Christmas recap

This year was the first we've spent Christmas as just our little family---no traveling to parents' or in-laws' houses. It was very low-key and cozy and really wondeful and magical and unforgettable.

Here are the kids getting into the spirit of the season with their Santa hats and jingle bell bracelets.

Our favorite pasttime--checking out the lights in the neighborhood.
Our favorite house. We have video on the previous post, in case you missed it.
The lights at the LA Temple

Sorry for the blurry shot...but the temple grounds looked amazing.

I loved this red canopy on the tree.

How cute is Avery in my hat and her new jammies?!

In front of the manger scene

Video of Christmas Eve preparations

Video of Christmas morning

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday. We are so grateful for this chance to commemorate the birth and life of our Savior.

Merry Christmas!!

Ski Lift House

This fourth house is a few blocks from our home. We met the owners the day before, and they were very friendly and even pointed us in the direction of the other three. We love the Mickey and Minnie in the present, as well as the awesone ski lift. So original!

Dancing Santa House

Just across the street is house #3. I would have thought this was over-the-top before visiting the previous two. Still, the kids love the dancing and singing.

Crazy House 2

This is the second insanely decorated house we saw, a mere 4 houses down from the first. They also have a website: www.nortonswinterwonderland.com

Crazy House 1

Our latest favorite Christmas tradition involves visiting the insanely decorated houses in our neighborhood. Here is the first of FOUR houses that we saw. This house has a website: www.wintersnowland.com

Thanksgiving and 10K

Now that it's December already...I'd better post about our Thanksgiving adventures.

Alex decided to pump a little iron before our meal. :-)

Avery wanted in on the photo taking as well. Here's her "trusty Steve, Giddyup."
I just love this face. Had to include it.

This year was the first we spent Thanksgiving just with our little family. We didn't travel anywhere, and it was actually really NICE. Here's the spread: Jennie-O turkey (because I was NOT going to cook a whole one for 4 people), homemade mashed potatoes and rolls, stuffing, cranberry sauce and olives, and Martinelli's and egg nog.

Avery's favorite part was the OLIVES

Alex discovered olives too

The next morning PJ made chocolate chip pancakes. Looks like they were a huge hit!

Saturday was my first ever 10K. It was in Santa Monica and the weather was about 58 degrees, PERFECT for running.

The kids were freezing in the stroller, but I felt great.

Here I am on the last stretch. I'm happy to report that I ran the entire way, and though my time may not be very fast (69 min) it was a major accomplishment for me. I've never run that far before.

Avery ran her 1K race right afterwards.

She loved that she got to break the tape at the end of the race, and she got a completion ribbon which she treated like a toy and even named it "Super" for Superman.

The rest of the weekend was filled with cleaning the house and enjoying time together. PJ was a saint and let me spend a lot of time working on my document (like a dissertation) while he entertained the kids. How cute are these boys?

Here is everyone playing Avery's latest favorite game, Duck Duck 1-2-3.

What an amazing weekend. We should have 4-day weekends more often.

San Diego

Last week we tagged along on yet another of daddy's work trips....this time to nearby San Diego. We WERE going to come for the whole conference he attended, from Wednesday through Monday. Then we thought better of cramming all four of us into one hotel room for 6 days, with me trying to come up with things to entertain the kids while still maintaining a regular nap schedule for Alex, and so I brought the kids just for Saturday through Monday.

Here's the view from our hotel room looking toward the water.

The best part about the trip was our hotel. The room was small, but the view was fantastic! It was right off the water, within an EASY walk to the Seaport Village with lots of shops and restaurants and Avery's favorite, THE CAROUSEL!! We took some nice walks through the area, looking at the beautiful ocean, and rode the carousel TWICE. Alex loved it too.

This is the view from our hotel room looking the other direction, toward downtown.

The hotel had an awesome fitness area, complete with basketball court, volleyball court, tennis courts, horseshoes and shuffleboard. The kids loved to run and run, playing with the balls and other sporting equipment. What a blast!

The big touristy thing we did in San Diego was visit the USS Midway. It's a gi-normous aircraft carrier that you can explore. We got to climb in some of the planes and helicopters and see where people ate, slept, commanded the ship, etc. So cool.

I think we may have a pilot or two in our future...

Avery couldn't believe that the planes were ON the boat. Woah.

Recognize that famous kiss?

On the way home, we passed RIGHT BY the San Diego temple. I didn't realize how CLOSE to the freeway it was!! These photos were taken as we drove by.

Such a pretty temple. I'll have to go inside someday.

What a fun trip. I'm glad we went, but I'm also glad that we're done traveling for a while. This is the first year we'll be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas at home---for many reasons, but mostly so I can get some quality work done on my last step for my doctorate: the dreaded document. Wish me luck.