Nashua Downtown Holiday Stroll

The Nashua Down stroll was such a wonderful event!  We have always talked about going to it - but we have never been able to attend.  This year, we not only attended, but the whole family got in on volunteering and Ev and I were part of the entertainment as title holders!  We had so much fun!!!

American Girl Fashion Show

http://www.ccanh.com/event/american-girl-fashion-show-0
How much more excited can 2 girls get, than to let them know that they were selected to be models in the 2011 American Girl Fashion Show???  Well, let me tell you... they were THRILLED!  They modeled the Josephina, Merry and Bitty Baby Dolls and rocked it out on stage (I must say as the very proud mama).  They had a blast and what an amazing experience for them both!  Many thanks to the Junior League of Concord who annually hold the event - they truly know how to make each and every girl feel incredible as the event also raises funds for Children in Crisis!  Thank you for an amazing and successful event once again!

Alton girls arriving at the Capital Center for the Arts theatre in Concord, NH

   

  A very excited and proud mama with her American Girl models!

                                    
Modeling Josphina and Merry Dolls

Priceless!!!!

Modeling Bitty Baby and making some new sparkly friends - USA Ambassador Queens!

Evmorfia even got to represent as Little Miss US of America!

Making new friends and learning at a young age that it's fabulous being charitable and helping others while having a ton of FUN!!!!!!!

Halloween 2011 Noreaster

What a Storm!!!  Who would have imagined that we would get Smashed with a Monster Storm in October?  This October 30th, 2011 Noreaster made this month the 2nd Snowiest October on Record going back to 1871...   to top it off over 220,000 homes were without POWER!  NH is working desperately to restore power!!!  We lost power for 3 days - not fun by any means, but we were among the lucky to get it restored so quickly.  So far, no school for 3 days and counting.  My gosh, at this rate, the kids will be in school thru July - we haven't even come close to our normal NH winters!  

The kids were soooo looking forward to Halloween and what can I say....... Uh...Happy Halloween?!? What kind of spoky joke did Mother Nature throw our way?  Not very funny I must say!!!  Well, we did our best to try to make it a great one for the kids despite all the craziness of the storm and all of the power outages.  Take a look!!!  Happy Winter Halloween 2011!

Happy Snowy White Halloween 2011

22nd Milford Pumpkin Festival 2011

Since I moved to NH back in 2001, I have fallin in love with Fall in NH.  It truly is the best place to be during the season from the leaves turning to the beauty of the lanscape to the fun events!  One of my favorite and best events of the Fall Season here in NH is the Annual Milford Pumpkin Festival! 

This year, the festival took place on Oct 7-9 and it was one of the nicest weekends ever!  The weather was incredible and all you wanted to do was be outside, enjoying the event!  I was asked to be a judge at the Pumpkin Festival's Talent Show which has grown thru the years to a Big Event!  This year the talent was amazing.  There were bands, dancers, singers, theatrical performances, a yoyo performance and of course the Comedy of Carl Zahn. The winner was an 11 year young star in the making, Caroline from Hollis!  She sang Adele's "rolling in the deep" and she was amazing!!!  I think we will definitely see more of her in the years to come! 

In addition to the Talent Show, we enjoyed the Pumpkin Festival and had a blast walking around seeing all the shops, live events, children's fun spot, tasting the yummy food and meeting up with friends!!!  Basically, it was a fun filled Pumpkin Festival weekend - in a perfect NH Fall Setting!

 My fellow judges at the Talent Show with winner, Caroline.

 With fellow judge, Adam Sexton of WMUR.

 At the Pumpkin Festival with our very own, Little Miss US of America 2011 (Evmorfia, my big girl)

 Check out those pumpkins!

Holy Pumpkins - look at the size of those things!!!!

And the Best picture yet..... Family!!!

Steve Jobs ~ The Loss of a True Visionary of our Time!

When I sit and think about all the current technological devices my family and I use on a daily basis, it all comes down to the innovation and creative brilliance of Steve Jobs of Apple.  What an inspiration, a sensation, a gift to our world and lifetime. Steve Jobs, RIP 10/5/11, you are and will remain missed, mourned, and celebrated for generations. 

