USS Midway ... San Diego

We left the day after Christmas for San Diego. It was the most AMAZING feeling knowing that we were taking a family vacation, and only driving 2 HOURS!!! We are used to the typical 6 hour drive to AZ and the 9 hour drive to UT. So 2 hours was EASY PEASY! :)

We went straight to the USS Midway aircraft carrier in the San Diego Harbor.

We got some headsets to listen to through our self guided tour. Jackson LOVED it! He was so into it and so interested in everything. Clara was a disaster... big surprise on that one. :) She just kept saying over and over... I want to go to the hotel, when are we done, I am tired, I am hungry, on and on and on. She can be soooo exhausting. 

 Scott and has a big chance of doing dental work on one of these things after he graduates, I kept saying to him, "Are you sure you can live on one of these things for 6 months?" .... Hmmmm.... it sure would be interesting.

 This was the dental area.

After we finished our tour, Jackson took his booklet that he filled out to the information stand, and he was awarded with his own set of wings. He was SOOOO excited, and did not take them off for the rest of the trip.

Christmas Morning

We woke up to giggles outside our door. This is what the kids found!

Mr. Jingle sure is wild for Christmas! He decorated the hallway with balloons and christmas caution tape. MY OH MY!

 I love this face of Clara's. She had this face all morning long! This is by far the BEST Christmas with her. Last year she was so overwhelmed, like, lay on the floor and forget about don't put one more present in front of her face overwhelmed. But this year she was SOOO fun to watch.

We had time for Santa's gifts, and then it was off to church. Don't these kids look darling in their Christmas outfits?!?

Jackson was 100% set on this Batman Castle. I tried sooo hard to show him other options, but NO WAY MOM, this is what he wanted. So Santa provided. And he loves it. :)

Scott and I gave the kids more of a "VACA TRIP". We had Jackson read the words...
SEA WORLD!

Sea toys to go along with it. Sharks for Jack. Pink dolphin for Clara. :)

I am pretty sure I cleaned this room every 10 minutes. But it always was a disaster. I kept wishing we had a fireplace to throw all the paper in to... or at least an empty trashcan. Too bad we missed the trash guy 2 weeks in a row before Christmas - BIG MISTAKE!

LOVED CHRISTMAS MORNING. LOVED WATCHING THESE TWO KIDS OPEN THEIR GIFTS AND SEEING THE BIG SMILES ON THEIR FACES. LOVED SKYPING WITH FAMILY. LOVED SPENDING THE DAY TOGETHER. LOVED LOVED LOVED EVERY SINLGE MINUTE OF IT.

Christmas Eve Night...

Not too far from our home is a neighborhood that goes ALL OUT with Christmas lights. It's insane, the streets are filled with people walking up and down, you can drive it in your cars, but from what I hear it  can take up to 2 hours to get through. The home owners have parties in their garages, have fires going outside, and sell hot chocolate popcorn and lots of other goodies. It is quite the scene. We took the kids Christmas Eve night and we chose to walk it. Our kids were so worn out, I think they could have cared less about it, Clara kept asking, "Mom, are we there yet?" And every time I explained to her that this was it... she just looked at me with a blank stare and would say, "I just want to go home, I am tired." Yep, she was exhausted. Oh... and it was 5:00 pm.

Here is one of the houses. Of course I forgot my camera, so this one came from the internet. But we saw this house, and if you look to the left of the picture, you can see a boy is playing Christmas music on a keyboard, with a jar for tips. :)

Once we were home we ran in to see if the Bed Fairy had come while we were gone. Sure enough our beds were covered with new pajamas. How the Bed Fairy sneaks in while we are gone, and manages to bring our pajamas with her is a mystery to me... I am pretty sure each door and window was locked. :)

We then skyped with cousins and opened all the cousin gifts. We do homemade gifts, so it makes it really fun to see everyone open and see all the excitement.

After ... After ... After ...

There is always something that comes after, right?

But really, after skyping we put out some Reindeer Food and glitter so Santa and the Reindeer would find out house no problem.

 Then we put out the cookies, milk, and carrots. My kids were A.D.D. by this time. I could not get them to focus on the camera at this point. They were done. Solid Done.

 And to finish the night off, we listened to the reading of the Polar Express while we looked the book.

And then we were done. Finally done. The kids were in bed and asleep within seconds. Scott ran out for a Diet Coke for the Mrs., and a Dr. Pepper for the Mr. We stayed up watching Friday Night Lights and played Santa. It was a great night.

Christmas Eve Day.

Christmas Eve morning was little hard. Scott and I were worn out, our kids were off the walls exhausted and crazy for Christmas to just be here already! They were asking every 10 minutes if they could open a present, and as soon as I said, you have to wait for Christmas -- it was full blown tears and tantrum. We needed to get out of the house ASAP... and lucky for us the weather was PERFECT! So we grabbed the kids scooters and headed out for a nice walk.

I used to think a Christmas without snow would not feel like Christmas at all. But after this perfect day... my kids getting their energy out, my man by my side, and Christmas coming the next day... I could do this Christmas every year.

Day 2 ... L.A. Temple

The Los Angeles Temple decorates with Christmas lights. It is nothing compared to the Salt Lake Temple, but still was great to go and take the kids. We started at the visitors center. Has anyone been recently? But wow... the technology was incredible!

This was a special room modeled after Jerusalem. There was a touch screen to pick what area you wanted to hear about, and then on a big screen it played parts of a movie with commentary. The kids liked it even though some of it was over their head. Scott and I loved it.

My parents were married in the L.A. Temple. It was fun to be here, and think about them and their wedding day... 33 (or somewhere around there) years ago.

