Christmas Day!!

I loved having Christmas on Sunday this year.  Talia and Tucker woke up at 6:30.  We told them they couldn't get up before so 6:30 and so they set their alarms, the stinkers.  Next year I will have to make sure all alarms are off before I go to bed.  It was just the four of us and Talia and Tucker are very efficient at unwrapping so were done in an hour.  Everyone loved their gifts and it is always so much fun to watch Talia and Tucker open their gifts.  After presents we ate monkey bread and turkey sausage and then we went and got ready for church.  We went to an 1 1/2 of church and had a Christmas program.  There was lots of beautiful music and speaking parts.  I played the piano for 2 of the musical numbers and for the Primary and enjoyed the program much more after my parts were done.  It was a beautiful program and brought the spirt to the meeting.  I wish we could go to church every Christmas!

After Church we spent the rest of the day  playing and organizing Christmas presents, making Christmas dinner which included ribs, and packing for our trip to Washington.  We were flying out Monday morning from LA at 7:00 in the morning.   We had to get at 3:00 a.m Monday morning!  Not good planning on my part.   It was a very nice and and quiet Christmas with just our family and I loved spending it with my most favorite people in the world!  I am so grateful for my Savior for his birth and his life.  I pray that everyday we can remember our Savior and try to be like him!

Christmas Eve Celebration

We had a very fun Christmas Eve Celebration.  We had 3 other families, the Holmes, the Hills, and the Lowes, all from our ward come to celebrate with us.  We had 23 people total.  We ate cheese fondue with apples, fresh veggies, Jana's yummy French bread, and little sausages for the appetizer.  We ate a broth fondue with various meats and veggies with dipping sauces for the main dish.  We ate chocolate fondue with cream puffs, fruit, cookies, cinnamon bears, marshmallows, and Oreos for dessert.  It was a little tricky to do the fondue with so many people but I don't think anyone went hungry.  My favorite part was definitely the chocolate!  After dinner we played the thimble game with everyone and we did the nativity.  My friend, Deb had tons of nativity costumes and a little program that we did and it turned out great.  We had lots of kids to fill all the parts and it really brought the spirit.  I played the piano and everyone sang several Christmas songs during the little program.  I think someone recorded it hopefully! After the nativity the boys had a nerf gun fight outside.  Trent helped Dallin, one of theTucker's friends, fall in the pool and then our friend Stu pushed Trent in the pool.  It is a rare thing when someone gets the best of Trent.  Trent is planning his revenge and Stu says he won't be going in our backyard for awhile.  Dallin, the boy Trent pushed in the pool told his mom that was the best Christmas Eve ever! I was glad to hear it! 

After everyone went home we had one more guest come and leave presents for Talia and Tucker.  They both got snuggies!  They  have wanted them and were very excited.  Talia got a zebra print snuggie and Tucker got a camo print snuggie.  They were so excited they could hardly stand it.  I am so glad that the excitement hasn't died down as they have gotten older.

Disneyland at Christmastime!

We went to Disneyland a few days before Christmas.  Disneyland is even more magical at Christmastime.  The kids and I went early in the afternoon and met Trent after work.  It was a little crowded which was expected so the kids played on the Tom Sawyer island for quite some time and we just walked around.  We ate dinner at downtown  Disney with Trent. The highlight of dinner was the balloon artist who made a dragon for Tucker and a Giraffe for Talia.  It is a lot of cheaper to eat outside of the park then in.  Then we went back in the park to save a perfect spot for the firework show.  There was supposedly going to be a snowfall after the fireworks show and the kids wanted to see it.  I saved our spot and it was a little bit cooler than expected so we splurged on cocoa to stay warm.  Talia and Trent went on a ride or 2 while I saved the spot and Tucker just wanted to wait with me.  The Christmas fireworks show was amazing.  Then the snowfall was probably the highlight for the kids even though all it was was bubbles.  It still looked cool and at one point the kids were covered in white.  They loved it and it was worth the wait.  It is kind of silly but that is about the only snow there will be in southern California unless you are in the mountains.  It was fun night for the family.

Weekend in Portland!

Trent had miles from his credit card at work and let to fly to Portland for the first weekend in December.  I ended up missing the ward adult Christmas Party and Trent's work Christmas Party.  Of course right after I bought the tickets the work Christmas Party was moved to the weekend I would be gone.  I flew into Portland Friday afternoon and got a rental car.  I spent the afternoon with my sister Stephanie and my adorable nephew Liam.  It was so fun to see them and spend some time with them.  The afternoon went by too fast.

I spent Friday night at my friend, Liz's house.  She treated to dinner at a yummy Tai restaurant where Trent and I used to go.  Then we went to Deseret Book and went shopping.  I don't have Deseret Book nearby so it was fun to go.  After Deseret Book we sent back to her house and watched Eclipse in preparation for the following night when we were going to watch Breaking Dawn.  Saturday morning I got up and actually went shopping again at the Apple Store.  We haven't got a new computer in over 6 years and decided to dive right in and become Apple owners.  I bought an Apple laptop but at least I saved money on tax buying in Portland.  Trent was excited for me to get it.  I spent Saturday afternoon with my dear friend, Deb.  Saturday night I went out to eat with all 3 of my friends Liz, Deb and Holly and afterwards we went and watch Breaking Dawn.  This was the 2nd time I had seen it.  (I went opening night with the ladies from my ward and it was a very fun experience to be there with all those crazy fans!)  It was a very fun night and felt so good to be with old friends.