The speech in the video below is a speech that Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, gave at Stanford University in 2005 for the graduation commencement.  It is truly inspirational and I wanted to share it in his memory.

http://onemansblog.com/2010/02/01/steve-jobs-outstanding-stanford-commencement-speech-from-2005/

NEVER FORGET 9/11

It is so difficult to believe that 10 years ago,  the United States of America was attacked by terrorists and our world changed forever!  I remember that moment so vividly!  Today, as I watch the Memorial Dedication on TV, my heart is breaking & I just can't hold back the tears as they flow down my face as I listen to the children (especially) call out their parent's name or share a story. I just can't imagine, I get chills every time I think about it!  If we can learn something from this horrible tragedy, it is to cherish every day, every moment because life can change in an instant.  In memory of all we lost 10 years ago, God bless all who died, gave their lives to help others & all that lived who have to carry the burden in thier daily lives. But please...... NEVER FORGET & continue to be vigilent in our efforts to eliminate terrorism!

Ground Zero after 9/11

The Twin Towers before 9/11

We Love Selena Gomez!

What a highlight to our 2011 summer..... taking the girls to the Selena Gomez concert with opening act, All Star Weekend at the Meadowbrook Pavilion!  They were so excited and had a blast!!! 

Miss US of America 2011 ~ National Pageant

Congratuations

"Little Miss US of America 2011" ~ Evmorfia Alton

and

"Mrs. US of America 2011" ~ Irene Raissis Alton

On the weekend of August 13- 14, 2011.... an extraordinary event took place and 2 unexpected life goals were achieved!  That's right, both Evmorfia and I participated and competed at the Miss US of America National Pageant in CT with our reigning titles of Little Miss New Hampshire 2011 and Mrs. New England 2011.  It was a long filled weekend of competition, pageant friends both old and new and fun as we had a unbelievable time!  We competed in all levels of competition from Interview, Talent, Modeling, Outfit of Choice and Evening Gown.  I was so proud of my daughter. This was only her 2nd pageant ever and she did amazing!  The best part for me was hearing her sing and play the piano.  It was honestly the best I ever heard her sound, I had tears.  Then to top it off... they called her name as she won the National Title of Little Miss US of America 2011!!!  I think I screamed so darn loud it even hurt my own ears - HA!  As if that wasn't enough, I also won the Mrs. US of America 2011 title!  Boy, someone was on our side that day and we both came out of this pageant experience with (for me) a lifetime dream of someday winning a National Title and for Ev, her first ever National Title!  To have had the opportunity to do and achieve this together, I just cannot begin to find the words to express how special this day was for our family!  I think this was one of those "Rare" once in a  lifetime experiences and moments that will forever be etched in time for us!  There is so much we want to do and accomplish in this reigning year - we can't wait to get started!!!

We are so thankful to Christina Couto and her staff really do a wondeful job and run a pageant system filled with class and involve everyone and truly believe in making the experience one to remember and cherish - thank you so much to her and her staff and now our new Director  - you are precious Christina!

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates!

For the first post in my new blog, I wanted to reflect on a quote that always seems to come to mind.  Years ago when the movie "Forrest Gump" came out, I will never forget the line in the movie when he said "life is like a box of chocolates, you just never know whatcha gonna get"!  I remember the line for two reasons.  First, I love chocolate, dark chocolate specifically.  Second, I've come to realize that the statment is so true to life!  Think about it, when you open up a box of chocolates, as much as you think you are going to pick a piece of chocolate that has a particular flavor, texture, smell etc, you just never know if in fact, it is what you will end up with.  Isn't that the same with life?   As a hard core organizer, planner of all things humanly possible, I usually have a plan A, B, C and D (just in case the first three don't work out), but at the end of the day, you just can't predict what will come your way in each day.  Some days you can be disappointed and on other days, you can be pleasantly surprised and overjoyed!  It's the ying and yang of life.  So, what is one to do?  LIVE!  Live each day to it's fullest, take each moment for what it's worth, learn from each experience and remember to take a breath along the way to notice life and it's surroundings in all of it's glorious ways!  And if all else fails, well my friends, open up that box of chocolates, eat a few pieces and try, try, try again!