Disneyland 2012

We finally took our family to Disneyland!  That was the big present for Christmas and January was a great time to go.  We left a day early so we could spend a little time with our BFF's the Whites.  The weather in Utah was beautiful and we had a great time with them even though one of our kids and one of their kids were sick.

 We met up with the rest of my family in Las Vegas.  It was interesting.  Geoff (my little brother) likes to dress up weird so here is his outfit while we ate at the buffet:

 Once we got to Cali- we went straight to the beach- which was frrrreeezing!

 But still fun- we walked out on the pier and ate lunch at Ruby's diner

 My sister-in-law, Adrian and her little girl Landri took a little break to pose for a picture.

 There was a great playground at Newport beach so the kids climbed and climbed.

 All of the grandkids with Nana and Papa

 Disneyland and California Adventure were so much fun!  The kids loved looking at everything and were great sports about going on most of the rides.  Simeon got a little traumatized on Tower of Terror (he's a little young) and Olivia was freaked out but not completely traumatized.

 Jayda pretty much stayed away from anything that resembled a roller coaster.

 The lego store was a huge hit for the boys.

I think Indiana Jones was the favorite ride for most of us.  It was awesome to have my parents and my brother and his new wife to help, as well as my other brother and his family to play with my kids.  It really is the happiest place on earth! 

Armadillo baby hat...

I have so many friends having babies in the next few months, I thought I'd find a new baby hat pattern to make for each of them.  I fell in love with this hat pattern the minute I saw it- the pattern can be found here.  It totally reminds me of an armadillo.  The biggest thing I like about the hat (besides that it's quick and easy to make) is that it will stay on a baby's head while they are in their car seat, it also covers up little baby ears so they stay warm.

I'm making 5 more hats in different colors- I'm in knitting heaven!

Christmas surprises

Christmas morning the kids woke up around 8:00 and were so excited to see what treasures Santa brought them- they patiently waited at the top of the stairs until we said it was okay for them to come downstairs.

 The biggest gift this year was a biggie for our family: Disneyland here we come!  The kids each got a Mickey t-shirt and a fun disney bag to store things.

 They all got new slippers 

 And the holiday wouldn't be complete without at least one injury.  Simeon felt like he could fly and decided to try it- he jumped from the top stair all the way to the bottom (11 stairs) and had a little crash landing on his head.  We are lucky it was just a goose egg and not a concussion.

 My dad got all the older kids their own ukeleles- Olivia taught them two songs to play and they gave us a concert- sooo cute!

 One little member of the audience wasn't so impressed.

I love that the kids love music and are trying to learn new things- how fun if they all practice and can play together.  We had a full, blessed Christmas and I felt so grateful for all that I have and the amazing people in my life.  I am constantly reminded of the amazing gifts and blessings that these kids are and how much fun they are to be around.  For Christmas I got things that make me seem old: a tea kettle and some new sweats- it's all I wanted!

Twas the night before Christmas...

We had so much fun this year on Christmas Eve.  We had a lovely and delicious dinner where everyone got their own artichoke to dip in butter and we had yummy Cioppino (fish stew),  and creme brûlée for dessert.

 Sweet Simeon decided he needed to get dressed up for the evening.  After dinner we went on a walk to look at the lights around the neighborhood- we only made it about half a block because it was fffrrreezing!

 The kids got to open their one present of the night (pajamas of course)

 It was so fun to have Geoff and Sam join us on the first Christmas together.

 The jambes fit great and looked adorable and Olivia finished off the night with a song on her ukelele.

Some Homemade gifts

I do a few homemade gifts every year and try to have my girls do the same.  This year they both decided to make gifts for their Grandmas.  Jayda decided to make these no-sew coasters- she had a great time using the hot glue gun and she cut out all the shapes by herself.

 Olivia decided to do some embroidery and put the last initial of each Grandma on a flour sack towel.

 Both projects turned out great and both Grandmas loved their new gifts (of course)