Happy Birthday!

Christmas is the day on which we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ...

It is also the day that the 'best mom a girl could ask for' was born into this world!

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope your day was filled with love and joy!

Christmas is in the air...

One Saturday evening, we took a walk around the Mission Inn. The lights were glowing beautifully, the air was crisp, everyone was feeling cheerful and full of the Christmas spirit...except for my kids. These darling pretzel snowmen brought us some cheer as we dipped and decorated each salty stick.

Then the letters from Santa arrived. Who knew that he had so much info! We believe in Santa, we believe!

We hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house....oh wait, and Christmas breakfast....and Christmas Dinner. It was so much fun being home and having everyone join us!

Of course, the Christmas Eve PJ's...

Christmas morning came way too early. Andrew woke at 5:30am to find his Aunt Traci and her dog "Minni" sleeping in his room. "Arf, arf!" That was all the sleeping for him (he loves dogs)...well until about 7am when the others woke to find Santa had brought them the Wii that they had begged and pleaded for. The rest is a blur of wrapping paper, gifts, family and food!

It Snowed!...

Yes, this is OLD news but it must be posted (I'm playing 'catch-up' today).

Ava's birthday was a wet one so the following morning dawned glorious and white! Not white in my front yard...but very white looking out at the view. I think it was the first time I've seen the hills near my house completely white with snow. I felt like I was living in Utah again where the mountains are right outside your window and they are white with snow all winter. It took us a bit longer to get to preschool as I (and quite a few other drivers) kept pulling over to take pictures of the wintry landscape.

This years Christmas Card...

Yes, I am a slacker. I believe I have officially procrastinated long enough that I'm going to forego the tradition this year and not send out my cards. (believe it or not, this is very painful for me! - there is nothing that I love more than getting and sending Christmas cards) So, in lieu of the hard copy, here's the card ... blog style! In fact, I think I'll make it my header for the rest of the month. Enjoy - next year they will go out!

BTW - I have LOVED getting all of yours....please don't take me off your list:)

It's December 17th...

Happy Birthday Ava!

We played beauty shop (hence the "painted-doll" look in the close up),

decorated her cake, opened presents, went to Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner, and, of course, ate cake. It's good to be 4!

Surgery

This is Todd before...And this is Todd after....(after the haircut, that is).

And this is Todd after surgery... These are Todd's lovely stitches...affectionately known as his "spiders".

Todd has become a sort of "regular" in the 'head and neck surgery department'.

Ok, not really. This is only his second time but somehow we doubt it will be the last. Back in the day, Todd spent a fair amount of time out at the river, at the beach, and just working construction all day in the sun. He is now paying for it via a few cancerous moles found on his head. Really, he's ok. The lack of hair is really a blessing in disguise - we find 'em and catch 'em early!

A quick recap...

I have not written for awhile. I guess I haven't felt inspired nor inspiring. Maybe I just haven't taken enough time to reflect and just think. So while I consider the deeper moments of my life, here are a few pictures to recap the most recent of events around our household.

Castle Park - not a baby friendly destination. This is just about the only thing Andrew could participate in. Needless to say - we won't be going back anytime soon...at least not as the only parent!

We made a quick and impromptu trip out to see Grandma and Grandpa. Ava demonstrated her mad skills in the kitchen. I am training her up to be the perfect "Betty Crocker" housewife! She's got the look, right?

We thought about riding the ATV's...didn't quite happen but sitting in the garage was still pretty exciting.

Oh, the tempting 50 degree pool (ok - maybe not that cold but it's close)! If only we could just go for a little dip!

My parents and my sister Rachel made the trek out to visit us for Thanksgiving.

We celebrated my Dad's birthday though it was a few days early. Happy Birthday Grandpa!

The kids worked hard to decorate the tree. Andrew focused his energy on ornament removal...

Tis the season for goodies of all kinds...but who can resist the allure of chocolate?