Christmas tree

Having barely digested our Thanksgiving turkey and potatoes, and having been bitten by the spirit of Christmas, we decided to get a Christmas tree this year. We debated whether or not to get a live one, and after a vote of 2-1 in the house, we went and got a live one. After installation the opposing vote reconciled and accepted the wonderful smell and atmosphere that only a live tree can bring into your home. Our neighbor friend came over and helped us decorate. Natalie was so excited to have a tree and to get into the Christmas spirit. We listen to Christmas tunes and kissed under the mistletoe. (Now Natalie always stands under the mistletoe and says "I'm under the mistletoe! I need a kiss!") Emily wasn't sure what to think and hasn't attacked the ornaments yet. She has tried to eat the needles that fell to the floor. It's still hard to believe that it's Christmas time, especially when you go to buy your Christmas tree in shorts and flip-flops. But once the decorations were all up, we started to feel the magic...

LEGOLAND!!!

Natalie has earned all her stickers on her obedience chart and for her prize we went to Legoland last Monday. Wow! It was a blast. It's the most fun this side of the grand canyon, almost on part with that D-land place. It was all for kids and all Legos; what could be better than that?! And mom and dad liked it a whole lot too. Anytime you can use your kids as an excuse to return to the halcyon days of youth is very much welcome in my book. It was awesome, with rides and places to play. Natalie had a really good time and we might have to go back here in the spring time (bounce back passes are great). Almost everything is made out of Legos and geared towards little kids. It was nice not having any packs of teenagers roaming around. It was all parents and kids enjoying themselves. Natalie did go on some of the rides, though once she got on she figured it was a little scarier than she had anticipated. She enjoyed them nontheless. So if you ever get a chance, go to Legoland (our check is in the mail for this free advertisment). And if you need someone to go with, we are always willing and available. LEGOS!






Here is an album of pictures you can browse of our trip to Legoland. Just click on the picture below and it will take you to the album.

Legoland

Head Shaker

We have some pretty silly little girls. Emily loves to eat at the table with us and smear her food all over her tray. She has learned to point and loves to shake her head (see video). And she's getting too fast for us to keep up.

Santa Ana Zoo

This week Mary and the girls took off to go see the monkeys at the Santa Ana zoo. They went with some of the sisters in the ward. It was a fun outing, though there's not much to see other than monkeys at this zoo. They did have their new merry-go-round up and running though. Natalie had a good time spending some time with mom. Afterwards they went out for ice cream which was Natalie's favorite part of course.

Corona Del Mar

Last weekend we decided to break from the stresses of life and head to the beach. We went down to Corona Del Mar beach (which in english is Corona of the Mar) down near Newport Beach. It was great times once again. Natalie and dad had to dig the traditional big hole. The waves were really small too so the girls got to go wading a ways out. Dad tried to go boogie boarding but the waves just weren't big enough. Emily donned her "I eat sand" shirt and did as it said. She was all over, feeling the sand with her fingers and then putting it in her mouth. We decided that it wasn't worth trying to keep her from eating it. She was really excited to see the seagulls (they came over to watch us eat lunch of course) and she wanted to crawl over and grab them. It was good to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. We need to do this more often...

Sisters

These two girls love to play together. Emily is always so excited to do whatever Natalie is doing. Natalie does well including Emily in what she's playing with. We can't believe how big these girls are getting.

The best Happy Face you've ever seen.

A ray of sunshine

Amidst all this political unrest surrounding the prop 8 decision, I have found a beacon of light and hope. This brought tears to my eyes, and warm sunshine to my heart. This reminded me what life is really all about. Enjoy.

Show and Tell

It's time to showcase Natalie! She loves to draw and color and paint and pretty much do all those things that all little children love to do. It's a shame to have all these pictures and not share them with everyone. She is getting better a drawing as well as coloring (the whole staying in the lines concept). She can write a few words, like "mom", "dad", and "natalie". She's got quite the imagination and draws the coolest people. The only thing I'm afraid, is that she's got the artist temperament; she tends to wig out when her drawings don't turn out right. I got after her the other day for freaking out when her house pictures wasn't turning out the way she wanted (there were tears, sniffing, pouting, and overall glumness) and Mary reminded me that I get that way too when my painting isn't turning out right. The curse of the artist.

Natalie wasn't sure what words she was supposed to put in the corssword puzzle so she just put in her own.

A picture of dad.

All Hallow's E'en (Part three)

Good gravy! We had a fun evening out getting free candy from strangers. We met up with three other families and their young broods and headed out to a nice neighborhood for a little treatin'. It was pretty exciting and all. We started out by heading over to our friends apartment complex for a little free pizza, then headed out for some desert. We tricked and treated for about two hours before we turned in for the night. Natalie enjoyed it immensely, and Emily slept half the time and the other half just chilled in the stroller chewing on a toy. Natalie was pretty excited to count her candy at home. Included are some action pics, as well as a video of Emily with her parrot hat on. Mary tried to capture her squawking like a parrot and only got one good one. It's loud though so you might turn the volume down a notch. She also shows her proficiency at playing the drum.

All Hallow's E'en (Part two)

Of course Halloween wouldn't be without a carved up pumpkin. Mary and Natalie hacked up our orange bulbous vegetable the afternoon of Halloween. Dad unfortunately had to work on illustrations so he couldn't help cut and scrape gooey pumpkin stuffs, but had a few moments to snap some pics of the ladies working hard. It was Natalie's idea to make it a moon and stars and even helped draw the design on the pumpkin. Then after we went treat and tricking, we lit it up to see what it looked like. Not too shabby! (Check out Natalie's scary face in the second-to-last picture)

All Hallow's E'en (Part one)

It seems that every year, depending on the friends we have, Halloween gets stretched out over more days than the traditional Eve of candy extravaganza. On Monday we headed over for a four-family get together for one of the wife's b-day celebration. It was good times with soup and salads and make-your-own sugar cookies in the shapes of pumpkins. The kids had a blast and the parents chilled and chatted. Natalie especially liked the cookie part.

Jus' Emily

Our little Emily is growing so fast, it seems like every morning we wake up and she has grown in the night. She loves to crawl around like speed racer and stands up everywhere she can. Her favorite place of late is on om's legs. She's starting to develop that all important attachment to mommy and mommy only. She gets sad when Mary leaves and is so excited when she comes back. She also loves to bite if she gets the chance. So really it's like having a puppy around the house.