Christmas Happenings

LONG POST! 3 WEEK VACATION = LOTS OF MEMORIES AND LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

We were able to spend Christmas with my family this year down in CA. It was an unusually warm year this winter. But good old CA always cools off at night. 

We went down to San Diego to visit with the grandparents and to go to this amazing house before Christmas. He is a friend of my grandparents and every year he decorates his house and invites people to come and enjoy some Christmas festivities. When we pulled into the neighborhood, there were cars parks blocks away. And the line to see Santa was down the street. Luckily my grandparent know PEOPLE. We got to park right across the street!

The entry way/line for Santa...so long!

Cookies, Hot Chocolate and Cider

The gazebo was to write to Santa and tell him what you wanted for Christmas. They mailed them too!

They had one of those blow up movie screens and they played Christmas movies while you waited in line for Santa.

This is the back yard. Decorated with small little houses to go look at. They had snow too!(bubbles) They also decorate the inside of their home for everyone to walk through....I mean themes and decorations galore!

Checking out the snow.

Finally got to see Santa. Hailey didn't want to have anything to do with Santa this year. And usually Lucas doesn't either. But for some reason he was ok with this Santa. This is when he told Santa that he wanted a kitten.... a real kitten for Christmas!

Enjoying her candy cane. All the kids got toys from Santa. Lucas and Hailey both got light up wands. They were a hit!

Because the weather was so nice we had to hit up the beach a few times. We went to Newport one day. We ate at BJ's and played in to sand.

Christmas Eve

Two of the cutest little elves around!

The Spread

Hailey was so cute this Christmas. Such a good helper. My mom would give her a present and tell who to take it to. She would deliver the present and stand and watch them open it. As soon as we gave her one that was for her she would plop right down and open it. She totally got it!

Trying out Lucas' new ride.

Chocolate for breakfast...why not. It's Christmas!

Lucas loves his new 4 wheeler.

Hanging out with Great Grandaddy!

Our attempt at a gingerbread house.

Disneyland seems like a must do every time we are down. This was Brandon's first time going with Hailey. We had a great time and Disneyland is the best when it's decorated for Christmas. 

We went to see Tigger, Eeyore, and Winnie the Pooh. Hailey thinks that any character is just the best. It was so cute how excited she got and gave all of them a hug.

Seriously, how pretty is It's a Small World all lit up. Love it!

On New Year's Eve we took the kids to the Great Park. They had a bunch of games and prizes for the kids. Music and dancing for the adults. Did I mention there were A LOT of people there?

Look who I got to kiss on New Year's Eve!

Celebrating!

The Orange Balloon.

Before Brandon left, we stopped off at Huntington and ate at Ruby's on the pier and walked around a little. Another really nice day!

It was so nice to be out of the cold weather for a while. we took advantage and went to the park several times. Hailey loved it and figured out that she loved going down the slide all by herself over and over again!

Climbing up the slide with Papa. All the other kids were climbing up, so she had to also.

We had a great time in CA. We miss the nice warm weather now that we are here in the snow!

Toy Story on Ice

So my family for a while has had the tradition of going to see a movie on Christmas Eve and then dinner at In-N-Out. Well with two small children in the house this year we had to figure something else out. We decided to go to Disney on Ice. It was all Toy Story. The kids loved it. Hailey was thrilled because lately she loves Toy Story. We had a great time!

 So happy to have Daddy with us!

 So focused

 The Claw!

 Sisters

I love to see the temple

We went to see the lights at temple square a few days ago. Always so pretty. Although it seemed like this year they didn't have as many lights up. Did anyone else notice that? I was also freezing that night. I feel like every year I pick the coldest night to go see the lights. Oh well. We were prepared and enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere. 

 This is just a little added extra... do you think the girl likes chocolate? Definitely takes after her mommy!

Getting Excited...

Anyone else really excited for Christmas to come? This year has been so much fun with Hailey. She is so excited about lights, Santa, snowmen, and reindeer. So we decided to do something fun and festive the other night. Down town Ogden has a Christmas village every year. It's decked out with lights, little decorated houses and Santa is even there. Hailey had fun walking around looking in the little houses and seeing all the lights.