California here we come right back where we started from

Monday, April 18, 2011

Christmas Tree.....Part 2

After the tree was all set up the decorating began.

Sawyer and Uncle Lance taking a break.

Uncle Lance helping Sawyer put the star on top.

Just a little adjustment

Hanging ornaments

So beautiful

I LOVE Christmas trees. I Love spending the day looking for the perfect tree. I want to open them all up and shake them down to see how they fall. Paul prefers to play Christmas tree lotto. Pick one and see what you get. Being back in San Diego and Paul being out of commission with his broken collar bone it was a lottery year. We got our tree at Costco this year. They had fresh cut noble firs delivered each day. The guys pulling the trees out of the truck were so kind. I told them I wanted the fullest, tallest tree they could find. They went through about 5 or 6 trees with me before I finally settled on one. They loaded it up in the car and off we went. We got it home and all set up, it was beautiful. So happy that we were winners this year in Christmas Tree Lotto.

Sawyer outside the truck of trees.

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Daniel and Lance putting it in the stand

Helping uncle Daniel tighten the screws

Helping Grammy open up the tree.

Uncle Lance.

Lights

Every year my sister and brother in-law cover their house in Christmas lights. These two spend days covering anything that will stand still. After they have worked so hard they invite family and friends over for the "house lighting ceremony." After a yummy dinner we all bundle up and head outside to see all their handy work. This really kick starts the Christmas season for us and we look forward to it every year!

Waiting to see the lights

Beautiful lights

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thanksgiving and a Little Bit of Christmas

We learned early on in our marriage that having two Thanksgiving dinners in one day was not the way to go. It was to hectic trying to get from one family to another on time and it was way to much food. We do Thanksgiving twice and its a wonderful way to really enjoy the holiday with both sides of our family. This year we had Thanksgiving with my family the day after Thanksgiving and it was great. We had great food, great company and a wonderful time just reflecting on God's goodness to us. We really have so much to be thankful for. My grandpa and his wife Betsy came for dinner. It was wonderful to spend time catching up with them and to watch them enjoy being with Sawyer so much. I was so busy with dinner and just enjoying my time with everyone I forgot to pull the camera out, so enjoythe few shots I got.

Ready to eat!

Grandpa taught Sawyer a new trick.

Grandpa, Betsy, Dad, and Paul.

Great Grandpa and Sawyer

Grandma and Sawyer cutting the pie.

The fam!

The weekend after Thanksgiving is when Christmas starts at our house. We pull out all our stuff and spend the weekend decorating and getting ready to enjoy the Christmas season as long as we can. My mom got Sawyer his own little tree and ornaments this year. We decided to let him open it and decorate after dinner. He had such a good time putting the ornaments on. He loved having a tree his size. It was so cute. Here are some pics of the boy with "his" Christmas tree.

Hanging the ornaments

Putting the star on top.

Daddy had to help a little.

So cute!!!

All lit up.

Every time we go to grandma and grandpa's house Sawyer and grandpa "divide." Sawyer really looks forward to this special time with grandpa. My dad takes all he change out of his pockets and he and Sawyer divide it up. Sawyer groups all the like coins together and then divides them into two piles. They each have their own piggy bank too. It really is so cute to see them together.

Sawyer dividing up the money.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving started out just like it always does. The guys up at the crack of dawn to play football in the annual Turkey Bowl, Val in the kitchen cooking, Pumpkin pie and raw stuffing for breakfast. A typical Thanksgiving for us. About 8 I ran out to take Nana some stuffing for breakfast. We had extended family in town staying at her house so I stayed a while to visit. We were having a great time catching up when the phone rang. It was Val calling to let me know that Paul had been taken to the emergency room with what they thought was a broken collar bone. So off I went still in my pj's to meet Lance and Paul in the emergency room. Paul and I sent the next 3 hours there waiting on x-rays and medication. It wasn't the ideal place to spend our Thanksgiving morning but what are you going to do.

He got released just in time for us to make it to the church for communion. Something our church does every year. The church is open for a few hours with all the pastors available for you to have communion with your family before the days festivities begin. It's a wonderful time for our family to be together and to remember what we are most thankful for before we are caught up in the hustle and bustle of the day ahead.

After communion we headed home for showers and to get ready to head up to Julie's for the day. We enjoyed a day full of family, delicious food and being thankful for all we have. As you will see we did get caught up in the day and the photo department suffered. Maybe next year i'll remember to slow down and savor the memories a little more. Happy Thanksgiving!