It's been a busy month, as you can see from the number of posts I've done. We just got back last night from California as we were visiting my parents and family for New Years. With all the fun we were able to have, I thought I'd highlight some of the things we did for Christmas and New Years.
We started the Christmas festivities early in December with a wonderful ward Christmas party where we were able to dress up as if we were living in Bethlehem at the time Jesus was born. What a fun time that was, and I loved reflecting on the most important reason we celebrate Christmas!!
Then, on Christmas day, we had a great time watching the kids open presents and play with them. It was also special in that it was Kelsey's first Christmas!! She really didn't have much interest in opening presents, but sure loved playing with the paper and bows.
Dave helped Kyle put together his new Geo Tracks train. He loved using the little remote control on it! Kelsey enjoyed watching, too.
One of the biggest hits of the presents this year was the Webkinz. The kids each got one, and of course had to log on right away and register their pet. (Too bad it was hard to get onto the website, since the rest of the world was also registering their pets they got for Christmas, too!) This Webkinz phenomenon is pretty crazy!
Here are the girls on the website with their new pets. Jessica and Ashley really get into it. (Notice Jessica's nose still has her coal dust on it from Santa touching it in the middle of the night.) We really enjoyed being home for Christmas. After hanging out at the house, we went over to Grandma Lynna's and Grandpa Steve's for some yummy dinner and more presents. The kids all got pogo sticks, which they loved jumping on in the backyard. (I still remember when I was a kid and I got a pogo stick for Christmas. I loved that thing!!) I even tried it out, and it was pretty fun!!
Then on that Thursday after Christmas, it was off to San Diego where we met up with Dave's brother and friend at work so they could go surfing together. (A little cold if you ask me.) There was this cool wave machine at Mission Beach that you could pay to ride, and we had fun watching the surfers do that.. (No, this is not anyone we know in the picture, I just thought it was cool how the machine could make a wave like this.) Dave only wishes the waves he was surfing out in the ocean looked like this. He didn't get too many good rides, as the waves weren't very good. After hanging out at the beach, Dave and his brothers headed to the ASU game.
Here they are before the game. Too bad ASU couldn't pull off a victory, but the boys still had fun. After the game, we drove the rest of the way to Thousand Oaks to visit my parents for the week. We had a great time with them. We visited with family and the kids got to spend lots of time with their cousins. We always have so much fun going down there and visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for letting us stay for the week!! We took lots of pictures, but I haven't downloaded them to this computer yet, so I'll have to post more later. One of the fun days we did have there was on New Years Day. Dave of course wanted to watch all the football games, so he stayed back at the house with Kyle and Kelsey, and me and the bigger kids went with Grandma and Grandpa to the rollerskating rink. I hadn't ever done this with the kids and they were so excited!!
We had so much fun skating around. Jessica was a pro skating all over the place, and Ashley and Tyler were a little nervous at first, but quickly got the hang of it. Ashley started going pretty fast, but always stayed close to the wall. One of Tyler's favorite things to do was hold onto my belt loops behind me and hang on while we skated fast!! After skating, we went to the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, then headed to a deli for dinner. Growing up I always loved going to deli's with my dad. That's were I got my love for pastrami sandwiches and pickles!! Now my kids all love them, too. It was fun spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and we really enjoyed the New Years Day!! We had a great trip, and a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe how fast it went by. Now it's back to the routine, and back to school. (Sorry kids :)
Dave helped Kyle put together his new Geo Tracks train. He loved using the little remote control on it! Kelsey enjoyed watching, too.
One of the biggest hits of the presents this year was the Webkinz. The kids each got one, and of course had to log on right away and register their pet. (Too bad it was hard to get onto the website, since the rest of the world was also registering their pets they got for Christmas, too!) This Webkinz phenomenon is pretty crazy!
Here are the girls on the website with their new pets. Jessica and Ashley really get into it. (Notice Jessica's nose still has her coal dust on it from Santa touching it in the middle of the night.) We really enjoyed being home for Christmas. After hanging out at the house, we went over to Grandma Lynna's and Grandpa Steve's for some yummy dinner and more presents. The kids all got pogo sticks, which they loved jumping on in the backyard. (I still remember when I was a kid and I got a pogo stick for Christmas. I loved that thing!!) I even tried it out, and it was pretty fun!! 
Then on that Thursday after Christmas, it was off to San Diego where we met up with Dave's brother and friend at work so they could go surfing together. (A little cold if you ask me.) There was this cool wave machine at Mission Beach that you could pay to ride, and we had fun watching the surfers do that.. (No, this is not anyone we know in the picture, I just thought it was cool how the machine could make a wave like this.) Dave only wishes the waves he was surfing out in the ocean looked like this. He didn't get too many good rides, as the waves weren't very good. After hanging out at the beach, Dave and his brothers headed to the ASU game.
Here they are before the game. Too bad ASU couldn't pull off a victory, but the boys still had fun. After the game, we drove the rest of the way to Thousand Oaks to visit my parents for the week. We had a great time with them. We visited with family and the kids got to spend lots of time with their cousins. We always have so much fun going down there and visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for letting us stay for the week!! We took lots of pictures, but I haven't downloaded them to this computer yet, so I'll have to post more later. One of the fun days we did have there was on New Years Day. Dave of course wanted to watch all the football games, so he stayed back at the house with Kyle and Kelsey, and me and the bigger kids went with Grandma and Grandpa to the rollerskating rink. I hadn't ever done this with the kids and they were so excited!!
We had so much fun skating around. Jessica was a pro skating all over the place, and Ashley and Tyler were a little nervous at first, but quickly got the hang of it. Ashley started going pretty fast, but always stayed close to the wall. One of Tyler's favorite things to do was hold onto my belt loops behind me and hang on while we skated fast!! After skating, we went to the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, then headed to a deli for dinner. Growing up I always loved going to deli's with my dad. That's were I got my love for pastrami sandwiches and pickles!! Now my kids all love them, too. It was fun spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and we really enjoyed the New Years Day!! We had a great trip, and a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe how fast it went by. Now it's back to the routine, and back to school. (Sorry kids :)
4 comments:
Sounds like you had so much fun. What a good idea to wait and go after Christmas. Ryan's mom wanted to get a webkinz for Jack and we told her no. You are a nice mom to let your kids have them!
Fun! I love that picture of Kelsey with her big smile! We also had trouble with Webkinz on Christmas Day. My kids love them! I'm glad you had a good trip. Let's go to lunch soon!
It's so nice to hear all about what's going on with you. This is my second blog, the first was more "journaling" than anything else. We are great. About 4 months ago we moved from Carlsbad (North County San Diego) to Southbay Los Angeles (Torrance). Tim got recruited by AvenueA/Razorfish (a big web consulting company here in LA). I love it here. Great to hear from you. I'm still playing basketball. The sisters in this Stake are fierce...most of them played college ball. It is great! Talk soon.
looks like you guys had a great Christmas and New Years. The cali trip looked like a blast!! My nieces and nephews keep talking about webkinz, i really need to find out what the heck they are.
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