unwinding

Last week was full of love, family, gifts and so much more. 

and though we enjoyed every minute

I was grateful to have a day with just us.

 to be able to relax, and take in God's beauty at the beach.

 to talk of this years events and looking forward to a New Year. With new goals in mind and reigniting old dreams. 

This day was much needed for all of us. 

Psalm 16:9 "My heart is glad and my glory rejoices, my flesh will REST in hope."

Holiday Happenings

Disclaimer: Lots of photos Ahead

Have the last couple of weeks been a whirlwind of events for you as well? Besides both my plumbing and water going out the weekend before Christmas which just happened to coincide with the weekend that Micah was out of town, everything was Fa-La-La-La-Tastic. 

Micah had flown out the weekend before to attend his sister's graduation for (drumroll please) her PhD.

 Way to go Kristi!

He flew back home with his parents which kicked off our Christmas week. There was lots of balloon making by Papa, snuggling with Jammie, a day at the beach and a night at Downtown Disney. Lots of relaxing and shopping in between. As always, their stay was way too short and we all enjoyed every minute spent together. 

Oh, and if you have a moment check out Elsie singing 12 days of Christmas while eating breakfast before taking them to the airport. 

After we dropped them off at the airport I had less than 24 hours to prepare for the Holiday weekend and all its festivities. The Quiggle's were coming over for our traditional Quigsor Christmas Eve. This tradition started because we were Next Door neighbors for five years and didn't see any reason to break tradition after we moved and still keep at it. Lots of laughs, tons of gifts and many cherished moments is what make traditions such as these awesome. 

The next morning was actually Christmas Morn, but almost forgot because I felt like we already had Christmas twice with the Ensors' and then the Q's. Elsie was so much fun and Vernon, well of course he had no idea what was going on but was so excited to open gifts nonetheless. No sooner than finishing breakfast and opening a few gifts from each other did my family show up with a truckload of gifts for all of us. At first I was overwhelmed but then realized they had brought gifts to us from my brothers and family in Michigan. Ok so I was still a little overwhelmed, but it was awesome!

Below is a video of Elsie waking up Christmas morn and opening her stocking

   

This video is of Vernon opening gifts. He was hilarious and would squeal every time we put something to unwrap in front of him. Pure joy this boy of ours.

Soon after opening gifts we all headed to my Aunts house for some more holiday cheer and got to catch up with my cousins and have my little ones blessed with more gifts from the Aunts and Uncles. It was a very full day of love and family!

Now its time to relax until the New Year weekend.

Happy Holidays!

Just what the Dr. ordered

This past Friday Micah and I hosted his office Christmas party at our home. This meant twenty or so people would be here donning their cocktail attire in a kid free zone. Since it was a company thing with no kids allowed, we knew we couldn't have our two babes toddling around either. This put us in a predicament seeing how the only people who have watched Elsie overnight has been my parents and besides one time when she was 11 months old it has only been at our house, where she is in her own bed. We have yet to leave Vernon unless it was after both of their bed times and snuck out for a coffee or a bite. This being said it was a really big deal to have my parents come and pick up both littles and keep them for the night. Like HUGE. Even up until the day prior I tried canceling the party because I was a bit uneasy about the whole thing. I was made comfortable with the whole thing knowing that my dad took Friday off of work. My parents were so excited to be able to have them both at their house for the evening.

The night was a success and though we missed them terribly we loved having the next morning and day to ourselves until they brought them back to us. 

 sadly, this is the only pic of me from the party, you can't even see the fab dress and shoes I'm rockin'

We woke up from a sound sleep and went to breakfast at our fave spot in San Juan Capistrano. Ramos House. I have mentioned this place on more than one occasion, but I mean it is honestly some of the best food we have ever tasted. 

We drove past this on the way to breakfast and Micah just about got into an accident when he saw it. I swear this made his weekend.

 Well rested and ready to eat

 this place is no joke

After eating, and taking our time doing so, we made our way to the beach and enjoyed the sand and the sound of the ocean waves until we just about fell asleep. Then we headed to Newport to shop for the last few items on our Christmas list. 

