Our Christmas Trip to California

Okay, so I am finally getting around to blogging about our Christmas break. We were invited to spend the holiday with Alec's maternal grandparents, Becky and Jay (aka, "B and J"--which gave Abigail quite a bit of concern before we got there, because she couldn't remember which one was "B", and which one was "J.").

We jumped at the chance for a visit, and I'm so glad we did. Alec drove down with the two older kids, and I flew down with the baby. It was super nice! Being in California was a lovely break from the norm, and Alec's grandparents were so nice to constantly dote over the kids. Not only did we get to spend time with B and J, we were able to see Alec's parents, too (they live about an hour from B and J)!

I really felt like our family was enriched from having spent time in the home of Alec's grandparents. After 80 some odd years of life, I suppose you have a nice perspective on what's important. When the kids would throw a fit or refuse to eat something, B and Jay would say something tongue and cheek, like, "My! We're only used to perfect children!" It always made me feel relieved that we weren't annoying anyone, and that my kids were just being normal. B and J are wonderful people, and were so gracious to invite us into their home over the holidays.

While in Southern California we were able to enjoy some activities we wouldn't normally enjoy in December in Utah.

Like play on the front lawn after church...

go for walks...

walk by pretty pink flowers....
play in the wood chips at the park (a favorite pastime of Owen's)...

go down the slide....

run in the leaves (without a jacket or sweater)....

and hunt for sticks....

Plus we got to play at Grammy and Pop's house with all their cool retro toys...

read stories with Grammy....

be silly with cousins....

and hang out with Dad in the middle of the day!

Thanks for having us, B and Jay!!

Parent Day at the Dance Class

Before Christmas break, Abigail's ballet/tap class had an open house for all the parents to come and watch a class. It was nice to watch her dance, because I have been wondering if she likes it or not. She has taken up complaining before class each week, but then she is happy at the end of the class. I just can't decide if she really "hates" it, "hates listening to the teacher" (like she says each week), or if she just hates changing her clothes and getting ready to go to dance class after school. Anyway, here are a few pics...

This is Abigail's friend Ashlyn from preschool last year.

Nate enjoyed the show.

"No more pictures, please!"

Unsupervised Owen

Love him to death, but sometimes Owen gets into the worst mischief. I guess he wouldn't be a two-year-old boy if he didn't. This happened one recent Saturday morning, when Alec and I decided to leave the kids to their own devices, while we watched some TV program upstairs in our bedroom. Owen actually had a shirt on, but was still able to accomplish this full belly art.

It's a blogathon!

I have had so much to blog about from the end of the year, but have had no time to do it until now. I don't know how much I'll get through in this sitting, but at least I'm beginning.

I'll start back in mid-December with the Nutcracker. All of the girls in my family went to a Saturday matinee performance of Ballet West's Nutcracker. Before the show, we all met up at Red Butte Cafe (yum) for lunch. I just loved it! It was so fun to be with all the girls for a group Mommy Daughter date. I don't know how to describe how cute I thought the outing was, and I hope we are able to do it again next year.

After the show, Abigail wanted to take one last look at the orchestra pit, so we lagged behind from the rest of the group. As she and I were leaving, a woman came up to us and offered us two tickets to the backstage after party. It was fun! We got to go up on the stage, where they had punch and cookies, a magician, and some of the main characters there to greet us. They also told us about some random trivia. For example: One performance of the Nutcracker requires enough electricity to power a house for an entire year!

Alec elfed the kids....

click on the link, and check it out:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1505082816

More pictures with Santa

These pictures are from our ward Christmas party a week or so ago. It was crazy with so many kids and parent paparazzi swarming Santa. I was lucky to get a shot of my kids! Abigail would want you to notice that her outfit blended with Santa's perfectly--she thought that was so cool!

Abigail stuck with her request for a Barbie--I think Santa will deliver. But Owen requested a BYU Cougar, and has mentioned it a couple of times since then. I think Santa thought he would forget about that particular request, and didn't do anything about it. Not that I'm in favor of getting kids everything they ask for for Christmas. But, it seems a shame not to fulfill a consistent request that is relatively simple. I hope we don't have a repeat of the year when Abigail was about 2, and the only thing she wanted for Christmas was M & M's. Santa was such a dud he didn't even fulfill that request. Luckily we had Uncle Peter to the rescue when she was nearly brought to tears.

What a difference a skirt makes!

For the last few weeks Abigail has been in denial about her ballet/tap class. When people ask her if she takes a dance class she flat out denies it. But, ever since she got a ballet skirt, things have changed. Who knew my trip to Walmart to pick up a long sleeve leotard would turn her world around?