Christmas Day and the Aftermath

6:30 am we got to talk to my little brother Seth who is serving a mission in Honduras. It was so great to hear his voice. He called on Christmas Eve to verify the time and phone number for the Christmas day phone call and we talked to him then as well. He is doing wonderfully and immersing himself in the scriptures and the culture.

Then of course, STOCKINGS and PRESENTS!

Some of my favs included my aprons, a blue one made and personalized by my mom, and the green and blue one made by my sis-in-law. (I am just surrounded by talented women!) Move over Mrs. Cleaver these cute numbers are gonna get me a bakin' and a cookin'. Also, Sean got me a day at the Pebble Beach Spa which I am SO eager and excited to do!

Some of Lily's highlights included her digital camera from Aunt Jerianne, a guitar from G. Grandma Hand, a Mrs. Goodbee dollhouse from my mom and dad and the treasure hunt.

After opening all the presents we discovered a scroll rolled up and left in the tree from Santa.

The Clue's.

The final letter from Santa on the treasure chest.


Santa wrote about the true treasure and wealth of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

A reminder to us all!

Then we had fun with the 'not so important treasure'!

We started getting Christmas lunch/dinner ready and got a call from my Uncle Bob, Aunt Sandy and cousins Ted and Guin. They had amazingly made it up the snowy, slippery mountain but couldn't get down the unplowed (I think I made that word up, you know what I mean) roads to the cabin. Dad and Sean ventured out to help them unload and hike down to the cozy cabin.

We certainly enjoyed their company and were grateful they made it in safely. They brought along their 2 yellow labs Logan and Clark and with G&G's dog Molly making 3, that place was quite exciting for a few hours until they calmed down. Lily loved bossing them around with her hands on hips and finger waving in the air. She kept saying "I want to be an animal teacher!"

FUN WITH THE FAMILY!

My mom with the girls, Grampa Hand kept teaching Daisy how to take steps despite my plea's of "I am not ready for her to walk yet!" :) Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bob happy to be in from the cold.

My cute cousin's Guin and Ted. We loved seeing all you guys!

We had an amazing dinner with my dad's famous Claude's brisket and since we were all snowed in we got to have a fun slumber party, dog's and all!

A Little Late

I didn't have access to a computer over the holiday and so here ya go, our Christmas e-card. Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!!

The Weather Outside was Frightful...

...but the trip was so delightful! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! We ventured out to the Sierra mountains just outside of Bakersfield to celebrate the holiday with my Grandma and Grandpa Hand. My mom and dad flew out from New Mexico and we all met at the cabin in Alta Sierra on Christmas Eve. The cabin was built by my great, great grandfather in 1928. My Grandpa Ted has maintained it so well and has added on a whole new living room and bedroom among other areas! He is 84 and still driving his tractor around the property making improvements. He and my moms' two brother's are so skilled and can make anything happen...true HANDy men! We arrived and Grandma Hand had the fireplace crackling, the Christmas tree and garland's sparkling, and yummy Basque soup ready on the table. It was wonderfully cozy! I especially loved her COSTCO box of hot chocolate...mmm! Add some marshmallows, whipped cream and sprinkles and I am not going anywhere... except maybe to go play in the snow just so I can come back in and have MORE hot chocolate.

This was Lily's first time actually playing in the snow. She saw snow at age 1 visiting Grandma Pat's house in Utah but was too little to take advantage of the fun it offered. Daisy really just didn't seem to care. She touched the snow and then decided it was too strange and cold to touch again. Grandpa cleared an inner-tubing (or is it inter-tubing?)run with his tractor right next to the cabin and then we made our own trails down through the pine tree's. Check out the pure joy on Lily's face! I believe we ALL felt like little kids again.

Next up came building the snowman. Sean wasn't too proud of it but Lily thought it was the coolest thing ever. She insisted his name wasn't Frosty but Dottie-dot. Who knows where she came up with that one.

This all took place on Christmas Eve and just when we went in for the day the storm came. It was a miracle Santa made it that night because we were snowed in like no other. I am still super sore from shoveling that stuff! Here is G&G Hand checking out their deck (a.k.a. 3rd fridge) covered in at least 4-5 ft of snow. My Grandma can pack a fridge so tight that as my dad says, "you can't even fit a slice of baloney in it," and she has two of them there! So we kept a few food items out on the deck, hence our 3rd fridge. My mom went out there with a broom and uncovered milk, whipped cream and a turkey! I must say snow keeps Dr. Pepper just the right temperature."Is that Santa out there Ted?"

Fun with Punkin (my dad), Great Grandma Hand, and Molly's dog bone...yuck!


And of course leave it to my dad and Sean to unveil the mistletoe! I just love my parents!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve! After opening one present, scattering reindeer food (oats and glitter) outside and putting the milk, cookies, and chips out for Santa, we read "The Night Before Christmas" and got the girls to sleep. I immediately got to work on the stockings and a treasure hunt for Lily, hot chocolate by my side of course!

Annual Church Party

December 13, 2008

Our church Christmas party menu consisted of tri-tip, homemade spaetzle (German noodles), pomegranate salad, and every dessert imaginable. So yummy! The decorations were fantastic (especially for a ward party) and the program was enjoyable. The girl who sang Mary's Lullaby brought tears to my eyes. After having children I feel I have a teeny-tiny glimpse as to what Mary was going through that night and in addition to giving birth, she did so in such meager, raw, circumstances and of course to the Savior of mankind! Whew, what a woman! I was just truly touched. This is one of my favorite paintings by Simon Dewey depicting that instant bond and love of a mother for her child. When Santa's bells started ringing at the end of the program, Lily bolted up and was the first one in line to see him. Her request...a digital camera. That was it. Amazing what 3 year olds are asking for these days! I believe the camera has already been taken care of thanks to Aunt Jerianne. Great! Less work for Santa!

I made Lily go sit on Santa's lap a second time so I could get "the picture". Daisy was so beyond bedtime!

Genius me didn't think to get the wonderful Christmas decorations in the background. This could have been our Christmas card picture, Darn it. So here we have the lovely building walls and door in the background instead. I guess it's a little late to send out Christmas cards anyway. Don't be upset if you get a Christmas email instead of a card this year. :)

6 More days until Christmas!

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

If only you could hear the snorting and blowing that accompanies these expressions. My friend Sarah captured these pics at her Birthday breakfast (thanks Sarah). Check out the gnarly top teeth coming in. Ouch! No wonder she hasn't been sleeping! Perhaps a face only a mother could love but we were all cracking up because she would do it when we asked her to.

The breakfast was cut short because our friend Karey was at the hospital having twins and I needed to go pick up her mother-in-law and get us there in time for the delivery.

Now, these are faces ANY mother could love! They are so beautiful! I felt so honored to be there! Congratulations Karey and Linz!

Daddy Daughter Adventures

Sean loves to take Lily out exploring and Lily of course adores her time with daddy. Last week they went along the coastline to check out the massive 15 ft. swells we were having. They came home with these pics. Sean is quite the photographer.
The sun setting at Garrapata Beach.

I admit I enjoy my alone time with Daisy when Sean and Lily are away. Daisy is so, so busy and currently LOVES the stairs. She has awesome toys all over the floor, crawls over them, and heads straight for the stairs (as well as the electrical cords). Why is it that they always want to explore what can hurt them???

"Who me?"

This really is such a fun stage, despite the waking up every 2-3 hours at night, she laughs all the time and makes the cutest faces. My favorite is when she scrunches up her lips and nose and blows in and out of her nose. She thinks it is so funny and has done it since she was a few months old. It looks especially cute when her 4 little teeth can be seen. I will post a picture of her in action soon.