Merry Christmas

I got sick last week and decided to nix sending out the Christmas cards. They were pretty cute too! Darn. I've done them every year for 9 years now and I always enjoy getting the mail and seeing all the cute pictures from everyone. I'll do it next year though.

I've had a little doozy of a virus. I haven't had a bad ear infection ever in my life. But I got an ear infection, complete with eardrum rupture. Supposedly it is supposed to feel better once it ruptures, but it sure hasn't. I can't hear very well, lost my voice, etc. The upside is that I've been enjoying lots of movies, reading, etc since. I got Born to Run for Christmas. It has been a fun read. Makes you want to go out and run a 50 miler.

Monet's Lucky Injury

Monet is one of those kids who got her baby teeth really late. So it isn't so surprising that she's had to wait longer than most of her classmates to lose her teeth. At 8.5 years old, she's only lost four, and apparently that is just not enough. So she is extremely anxious when she finds a new wiggly tooth. She's been working on one of them for a couple months, but the darn thing just didn't want to come out despite her best efforts involving string, door slamming, and all kinds of other tricks she'd heard about.

So last Sunday, she accidently hit her mouth on Simone's head. Jared ran into the her room as soon as he heard her crying, but said that she was half crying/half smiling. A different tooth that wasn't even loose got knocked almost all the way out. She was hurt, but very happy at the same time! Elise pulled the dangling tooth out. And five minutes later, I pulled the loose one out.

She was a VERY happy kid to have two teeth to leave for the tooth fairy in one day. This is a girl who LOVES money.

Before: (pointing to the loose one)

After:

Girls Night Out

We love going to shows at the Hale Theater in Salt Lake and Orem. I love how close the stage is to all the seats, and I think they do a great job. Some of our favorites were: All Shook Up, Aida, The Importance of Being Earnest, Singing in the Rain(and it was so fun to know Murphy, the star of the show), and The Three Musketeers.

A few weeks ago I took the girls to see The Scarlet Pimpernel. Kelli and her girls, and Grandma G also came and made it a really fun girls night. This was one of my favorite books ever, and I was not disappointed at all in the show. It was a fun night!

Thanksgiving In Sunny California

We had so much fun in California this Thanksgiving. It was perfect timing. I was NOT ready for cold and winter. I love fall, and I love mild November days. But I was not ready to face snow yet. So we got the perfect break. Although it kinda made me wonder why we ever moved back to Utah. California is so beautfiul and smells so good too. The air has a peppery smell from all the different trees. They even built a Trader Joes across from our old apartment. I'm jealous! No wonder 3 million people want to live in Orange County alone. If everyone would just leave already, we'd go back for sure. ;) I guess I can always visit. I love the beach, the radio stations, the diversity, the shopping, food, landscape, AND tons of family. I love it there.

The first day, we hit the beach. All the locals told us it was soooo cold. Tell that to my kids. Sun, sand, water--they were going swimming. No matter what the thermometer said. We had lunch on the Pier at Ruby's with Nana and Papa. It was a beautiful day at the beach, even if it was a little chilly.

We loved visiting the San Diego Zoo. The only Zoo I've ever been to is the Hogle Zoo. So it was really fun to see so many new animals. We loved seeing the pandas especially. Simone really liked the flamingos. There were tons of animals there. It was great to be there with Chandice and Cameron and their cute kids.

Thanksgiving was great! We ate so much, Jared gained 8 lbs. For real. All that good food was heavenly and worth every bite. And it was so fun to be with the family. Especially all the little girl cousins running around with Simone. Miles loved hanging out with Kobe--the cool "big" cousin.


The kids had a great time playing with Rocky Road, Nana and Papa's Shih tzu. And the player piano was super cool too. They've gotten a lot of mileage from that thing with the grandkids. My kids love their house because they get to swim, watch lots of tv on the BIG screen, eat yummy cereal, play with the dog, and they have TONS of toys for all the kids. They especially like this Crocodile Dentist (think Christmas). Here is Monet and Papa playing Sihlouette.

Friday morning the girls and moms all went to see Tangled, and Jared and Papa took the boys to Megamind.

We spent Saturday in Santa Barbara with my mom. She's remodeling a house for her friend there. Santa Barbara has to be the most beautiful city ever. You have mountains AND the beach. Even though it really was chilly, it was late November afterall. City Hall was just amazing. I love the Spanish influence. We got to see the fish hauled in from the pier, and have a great Mexican dinner with my mom and her friend Michael.





The long drive home got a lot better this trip. We sold our Expedition that we bought from Nana and Papa back in 2003, and bought their Escalade that they bought when they sold us their Expedition! We loved having four wheel drive in the blizzard we got caught in on the way home. The kids were SO excited to have a new car. Heck, we drove a rental car down there, and they even loved the rental car. Miles takes one look at the Sebring we rented and says, "It's a Ferrari!" I loved being able to read I am the Messenger the whole way home while Jared listened to basketball. Nothing beats a road trip.