The Christmas Morning Surprise

After the girls had opened up all the presents from Santa and each other, and received many wonderful things on their list- we informed them that Dad and I had a big surprise present waiting for them down stairs.! Oh, my goodness, the excitement on their faces.The girls couldn't wait to take them for a spin, so, while we should have been getting ready to attend church, we let them go outside and take some test drives- it WAS Christmas after all!!!

Enjoy!!



I think this was the their best Christmas so far!!

Illumination...

Can you believe that Christmas comes tonight? I am SOO excited for the arrival of Santa, the girls are going to go out of their minds with all the good things he has in store for them- I only hope I can get it documented well on film!!!
In preparation for the holiday my days have been filled with many joyous things, including much shopping, gifting to neighbors, friends and teachers, School sings, class parties, going to see the new Chipmunk movie with the girls, making gingerbread houses (completely complicated by the way!!), making little girl holiday skirts (another post when I get the time), and finally getting the girls up to Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square. Do you know that we have never taken them before? Sadly it is true!! In our defense, every year we get snowed out, or we drop into an intense deep freeze with dense fog. But this year, it was meant to be! With clear sky's and the air only dropping into the mild 20's, we made it!!!I must add how wonderful these girls of ours were!! Not a complaint in the bunch, they walked the entire time, and loved all the beauty that was unfolding around them.My skills as an extremely low light photographer are lacking to say the least. However, by putting on my new 50mm fixed lens (thanks Paul for the birthday present, LOVE IT) which lets in more light and bumping up the ISO we were able to get some keepers.Did you go to a lights display this year? I love this outing, we listened sang our hearts out to Christmas music all the way up and all the way back home. Then we tucked the girls into bed with gentle smiles on their lips and quietly made our way downstairs so I could snuggle in with my Paul and watch "Christmas Vacation"- a tradition around here!Merry Christmas everyone- I hope it is Merry and Bright!!

Thanks and lots of giving

As with all vacations that I take, it has set me back a bit in the regular schedule and routine. I feel as though I have been running around like a crazy chicken for the last week! However, I made the goal to post up about our wonderful trip to California for the holiday BEFORE it hit December on the calendar- as you can see, I failed! Still, never one to give up, here we go!!

We spent 8 glorious days with the Wilson cousins on the west coast- the girls had not seen them in such a long time, but they jumped right back in the friendships like they hadn't missed a day. It was delightful to see the new friendship between Carter and Eva grow into something quite sweet. They played so well together all week. It didn't take long for them to discover their mutual love for cars and all things with wheels, it made them close pals the entire week. I so wish I had taken a picture of them playing together!!

Thanksgiving day was so relaxing and fun- the turkey was the most juicy, moist and delicious bird I have had in a long time. The sides were divine, and the pies, well lets just say I ate WAY too much but didn't care a bit!
The weather was perfect, usually we get rained out this time of year, but last week- it was near 80 degrees the entire time and it made for several afternoons spent in their pool and hot tub, hiking the beautiful hills by their home to a pretty waterfall, taking each others family pictures, and an afternoon at the Santa Barbra Zoo, (Don't you just love watching Giraffe's while overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the background!)

and no trip to California is complete without a palm tree lined beach day filled with running in and out of the surf amid wails of delight!
We are so thankful for our family- especially ones that will let us crash in their home and completely take over their schedule and lives!! We were all so sad to leave and say goodbye again, Olivia was dropping her famous Crocodile tears as we drove out of sight. Thanks Wilson's for being so giving and making our holiday spectacular!! We miss you already!!

Another great part of our visit -coming home with tons of gifting ideas. Let my procrastinator shopping begin!!