California: Part 1

We had an awesome time in California visiting my family, December 15th - 28th . My parents, four brothers, and my brother's fiancee were there nearly the whole time which was AMAZING. We were there for 13 days and it went by in the blink of an eye.

Feeding the Ducks

Always a good start, however we've never had the ducks come at us in a relentless mass. It was NUTS! This doesn't show all of them, or the kids standing on benches as the ducks tried to eat the bread out of their hands.



Here's Rome being brave while the girls wimped out and sat with Uncle Spencer in the background.



Hot Tub

My parents' hot tub is always a favorite for the kids, and we made sure it got good use while we were there.



Birthdays

Jeff and I turned 34. Blows my mind to say it out loud. But I've decided that I'm sick (and therefore Jeff must be too) of saying "I'm old" so therefore will not anymore.
It was a great birthday. We decided to try and score as much free stuff as possible. Free breakfast at IHOP started our day.



My Mom (thanks Mom, you truly ARE a mom who bakes cakes) made us both our cakes of choice and we opened presents. Jeff had already given me one present before we left for Cali, a new cell phone. Nothing fancy, but it makes PHONE CALLS which is the actual reason one may need a cell phone and something that my old phone refused to do. Jeff also got some new shoes for me, short black boots. They were an updated blast from the past - I always used to wear that type of boot when we first met. Now I just need to fit back into those size 6 jeans with the holes in the knees! The kids also all made me super cute cards. I gave Jeff the swimsuit that he very much wanted, and had very specifically showed me online. The kids made him a giant candy box with a special message.







All the kids were taken off our hands and out for various dates with my family. Jeff and I also set out on our own date to Red Robin for free dinners. We ended up doing Christmas shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond and Marshalls afterward. Honestly it was so much fun. Sometimes I forget how much Jeff and I like just hanging out together, shopping, making each other laugh.









La Quinta Ward Christmas Party



We went to my parents Ward Christmas party, my Mom is on the activities committee. We started in the Chapel where my Dad and brother Dan read the Living Christ. There was a slide show behind them and they'd stop at certain points for musical numbers. Then the back was opened up to reveal the cultural hall. Really, it was such a beautiful night. We sang tons of Christmas carols, including a very rousing rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. Santa even made an appearance. I'll go ahead and say it, THIS is what a ward party SHOULD be like.

Christmas Clothes

From Gramma and they were of course the very cutest kids in church for the 2 weeks we were there.





The Uncles

I wish I'd managed to get some more pics of the kids with my brothers "The Uncles". I took a lot of pictures on the trip, and missed a lot of pictures too. But at least I got my brother Josh smooching Oz.
The kids L-O-V-E playing with the Uncles and did so nearly non-stop. Sable played Josh and Spencer like a fiddle and had them doting on and carrying her everywhere. At one point, in Disneyland, Josh said that Sable had been laying on the compliments. She said to Josh, "You're a really good carrier!" to which Josh replied, "Thanks!" And then thinking about it, realized how well he was being played. But for real, that little girl adores those two big guys. Rob, Dan and Erin made some great little movies with the kids, I so wish I had those on my flip but I was not invited to the movie making sessions. I'd often hear massive laughing and thumping going on though.



The Beach

Ahhhhhhh. We went to Newport Beach this year. It was only for a couple hours, and was after ten tons of rain but it was awesome. The rain stopped seemingly just for us, just as we got there.