We came home to a quiet house and cozied up on the couch to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" while we waited in anticipation for my parents to bring the babies home. 

Just Plain Ugly

There was a gathering of sorts for my ladies bible study group last night. We are on a Holiday break until the New Year but our leader suggested we get together during December for a fun fellowship night during our six week break. It went from "Getting together at a restaurant" to "meeting up at one of the gals house". From "Just bringing yummy treats and a small devotion" to a full blown Potluck and Ugly Sweater party!
I was super pumped at first. I mean not only were visions of Sugarplums dancing through my head but ones of the perfect sweater I would find if I could make time to go thrifting.  Of course time did not permit and this momma started to panic as the week was approaching, that is until I remembered my Dearest Kate  and her hubby had worn horrible sweaters in a Christmas Card they sent out. Actually it was this card below from a few years back.

I know, hilarious! So in remembering this catastrophe (because let's be honest, who could forget this picture) I called her up to see if she had something I could borrow. She did. And it wasn't her sweater, it was the gay apparel Josh was donning.
I added a few more holiday pins and made some last minute fabric bulb earrings to complete the look. Oh and I know I'm channeling Winnie Cooper with the headband and bangs but I had actually attempted the bangs Kate is rockin' in her photo card and just couldn't get it to look right so just curled them under instead.

Look at the details on the sleeves! Are you kidding me with this thing?!

It's okay, you can laugh. No one could take me serious throughout the evening. Even when I was giving Micah some notes on the babes before heading out the door said, "I can't take you seriously right now, stop talking and just go." HAHA!

Have you attended an ugly sweater party this year? I love seeing pictures of what people find or create.

Caught the BUG

I literally just let out a big sigh knowing I have a few minutes to blog. It has been a bit crazy around here since Thanksgiving with both babies catching a virus of sorts. Whatever bug they caught wasn't pretty. It has been a nonstop SNOT-FEST over here. Not only has it been gross with all the green mucus everywhere but it has been exhausting to say the least. Of course right when the babies start to kick this thing after nearly TWO WEEKS, I wake up at 3:00 a.m. with a throat so sore I felt like I had swallowed hot coals. So now I caught the bug, and have literally been laying on the ground while my babies who apparently recovered and have more energy than the energizer bunny himself, have been crawling over me while I laid there like a slug. 

Despite being cooped up with the sickos the past couple of weeks we didn't let that stop us from getting into the Holiday Spirit. 

So here's some of the scenes from the past couple weeks. Oh and I have not one picture from Thanksgiving. Way to go me. 

I stole this wonderful new tradition from my girlfriend Jenn

Basically you wrap up 24 Christmas stories and each night the kiddos unwrap one for a new story to read each night. We are saving The Night Before Christmas for the Eve of. The one we will have them open on Christmas Day is a special book we have that tells the story of Jesus's birth and why we give gifts to show our love. 

So it is a Book Advent Calendar. I had about eight Christmas books on hand and then went to the library to check out 16 others. Micah and I wrapped all the books the last night of November so Elsie could unwrap her first on the 1st of December. She loves this, and gets so excited each night. Even more excited than opening the door on the Wooden House Advent Calendar that holds special treats each day. 

Micah surprised me with this Advent on Dec.1st 2005, the year we bought our first house and celebrated our 3rd Christmas together as a Married Couple. I love this advent and always anticipate what treats will be waiting for me behind each door. 

Greggy was here for a few weeks visiting from Michigan. We got to see him a few days during his stay and the babies loved every minute with him!

my little Grandma celebrated her 80th birthday. She isn't doing so well these days and her memory is starting to fade so we were grateful to be able to celebrate another birthday with her.

 on top of his cold our Bubs has been teething like crazy leaving puddles of drool wherever he goes. Kind of like a snail. HAHA! Thankfully his two bottom teeth have popped though!

 Hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful season, creating lots of new memories while continuing old traditions or starting new ones.