Clara loved all the beautiful flowers. And running away and hiding from us. She thinks it is so funny when we can't find her.... Of course, it terrifies me. That girl needs a leash at all times.

We had a bit of time before it was dark, and a little time after the lights to drive around the Beverly Hills area. It was pretty awesome. All I remember was Scott saying over and over again... "Look at that car!", "I think it must be a requirement to have a Mercedes, BMW, and a RangeRover in your driveway.", "I have never seen so many nice cars all in one place!" So yeah - he was impressed by the cars. Me on the other hand, I was in awe at all the shops, the incredible homes, the beautiful tree lined streets, and perfectly cared for yards.

Christmas Break Begins!

We decided to stay home for Christmas Break. My emotions about it have been a bit inconsistent... :) BUT... we have a lot of fun things planned, and after today and knowing what we have coming up, I think I might end up "tear free" this year.

Today was our first official day of break. Both Jackson and Scott are out of school, hoo-ray!

For lunch we went to The Sand Witch in Upland. It is soooo good. For those of you out here, you have to try this place. It is a bit hidden and only open until 4 pm. We loved it.

After lunch we took the kids ice skating! I couldn't believe we were actually going to let Clara put ice skates on... she is already unstable on her own feet, and somewhat of a clutz... but she did it and LOVED IT! Of course Jackson was a pro. That kid has Scott's talents, basically he can do anything, and is good at it almost instantly. It can be really annoying... for someone like me that actually has to try at things.

The skating rink is FREEZING. Before we went, we were describing to Jackson how cold it would be... his response was, "Is it as cold as the cold room at Costco?" Yeah - that is the first thing he thinks of when it comes to cold temperatures. Ha ha.

But back to being cold while ice skating, we were so excited to come home to our Max Brenner Hug Mugs. These are so fun to hold, and not to mention the Hot Chocolate is delicious.
*Thank you Jenna & Dennis :)

Jackson: "Extra marshmallows please!"

After hot cocoa we did one of the funnest things that I am sure my kids will be asking for EVERY DAY for the next 4,376 days.

We brought their mattresses out to the front room, popped popcorn and watched The Polar Express. It was so fun, and I am sure this will become a new Holiday Tradition.

Mr. Jingle

This is Mr Jingle. He stays at our house during the day and keeps a close watch on how the kids are behaving. At night, once the kids are fast asleep, he flys to the North Pole and has a little chat with Santa.

Well, a few nights ago Scott and I went to a Christmas Party with some friends. There was a gift exchange and we got to take home a cute little goldfish. We thought it would be a great idea to have it look like Mr. Jingle brought them the fish. So we set it all up. Mr Jingle was holding this fishing pole with fish food next to him, and the bowl with the fish in it was in front of him.

So the kids woke up, and came straight into our room. We sent them looking for Mr. Jingle. Usually they laugh and think what he is doing, or where he is hiding is funny... but this time - it was silent. Scott and I listened from our bed, but still they weren't saying anything. So I asked...
M: Jack, did you find Mr. Jingle?
J: Uh - yeah.
M: Where is he?
J: On the counter...
M: What is he doing?
J: Well, there is a bowl with a fish in it...

Now Scott adds in...
S: Is the fish moving?
J: No.
S: Is it floating?
J: Yeah.
S: Is it upside down?
J: Yeah.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I was dying, I was laughing so hard I had to stuff the comforter into my mouth. This poor goldfish died overnight! I know goldfish don't last long, but I thought it would last long enough for my kids to enjoy a couple days of! Poor Jackson and Clara were soooo confused as to why Mr. Jingle would bring them a dead fish... !?!

Yeah... it didn't quite go as planned. Maybe another time Mr. Jingle will bring a chinese fighting fish... I am pretty sure those last forever.

The Living Nativity

Our church put together an amazing Christmas production on the Birth of Christ in Bethlehem. They created a mock street of Bethlehem with people that were dressed up and acting as if they lived at the time of Christ's birth. You could walk down the street and talk to the "actors" and they would tell you about what they did and what their life was like.

They also had a petting zoo with goats, sheep, rabbits, pigs, and a pony. My kids LOVED that.

At the end, they had a live performance of the Birth of the Savior. Speakers played music and read from the scriptures as Joseph and Mary acted out walking along the street asking for a place to stay. It went through the whole story of finding the stable, the shepherds, angels and wise men. It was incredible. My kids loved it, and for the first time I felt like Jackson and Clara really understood what happened and felt the importance of it. Clara was obsessed with baby Jesus and was so excited to go up and see him after the show (little did she know he was only a doll).

I love that my kids are starting to understand the true spirit of Christmas and not just Santa. It melts my heart to see their faces light up when we talk about Jesus and his birth.

Ryan, Clara, & Jackson in the stable where Jesus was born. 

This is my cute friend Lisa. I love her, she is so patient and has the sweetest spirit. I am a lucky girl to have her as a friend. 

Catwalk Style...

Oh Clara Clara Clara....

It's her way or no way.
She really has a mind of her own.
JEANS? No way. She hates them.
If you ever see her in anything but a skirt or dress... it's because they are all dirty.
She changes at least 3x a day.
She poses for pictures now. Hands on hips, one hip to the side. Eyes squinted. Half smile.
Hair? Oh wow... hair. She let's me do it more than she used to, but it's how she wants it. If she wants 10 different clips - she will get 10 different clips.

Although she looks more than ridiculous in almost every picture I have of her. I love it. I love that she is proud of what she wears, and what she looks like. She not only 'thinks' that she is beautiful but she KNOWS that she is.