Tuesday, January 17, 2012

California for Christmas

For the first day we wanted to have a chance to go to the beach.  Our hotel was only a block away from Carlsbad State beach and we couldn't check in yet, so we headed over.
It was great, and the kids waisted no time getting into the cold water.
It was low tide, which made for some great finds...three star fish attached to some rocks and lots of mussels.



Legoland!
The second day was spent at Legoland. 
The kids had a blast on the rides and looking at all the things made out of Lego's



The last day we drove down to San Diego to see some things before heading home.  The plan was to see a air craft carrier museum and The Mormon Battalion Historical Site in Old Town San Diego(which I didn't know that was were we were going)  I went to Old Town with my family as a kid and it was a ton of fun.  I wish we had more time to spend there.  In fact we ended detouring from the plan when driving down I-5 we passed the San Diego temple, so we had to stop.  The kids all thought the temple was so beautiful and we had fun exploring the grounds.
After the temple we headed to Old Town and had a picnic lunch beside the Battalion site.  After we finished lunch we went it for the tour, it was great!  We all had so much fun, that was the last thing we did that day before having to go home.  We really recommend visiting this church site. 
We didn't get to do all the fun things we had planned, so we are definitely going back some day.





We drove home on I-8, which was an adventure.  Only because a couple of times we were really close the the border with Mexico.  We could see the "wall".  With all that is going on in Mexico right now, it did make me a little nervous, I guess. 
We also had to go through a border patrol check point, with dogs that sniffed our car as we slowly passed by. 
It was an interesting experience!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas Morning

Christmas was a lot of fun this year.  It came and went so fast!
The kids woke us up at 4:45 this year!  The kids were ready to go.  It is always so much fun to see the excitement in your kids faces.  We had Church at 9 am, so waking up that early was perfect!  We had it all done and our breakfast eaten with plenty of time to spare.

Here are the highlights...
Santa brought Izzy her kitchen and a pillow pet.

Ashton is in love with Mac from Cars, so this was a huge hit!

 Ethan, as you can see was super excited about the Mario I gave him.


 Cole was beside himself when he unwrapped this Lego set!
The kids loved all the gifts from Santa and from family.

This is what Kevin and I gave them this year..

We pack that night and headed to California the next morning.



One of the ornaments we got for the family on Christmas Eve, so we could always remember our sweet girl.  We sure missed her.


                   Ashton crashed later that day with his pillow pet and all his favorite trucks!
It was a great day!

Family Hike

The day before Christmas Eve we decided to take advantage of a beautiful Arizona day and go on a hike together.  It was great to spend some time together outside.


Our house and MWU somewhere behind Kevin and Ashton. 


The kids on some switchbacks.

Izzy and I by a cactus with mouse ears:)

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas Activities

We've been busy enjoying the season together as a family!
This week we wrote our letters to Santa while eating s'mores topped with a Kiss.





Yesterday we made treats to hand out to our nieghbors and friends.  The kids were a big help dipping pretzels and unwraping candies.  It is fun to do the cooking together.
Today we handed out the treats.  Izzy loved going to the doors and handing the plates out.

The other activity we had tonight was having our dinner by candle light.
The kids really look forward to this, it is a family favorite and this year was another big hit!
 
Ashton couldn't wait for everyone to sit down so we could get started.




I can't believe how fast this month has gone.
One week left until Christmas!


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ginger Bread Houses

Decorating ginger bread houses has got to be one of our most favorite Christmas traditions.  When our advent calendar told us that it was today's activity the kids were super excited! 
They couldn't wait to get started.



 This was Ashton's first time decorating a house, last year he mostly watched. 
He had a lot of fun!





Our little village!

Temple Lights

On Saturday we went to Mesa to see the Temple's Christmas light display.  We went with some good friends of ours from school, Kate and Cameron and their son Peter.

The Temple was beautiful! 

We enjoyed walking around seeing all the pretty lights, listening to the children's choir that was performing that night and seeing the nativity displays. 
They had a collection of many different nativities from around the world.


Pizza, Friends and Hats

December is here!  It is one of my favorite months. 
We have fun doing a little something every day until the 25th.
It helps us to get in the spirit of Christmas. 
I love all the memories we make.

On the 2nd we had pizza for dinner and ate it in our Santa hats. 
It was tons of fun!
We also had a guest that night, Cole's friend Brady.