Christmas part 5

I am thinking I should have thought of a more creative name for these post, but I am still kinda of tired from all that Christmas partying.

Christmas day was pretty low key at our house. We had opened all the gifts the night before. It was Saturday which is one of Gunnar's bigger work days, and we were going out of town the next day so we really didn't have time for much. Most of the day was spent cleaning, doing laundry and packing. We did take a little break in the afternoon to take a walk. My birthday/Christmas gift was a new double jogging stroller, and with the bad weather we hadn't been able to try it out before then.

We went to Harbor Island or maybe Shelter Island, I can't really tell them apart. The girls seem to enjoy their new ride, except for their noses got a little cold towards the end.
It was however, a beautiful day for a beautiful walk, with my wonderful family. The best Christmas gift a girl could want.

Christmas part 4

Another one of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is the service at our church. There is a Christmas Choir, Gunnar speaks, we get to hold candles. It is especially neat, I think, that the last two years have been packed, especially since the first year had very few people. I think there were more people this year in the Christmas Chior than were at the whole service the first year.

Grace enjoyed holding the candle. Although after a little bit she said she was scared it was going to burn her and she gave it back to me.
After the service we took some family pictures. Unfortunately, Elizabeth had already fallen asleep. It is hard being a baby!

Christmas part 3

The whole week leading up to Christmas had been rainy and cold. Christmas eve, however was sunny and beautiful. Since we didn't really have enough room in the house, we decided to have our traditional Christmas Eve dinner on the porch.

While we were waiting for some of our guest to arrive, we opened a few gifts, as Grace had been on the edge of her seating waiting to open some.
Maria got new Christmas footwear from Gunnar.
The girls got to open some gifts from a sweet lady from out church.
Ellie got a new squishy baby...so sweet.
Finally our guest got here and we baked in the sun while we ate.
Elizabeth and I got the bright side.
After eatin we went inside and opened gifts. Gunnar got the Snuggie from Sonja.
The girls were thrilled with the present opening frenzy.

In typical child fashion, Elizabeth thought all the paper was as fun as the gifts.
Grace got a tea set from my parents. She proceeded to invite her aunts to a tea party.
And a few pictures before everyone left.

With Aunt Sonja:
With the Hiltons:
And with Grandpa Dick. This one is my favorite, as Elizabeth was too busy talking on her shoe phone to stop for picture taking time. :)
We had a great time together. Christmas Eve dinner with the family is always one of my very favorite Christmas activities!

Christmas part 2

Gunnar was invited to read scripture at a Christmas program at the Escondido Center for the Arts. It was big events with tons of people. We got their early and were able to snag some box seats. The girls enjoyed the music and Gunnar did a great job on his reading.

There Gunnar is on stage. The lighting makes him look a little angelic, I think.
You could tell it was a big deal, as Gunnar broke out a tie!
Grace, who loves the theater, was super excited to be able to go back stage. She even asked Gunnar to take a picture of her so he could put it on his facebook.
After the program we went out to Starbucks with some friends. We like to live by the rule "the family that drinks Starbucks together, stays together."
Our friends Karaline and Emily went with us as well. Grace loves Emily very much and Emily is a sweet girl who is always super nice to Grace.
Let more Christmas fun continue tomorrow........on the blog, that is.

Christmas Part 1

We had a nice Christmas week. We kicked off our Christmas celebrations with Christmas early dinner at my mother-in-laws. As always, there was tons of delicious food, gifts, lights and all the regular Christmas jazz.
This was the first time Elizabeth seemed to enjoy the gift experience. It was very cute, and she walked around carrying her sweatshirt.

I'll post our second Christmas dinner tomorrow.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do

When the house needs cleaning, and food needs cooking, what do you do with a trouble making one year old?

Well, if you have a giant box and some crayons, that will do nicely!

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was a few weeks ago. I turned the big 2-8. Actually, I am not sure that is considered a big birthday at all. And unlike last year, I am feeling much more encouraged about my age. Either because I got all the "I am getting so old" mourning out of the way last year or becuase I am getting more sleep (Thank you, Elizabeth!), but I am happy to report, it was much less traumatic than last year.

What I was bummed about, however, was the fact that I had some health problems the week before my birthday and had been bed ridden for a week. Consequently, we had to cancel our plans to fly to San Francisco for the day. I had been really looking forward to visiting with our nephew and his sweet new bride. But, after having been in bed for a whole week, I just didn't think it would be wise to push it. Instead, we pretended to be tourist in San Diego for the afternoon. It was a much shorter day and I had the option to go home at any point if I wasn't feeling well.

Gunnar and I hadn't had a date day in a while, and we had a great time. We walked along the bay.

We both love sushi, but as it is kinda expensive, and not really child friendly, we don't eat it very often. It was nice birthday treat though.

At Horton Plaza they have a great giant chess set where you can play games. Gunnar beat me, but in my defense, he has played a lot more chess than I have, especially in the last 10 years (since I have played none). Besides that, a fun fact: someone somewhere studied SEALS and said that the two factors most likely to help you to make it were if you were a waterpolo player and good at chess. Keeping that in mind, I really didn't stand a chance. Although Gunnar did say he thought I "had a mind" for chess, but I never played enough to get good at it. So I took the complement, and I did have fun playing.
After that we made our way back to the car. I enjoyed the art along the boardwalk. Gunnar doesn't really like to get into art like I do.
Having a December birthday has a few drawbacks, and as a kid I always wanted a summer birthday. I always thought it would be so fun to play outside on my birthday. So I kinda felt like God gave me my wish that day. It was in the 80's and hot and BEAUTIFUL. I love San Diego!
On the way back to the car, I was practically giddy with excitement, from being out of the house, without my kids, with my husband, for a whole day! I jumped in some leaves to hear them crunch, just for fun. Gunnar thought it was funny and took a picture. He also, without my knowing, took a video, but I am not okay with that ever seeing the light of day. :)
When we got back to our car, the sun was starting to go down. A beautiful end to a beautiful day!