Happy Holidays in California

The ride out to California this year was pretty nice.  Beautiful weather, little complaining, short breaks (Mike liked this the most), and Laina didn't start crying until the last 45 min.
Mike and Craig spent most of the first two days we were there finishing the cork floor that had been ripped up during our summer visit.  It looks beautiful and Mom was so excited to have it finished.

On Christmas Eve we went to see the lights at the Oakland Temple.  This temple will forever hold a special place in my heart, it is the one I looked at while growing up and especially because it is where I was married.

Christmas morning brought loads of presents and very happy children.

Aria and her new Unicorn Pillow Pet from Santa.  

Laina playing some tunes.

The Lego Boys

Michela with her new hat and iPod Touch Case.

Some reading material for Mike

A new jacket for me

 We had plenty of time to open up presents, let them play with them for a little while, and then got ready for church.  When we came home we had a delicious brunch with Mom, Craig, Tiff, Steve, Shannon, Jaxon, Peter, and Uncle Russ.  Tiff made a yummy frittata and the best orange rolls and cinnamon rolls, I made a cream cheese french toast casserole I found on Pinterest, and Mom had plenty of fruit on hand.
After stuffing ourselves the adults went for a little walk down in the Blake Estate Gardens while the kids stayed at the house and played.  It was like old times when Steve climbed the fence and opened the gate for us.  We had the place all to ourselves.  It was fun sharing our adventures with the rest of the family.  Kurt's family came down in the afternoon and the kids were excited to play with their cousins.  More presents were opened and the house was full of laughter and love.  Somehow we still had room for a dinner that night with grilled chicken, asparagus, jello, salad, and garlic bread.  Of course Mom had made frozen lemon pie and frozen raspberry swirl pie for dessert.  Yum!

On Monday the boys went golfing while Shelley and I took the kids to see a movie.  "Arthur Christmas" was a big hit and I think that will be one we'll be watching next year.  At the movies I ran into Mr. and Mrs. Morrish, the parents of one of my childhood best friends.  I always seem to run into them every Christmas.  It was fun to hear about Jennifer and see how she was doing.
Tuesday was a day to relax.  We took a walk up to the school so Hunter could fly his new helicopter and the kids played and ran around.

On Wednesday we drove out to the La Fayette Reservoir and had a fun walk with Shannon and Jaxon.  Then we drove out to Concord for lunch and a trip to the Build a Bear Workshop.  Grandma treated all of the grandkids to a animal of their choice.  They all came away with some pretty cute new toys.

Thursday was Aria's 5th birthday.  We spent the day in San Francisco with Tiff.  Unfortunately Chase was sick so he and Laina stayed home with Grandma.  We rode BART over and walked up to Union Square, through Chinatown, and over to Little Italy.  In Chinatown we checked out all of the little shops, bought some fun souvenirs, "toured" the Fortune Cookie Factory (it's one room with three old ladies at machines), bought some fortune cookies, and grossed out at the open markets with all of their weird sea food and hanging ducks.

The Gate to Chinatown

Hunter checking out the swords

In Little Italy we stopped for lunch at The Calzone.  Wow, we had some good food that day.  Then we stopped for Gelato and Mike found a little Italian bakery where he purchased cookies and pastries.

Mmmm, Gelato.

After that we walked down through the Financial district and hopped back on the BART and headed home.

The Trans America Building

On Friday Tiff and I met up with our friends Ann Michelle and Sharon.  We went to this little restaurant called Quince for lunch.  Heavenly food!  I got the Blueberry French Toast and Hot Chocolate.  I tried a little of Tiffany's Spinach Mushroom Omelette, and we all shared the Herb Fries.  We had fun reminiscing, exchanging presents, and just having a good time.  Later that night Sharon and her husband Lucio came over to visit.  Sharon is such a crack up, I forget how much fun it is to be around her.
On Saturday we packed up and got in the car for the long ride home.

Again beautiful weather, but with a coughing Chase it wasn't as much fun as the drive out.  I felt horrible too and was in and out of sleep for most of the drive.  Laina did pretty good, but she started screaming about an hour away from home and didn't stop.  She totally leaked through her diaper in Wendover.  We couldn't get to her suitcase, but luckily Michela had a shirt in her backpack.  We through the "dress" on Laina, pulled her jacket on over it and braved Arby's for dinner.  She looked like such a funny little kids walking around in that big ol' t-shirt.

We had a great trip with the family.  I love going out to California for Christmas every year.  We always have such wonderful time relaxing, hanging out with family, and enjoying the milder California winter.  Thanks for the wonderful time Mom!!

I Love to See the Temple

"As We touch the temple, the temple will touch us."

President Thomas S. Monson

We had a wonderful primary activity today. We took all of the primary kids to the Mt. Timpanogos temple for a special day. The kids were all in their Sunday best and we had a nice reverent spirit with us.

We split up into groups and the groups went to different stations. My station was, of course, singing primary songs while each child got their picture taken with the temple in the background. The next station was two new Young Women who were talking about doing baptisms for the dead. Then they went to a station where a young married couple talked about their wedding day and how special it is to be married in the temple. Then another group went with the Primary President and walked around the temple. She told them the story of President Snow when he told his granddaughter about seeing the Lord in the Salt Lake Temple. They then were able to go in the foyer and touch the temple walls and doors. What a sweet experience for them at this tender age.

I took the opportunity of being at the temple to take a few pictures of my kids. Here is Michela out in front by some beautiful flowers.

Hunter looks so tall and grown up by one of the pillars.

Chase is such a handsome little guy all dressed up in a shirt and tie.

Aria was being a little stinker about getting her picture taken so I snapped a shot when she wasn't looking.

I hope our kids remember this day. I always loved going to the Oakland temple as a child and I loved the feeling I felt there. The temple grounds are always so beautiful and it is so peaceful. There were a lot of weddings going on and the kids liked watching the brides and grooms walking around taking pictures. Aria kept saying, "Mom, there's another princess!"

Draper Temple

On Monday we were finally able to go to the Draper Temple Open House.  We had reservations for two Thursdays ago but I ended up getting the stomach flu so we had to adjust our plans.  We had a bit of a wait, I think all the other Alpine School District students were there with their families as well.  Aria kept asking when we were going to ride on the bus.  The only pictures we got were while we were waiting and on the bus.  By the time we got out of the temple is was very cold and starting to snow.  We tried to get a look at the temple by driving up past it and over the mountain but the fog was so thick we could hardly see ten feet in front of us!

 

The temple was beautiful!  I couldn't believe all the amazing detail and construction.  Of course Mike couldn't talk enough about the carpet and woodworking.  :)  The kids all loved the baptismal font with the oxen and the super blue water.  Hunter and Michela loved the chandeliers in the celestial room and the sealing room we were in.  They kept asking if they were made of diamonds.  Aria loved the bus ride and the cookies, well we all loved the cookies.  I loved all of the beautiful artwork displayed and the murals in the ordinance rooms were gorgeous. It's a smaller temple so it felt very cozy, almost like being in a house sometimes.  I got a bit choked up in the sealing room as we all sat there together as a family.  This was such a special way to spend the day as a family.  I was so impressed with the kids' reverence throughout the temple.  And the best part was feeling such peace and comfort while we were there and seeing the same feeling in the faces of my children.