousins house, so it was just girls at our place (except for dad).

We made bath salts and got our nails painted. Then we watched Beauty and the Beast and slept in the Living Room. Great party!

The next morning I had my #7 pancake, mmmmmmm. Thanks everyone!!

FULLERTON, CA - So my dad wanted me to write about something so he could get some free stuff. He says that Shutterfly is having a promo and if I write something nice about them, then mom and dad get free holiday-picture cards that they can send to their friends.

I'm happy to help - especially if we get those cards that have the big "H" in the middle. Pretty sure those would work good for our family. He takes so many pictures anyways, might as well put some of them to good use. Every time I turn around he's saying, "Jenna, look at me and smile." It's hard work being so cute...

I wonder if he'll use these photo cards instead of writing that Christmas letter that he writes every year. He spends a lot of time on that letter. He thinks he's a pretty funny writer - sometimes he even laughs at his own jokes. I don't know if he's funny or not, but maybe these cards will help him get over that "writer's block" that he's always complaining about...

If you're interested in seeing Shutterfly's collection of holiday stuff, you can click here. Hmmm, I wonder which cards my dad will choose...

PS - Jake took this picture of me...I think he's got a future as a photographer.



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FULLERTON, CA - Today was my first soccer game. I had a lot of fun, and even scored a goal! I was pretty tired at the end, but it was fun to play a game instead of just practicing with my own team. I think my favorite part of my uniform is my soccer ball hair accessories.

LONG BEACH, CA - Yesterday mommy surprised us with an after-school trip to the aquarium! I hadn't been in a long time, even though I'd been asking nicely, so it was nice to get to go. When daddy asked me what my favorite part was, I said, "Everything!"

There weren't too many kids there today, so Jake was able to get out of his stroller and run around a bit. We saw all the fish, got lots of stamps in our brochure, went to the touch pools, visited the sharks and played by the fountain. It was SO much fun!

After we were done there, daddy met us for dinner at a restaurant that was right next to the aquarium. I had pizza. Mommy had chicken and daddy had a sandwich. Jake had a little of everything - he's not very picky.

Thanks for taking us, mommy!

FULLERTON, CA - Today I got to go on my first real Kindergarten field trip! We rode the bus to Fullerton College. It was great to see all the different kinds of things I can study when I get to college. I even asked mommy if I could go straight to college after kindergarten - it looked like that much fun.

We wrote our names and future careers on our nametags that we wore for the day. I want to be a teacher, just like mommy and Mrs. Collar.

At Fullerton College we got to go to lots of different stations. I "drove" a police car, played the trombone, got my face painted, made funny faces, looked at a map of the world, styled some hair and lots of other fun things.

I really liked this field trip - our next one is to a farm, so that should be fun too.

TEMPE/PHOENIX/GLENDALE, AZ - Just got back from the annual trek out to Arizona for Spring Training. It was extra fun this year because LOTS of people came along for the ride.

Our group included our family, Morgan, Lindsay, baby John, Aunt Julie & Uncle Dave, Grandpa & Grandma H, Nana & Tata, Auntie 'Manda AND Grammy & Papa Little. There was never a dull moment, that's for sure.

We visited the Angels on Friday, the A's on Saturday and Uncle Dave's Dodgers on Sunday. After the Dodgers game I got to run the bases with Morgan - that was fun. (VIDEO BELOW!!!)

I really like the hotel we stay at - they have a nice place to eat breakfast and a swimming pool...what else could a girl want?

Hopefully the Angels play better once the REAL season starts - they didn't look so good when we saw them...

Go Angels! (and A's...and Dodgers, I guess)

FULLERTON, CA - Happy Valentine's Day! I love this day because there are hearts everywhere. Plus you get candy. Nothing wrong with that combo!

LA HABRA HEIGHTS, CA - Happy New Year! We went over to Dave & Julie's house to ring in 2010. Morgan, Lindsay, Zoe, Leah, Judah and Micah were all there and so was baby John. The kids all played together while the adults ate and talked about how quick 2009 went by.

I hope your New Year's Eve celebration was as fun as mine, and I hope you have a great 2010 - Happy New Year!!