Valentine Crafts

I found some cute Valentine craft ideas on the blog The Idea room. Here is the link to it http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/. There is also a link to it on Betsy's blog. I made the wreath and topiary and just love how they turned out. They were pretty easy to make. Just don't break your wreath while you poking the felt circles in like I did. A little glue fixed it. Now I am getting excited for Valentine's Day. I just love holidays.

Martin Luther King Day Weekend

My sisters Nancy and Janet drove down from Idaho and Utah for the long weekend. She arrived Thursday night and left Sunday night. We had a full and fun weekend. I was so excited for them to come and visit. On Friday we went and watched the movie Leap Year while Talia and Tucker were at school. It was a cheesy chick flick and we loved it! We drove to the beach after the kids got out of school. We went to Huntington Beach again. We need to go and explore some new beaches. It was a little chilly but Talia, Tucker, Nancy and Janet all got in the water for a short time. The waves were a little too big for Talia and Tucker to boogie board. We built a sandcastle, looked for seashells and played volleyball. Although it was a little cold it was very enjoyable and so beautiful. After the beach we drove to Irvine and met Trent to go to dinner at the kid's favorite restaurant Soup Plantation (also known as Sweet Tomatoes).

Saturday we spent the day at Disneyland and California Adventure. The parks weren't very crowded and the lines were all pretty short. We were able to go on lots of rides including Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Tower of Terror (that is funny story), and Screamin. Nancy and Janet were scared to go on the Tower of Terror and they made it very entertaining for everyone else in the elevator. The funny thing is that they ended up liking the ride and would go again. We all went on the Screamin roller coaster and it made Tucker and I a little sick. We also took a quiz to see which Disney characters we were: Trent was Hopper from Bug's Life, Talia was Dot from Bug's Life, Tucker was Aladdin, Janet was the Mulan, and Nancy was the Queen from Snow White. We also learned how to draw Goofy. The weather was a little cold but there was lots of sunshine and I think that the weather probably kept the crowds down. It was a very good time to go to Disneyland and it was so fun to go with Nancy and Janet.

Sunday they went to Stake Conference with us. We played Band Hero and Whoonu Sunday afternoon. We also made spudnuts and they were delicious. Thanks so much for coming to visit us. We had lots of fun. Come back in February for the next long weekend!

A Sunny New Year's

The week after Christmas went by too fast and New Year's came before I knew it. We ate breakfast for dinner with the missionaries New Year's Eve at their request. After the missionaries left we spent the evening watching the Disney channel, playing games, going out for ice cream and watching the ball drop in New York. We did let the kids stay up late but until midnight. They went to bed around 11:00 p.m. Again it was a quiet New Year's Eve but we love spending time together as family and it was fun to be together. Trent had New Year's Day off so we went to Huntington Beach and it was beautiful day. We spent a couple of hours at the beach and then walked along the pier and window shopped a little bit. The kids got in the water but Trent and I just stood watch. Although it is warm outside the water is not warm! Most of the people in the water were wearing full body wetsuits. It didn't seem to phase Talia and Tucker. We also played some football on the beach. While we were down at the water some seagulls came and tried to steal our dried apples. They pecked and pecked at the bag but were unsuccessful. They did peck at it enough that we decided not to eat our snack. While we were on the pier there was a pelican that came and rested on the handrail. We were able to get a picture of him with the kids. There was also a gorgeous sunset that evening. It was breathtaking. It was a wonderful day and I am not missing the snow and rain too much. This weather is wonderful. Although I am not looking forward to the 100+ degree summers. I will enjoy the weather while I can.

A Quiet Christmas

I am really late in blogging as usual. For Christmas this year we stayed home for the first time. I was a little anxious that the kids would not enjoy it as much. To my delight it turned out wonderful. We missed seeing our family very much but it was so nice to be home for Christmas. It was just the four of us for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We made cheese fondue and chocolate fondue for Christmas Eve dinner and it was delicious. After dinner we played Apples to Apples Junior and the Thimble game. The Thimble Game includes a small thimble of water being thrown on someone and when there are only 4 people playing you can get quite wet. The games were very fun. Santa Clause left the kids a reindeer and deer Webkinz at the front door for their Christmas Eve gift. We didn't do the nativity because there were so few of us but we did watch a nativity movie called Joy to the World. The kids went to bed pretty early and actually fell asleep before 9:30. I was amazed.

Talia and Tucker slept in until 7:00 a.m. on Christmas morning which was so nice. We opened our presents pretty quickly and the kids were very happy and excited with the gifts they received which made my day. Thank you to everyone who gave us gifts. We have generous family and friends and we loved our gifts. After we opened presents and the kids played with their presents for a while we made breakfast. We had Monkey Bread and it turned out great. We had a very relaxed and quiet Christmas day and just enjoyed spending time together. We also started a new tradition and went and watched a movie that Talia and Tucker were really wanting to see. After the movie we had a ham dinner with all the fixings and homemade rolls. Overall it was an excellent day and we look forward to staying home for Christmas next year. I didn't take enough pictures but there are a few.