Snow much fun!

Megan loved to eat the snow! I just hope it was all white and no yellow.


Daddy Daughter riding together.

Aunt Lisa, Ella, Megan,Aunt Ericka ,Ben.

Jaden getting ready to ride.

Aunt Lisa pulled all the kids around on the Four Wheeler, through grandpa's garden. She was the winner for the day , and not to mention an excellent driver. The swingset was still in place when the day ended.Go Lisa!

Aunt Lori,Jaden ,Laran

A ride with Grandpa Lewis.SO fun!

Cool Dude!

Megan and Daddy walking up the hill.

Megan going down the hill all by herself.

Good times!

We went to Utah the day after Christmas and stayed for a week. We were really excited to see our families & some friends. We haven't been for the holidays since Melissa's wedding ( 4 years ago). The kids loved the snow.!Megan loved eating the snow. Jaden got really good at sledding down the hill and going over the biggest bumps.He now wants to snowboard.We'll see. We played in the snow a lot and the kids loved it.I forgot how much fun sledding is.(thanks everybody). It just makes you laugh slidding down the hill and trying not to run into anyone walking up , there were some close calls. We had some good trains going but they broke ,oh well.We had some good times.We missed the snow queen(Aunt Trisha).

Christmas Day

Megan and her High School Musical Barbie car.


Jaden playing his Leapster



Lanie fell asleep with all the Chaos of packing for Utah


Lanie liked eating the bows.


Our best christmas gift this year!(lanie loo)


The girls in their matching snow hats.

The kids on Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas ! We love you tons!

We had a wonderful sunny Christmas in California! The kids were so excited about what Santa had brought them. Jaden got a skateboard( so he can fit in with all of his friends here!) and Pokemon cards and a mini Ipod and star war Lego's and leapster games.. Megan got a Barbie house and little pet shop toys and a pink leapster with a princess game.Lanie got a book and a phone and clothes from Santa.It was a fun day opening presents and seeing the kids faces light up. ( I was a little worried that it wouldn't all come together but it did.) Jaden kept saying this is the best day of my life! And it was a great day!

Christmas Eve

What sweethearts!




Lanie loved to grab everything!



The kids coloring before dinner.



Our yummy feast!






Lanie's First Christmas!



OOps this was in utah, more pics coming soon.

We had a lot of fun on Christmas Eve! The kids were way excited! We ate our Christmas "Feast" provided by our secret Santa. And then we opened our Christmas PJ's . And then we took the kids to Christmas tree lane.( it's a real name of a street) the whole street in decorated in Christmas lights.And we sang songs in the car and drank hot chocolate.Then we came home and set out cookies for Santa and feed his reindeer. And watched to movie elf. It was a fun night!

Oakland Temple Trip

We took a little family trip to San Jose the monday before christmas. It was fun , the kids thought they were in heaven staying in a hotel. At one point Jaden said I wished we lived here. After spending most of the day in a hotel while Ben took his test I was ready to leave.After Ben was finished We drove over to the Oakland Temple. We have wanted to go there since we moved here.So we made it a Family Home Evening night. It was a beautiful temple. I couldn't get over a palm tree decorated in christmas lights that cracked me up.( But I also havn't lived in Cali for very long)Anyways it was a fun night, and we got to see some amazing sculptures of christ in the Visitor Center.

Our Secret Santa

We had someone do the twelve days of Christmas to our family! It was the highlight of our day. Waiting to see what our secret Santa brought us. They were so generous and nice. The first day was a spiral ham, then two pies, and three sparkling cider. and the list goes on and on. They were so creative and we loved every minute of it. The kids tried so hard to find out who it was. But we never did catch them. Which made it more meaningful for Ben and I not to know who it was.SO a big thank you to that family who really made our first Christmas in California special. You will never know how much it mean to us! Thank you, thank you!!

Christmas Spirit

Our Christmas cuties!


Look at that face

I have had the hardest time getting into the Christmas spirit this year.I think just all the pressure of making it a perfect day and doing fun things with the kids to make it a special season was really getting to me.Then Jaden and Megan sang at the Nativity Festival. Our church puts this together every year here, and it was so cool. There were lots of nativities from all over the world. I wish I would of taken pictures of my favorite ones. The kids sang some wonderful Christmas songs .(and Megan loved her new sparkly dress.) Then I started to get in the Christmas mood , then I decorated the tree with Megan and she was so excited. It made me remember decorating the tree with my mom and loving every minute of it .I could hardly wait until Christmas. Then we had some pretty carolers come to our door that brought a tear to my eye. And we have been doing something different this year. Our friends gave us a Christmas scripture advent this year. You read a scripture and then listen to a song . With the days being so hectic and long it's been great to sit down and reflect on the real reason for the season.

So Much

Happy First Thanksgiving!



Megan is so sweet!

Waiting for the feast!

Cooking the Big Feast

I am so glad when grandma comes

Cousins are the best!

We have so much to be thankful for. I didn't want to pass up this chance to tell how much fun Thanksgiving was this year. We had a great time with my parents and did lots of fun things. Eating ,shopping,movies,eating,playing,going to Yosemite, laughing etc.. We are so glad they came to see us.We made some great memories. I am so thankful for families, and friends,Jesus Christ , and good health and a warm house to live in.(This is such a crazy time of year so I wanted to take a minute and reflect on our many blessings.)Happy Holidays!