Christmas Traditions

 San Diego Temple lights with my favorite family of 5 :)

 Friends, coco, cookies and Christmas concerts

 Decorating more cookies....sugar. sugar. sugar.

The holiday where treats are consumed daily.

candy. candy canes. candy corn, syrup.

 Preschool field trips to see Santa.

These little bugs were sure excited and sooo adorable!

 The cutest little nativity play you ever did see!

With the cutest little wise man.

Ollie was a doll during the play.

 Christmas programs and concerts.

Makes a mama proud.

 Ice skating

Ella is so so good now.

Can not even keep up.

 This little guy hasn't quite master the ice skates yet ;)

 My number one gal at the nutcracker

Our 6th year tradition still going strong.

Love mommy/daughter dates

 Joy and mistletoe

 And whats Christmas time with out a crying on Santa's lap pic.

Leo wasn't so sure he like the big jolly fellow

Eat. Party. Repeat.

Tis' the  Season

for food and parties

This year was no exceptions.

Busy busy, but fun busy :)

 Dans work Party. 

Always a grand time with team HPI.

Love that group!

 Spreading holiday cheer one ugly sweater at a time :)

Yummy dips and sips

 Favorite thing Party with some of my Favorite ladies.

Love this time of year.

Full of great food and even better company.

Happiest Place On Earth, Meets The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Loving our annual pass to Disneyland.

Such a magical place, 

and the most magical at Christmas.

 I mean, they make it snow on main street after the fireworks,

with gingerbread smells in the air, Christmas music playing,

the castle all lit up winter wonderland style.

Gets me every time. 

 A Little cookie decorating never hurt nobody :)

That Christmas Disneyland I tell ya. 

Pretty dreamy.

Naughty Or Nice?

We started December off with a North Pole breakfast

brought to us by our own elf on the shelf Zippy.

The kids get so excited when he comes back 

every year to spy on them to make sure 

they stay on the nice list ;)

The kids made their Christmas lists right away

to drop off in the official Santa mailbox.

Hope they make the nice list ;)

 After mailing off our letters,
it was tree time!
Last year we got our 1st real tree
and now I'm hooked.
Love that fresh pine smell.
But cant give up my pre-lit either,
so were a two tree house.
More Christmas coziness to snuggle to :)

 Love the magic of the holidays.

Gobble Till You Wobble

Happy Thanksgiving

2014

 Mini pie makers, trees are up, thanksgiving parade on, 
yummy smells in the air...thanksgving prep at it finest.

 This year we spent thanksgiving with friends 

 potluck style. 

So much easier perfecting one or two dishes,

then the whole feast.

The kids loved running around playing together, 

while the adults shared appetizers and visited.

The hubby's even took turns cooking 

while moms took a little rest.

The highlight of thanksgiving 

was sliding down the dirt hill. 

I guess that's Cali's version of sledding :)

Great time, Great Family &Friends, great food. 

Grateful.

That's whats thanksgiving is all about.

Halloween Weekend 2014

Started the holiday weekend off with

pumpkin carving and seed roasting.

1st year Ella did the whole pumpkin, guts and all, herself. 

She was pretty proud.

On the Eve of all Hallows Eve 

was our ward trunk or treat.

Who knew Count Dracula and The Pink Ranger 

were such close friends?!

 The Red Ranger and Queen Elsa are buddies too.

This cute Blue Rangers is a candy addict

You've never seen a little guy eat a chocolaty treat so fast! 

 Kiddos with their candy loot...notice Leo eyeing her candy stash? He was stealing everyones candy and popping it in his mouth as quickly as he could before he'd get caught, wrapper and all.

 On Halloween,  for school, 

Ella opted out of the family costume, 

to be her very most favorite thing in all the land.

A Beanie Boo.

A little tricky to figure how to dress up like a beanie boo.

Together I think we nailed it. 

Big sparkly eyes, a ty tag, and boom.

 All ready to strut her stuff at the Halloween parade

 Her biggest fans 

(mini hulk and lil skeleton) 

cheering from the sidelines.

 Later that day, I volunteered to help at her class Halloween party.

Seem appropriate the "floating hand" for the zombie punch, 

broke all the fingers while pulling the glove off, but these two 

oops! haha.

pinterest fail.

 Go Go Power Rangers!

pow. pow.

Off to an awesome Halloween party hosted by 

the beautiful Maleficent.

 and co-host Miss burglar.
On their nights off,
Super heroes and robbers 

Halloween party together

Check out that spread!

Chili, cornbread with all the fixings, 

and the most delicious apple pie caramel apples ever! 

 Double Double toil and trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble

Fun hand painted games to play

 bobbed for apples

And finished with a spooky movie under the stars.

Pretty darn perfect Halloween party.

 After stuffing our bellies with cornbread, 

we took our little spooks out trick or treating.

It was Leos 1st time trick or treating.

He was so hilarious. 

Every time they gave him a candy, 

he just sat down on their porch 

and ate it right then and there. 

No concept that you gather your treats door to door. 

He'd rather plop down and gobble them up as needed.

too cute.

The whole Boo Crew 

(minus our little ghosts and ghouls)

 A Happy Halloween indeed.