Sunday I was able to go to my old ward and see even more friends.  It was great to see everyone.  The ward has changed a lot but that is what happens.  Sunday afternoon and evening was spent at my friend Holly's.   Monday morning I flew out at  6:00 in the morning and so it was an early morning.  I wanted to be home before the kids got home from school and that was my only option.  I had a great weekend with my friends.  It was is always good to spend time with them.  The weekend went by way too fast and I wish I could have spent more time with Stephanie and been able to see Brooke.  Brooke was out of town for most of the weekend.  I am looking forward to the next time Trent has enough reward miles so that I can come again!

It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas!

I was excited to decorate for Christmas this year.    We spent the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating and it took the whole weekend.  Last year we bought a 12 ft Christmas tree after Christmas so we had never put the tree up.  I also bought all the ornaments last year on clearance. I was anxious to see how to see how it would look.   It took a lot of time to put of the tree but it was worth it.  It turned out great.  I also LOVE nativities and have collected quite a few in the past years.  They are one of my favorite decorations!  I love Christmas and I love having my house decorated for Christmas.  

Family Pictures!

We had our family pictures done by a friend in the ward.  Her name is Winter Collins and her photography company is named Winter Wonderland.  We took them at an orange grove about a mile away from our house and they turned out good.  I don't like the process of getting ready for the pictures and taking the pictures but I always like from the end result.

A Week of Thanks!

I am finally posting again.  It has been long overdue.  Talia and Tucker had a week off at Thanksgiving it was so wonderful to have a break from school.  The highlights of week included spending an afternoon with our dear friends, the Cheslers from Portland, going to Wild Animal Park and spending Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Holmes.  Unfortunately I only have pictures from Wild Animal Park and seeing the Cheslers.  I was a slacker on Thanksgiving and didn't take any pictures.

We went to Huntington Beach to meet the Cheslers.  We went to the beach for a couple of hours and the kids had a wonderful time.  The weather was beautiful and Tucker even got in the water.  He is crazy!  After the beach we went to Red Robin for dinner and then the kids and dads went go-kart racing.  First the kids went and then the dads.  The moms didn't want pay the extra money to go.  It was fun to watch them race and everyone had a great time.  The afternoon and evening we spent together went way too fast but it was so good to see them always.  I am so glad that my friend's parents live in Huntington Beach so that they come down to southern California and we get to see them.

Talia, Tucker and I have San Diego Zoo Passes which means we also have passes to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido.  We had been to the zoo but never to the Animal Park.  It is about the half distance the zoo is so the drive was much nicer.  The Wild Animal Park was also not crowded.  We had a great day looking at all the animals.  We went on a little safari ride and it was almost you were in Africa seeing the animals out in the wild.  Talia was able to see her favorite animal the Giraffes.  The highlights of the day were the elephants.  There were 17 of them and several baby elephants one of who was only about 2 months old.  Very cute until he started to fight eating poop.  Another highlight was the baby gorilla.  I don't think I have a baby gorilla at a zoo.  It was pretty cool and he was pretty cute.  It was a very fun day and we hope to go back again before our passes expire.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving day with our close friends the Holmes.  They are in our ward and live a few blocks away.  They hosted since they had some family in town.  We missed our family and it was hard to be away from them on Thanksgiving but being with friends helped.  I started the day out running a turkey trot with my friend which was great.  It was only a 5K nice and short.  Trent and Tucker went and played in the annual Turkey Bowl our ward has each year.  They had a good time.  I was asked to bring the green bean casserole, rolls and pies.  I made delicious homemade rolls with cinnamon honey butter, green bean casserole from scratch, and a triple berry and dutch apple pie.  Thanksgiving dinner was amazing.  My friend Britta's turkey turned out great and her stuffing was delightful.  Everyone ate way too much.  After dinner the dishes were done and the kids played.  That evening the moms and kids went to the movie Arthur Christmas and the dads stayed home with the baby and watch their own movie.  Arthur Christmas was a fun movie and everyone enjoyed it.  It was a very busy but fun day!  We are so grateful for the many many blessing we have been given and are grateful for a day to celebrate gratitude!

Student of the Month!

Talia was chosen Student of the Month for her class in November!  I am so proud of her.  I have to brag for a minute and just say what an awesome student she is.  She is very intelligent and is always so helpful to her teacher and fellow students.  Thanks for working so hard and always doing your best in school Talia!  We love you!

Happy Halloween Week

We celebrated Halloween for a week.  We started by going to Disneyland and California Adventure for an afternoon.  The kids had minimum days and so we were able to go shortly after lunch.  It wasn't very crowded and we were able to go on a lot of rides.  It was fun to Disneyland all decorated for Halloween! 
We continued the celebration with Talia and Tucker each going to a Halloween party hosted by friends.  Talia made pies and Tucker had a costume party and won the Best Prize Award! 

The Saturday before we Halloween we had 2 more parties to go to.  We had a Swim Halloween Luncheon and the kids had a blast.  They were able to swim but the fun part was that they were able to go down the slide and the high dive.  There were some swimming games involving bobbing for apples and moving pumpkin around in the water.  I forgot to put sunscreen on them and they got sunburned.  I guess that is what happens in October when you live in California!  Saturday night we had our ward Trunk-Or-Treat  which included a chili dinner and costume parade.  We took the neighbor boys with us and gave out a lot of candy and the kids brought home way too much candy. 

Monday night we went trick-or-treating with some neighbors.  It was perfect weather and we even drove the kids up to a neighborhood where they handed out full size candy bars.  Talia and Tucker got pretty excited about that score!  I bought their candy from them after they picked out a few pieces to keep.  Trent takes it to work for the office manager who has a candy jar in her office for the employees and visitors.  It works out great and then we get ride of the candy!  It was a very fun filled week and we made lots of fun memories!