Christmas Festivities

Oh hooray! Matt is done with his finals and we can really start enjoying all the fun holiday festivities around us! Last Saturday we went with some friends down to the Christmas lights boat parade in Marina Del Ray. It was chilly but we had so much fun!

Then Tuesday we hit up Disneyland! It is even more magical at Christmas! We got there a little before one in the afternoon and left a little after ten! Wow! It was a big day and Crew was awesome! He is getting more into the rides and the parades were a big hit! I am also convinced that Matt makes Disneyland more magical too! Crew loved having his dad there and whenever I asked him who he wanted to ride with him he never hesitated before responding "daddy!"

The poor kid didn't take a nap all day but as we were waiting for the parade to start about 6:15 he totally zonked! We let him sleep until the parade started so we was a little out of it at the beginning of the parade. He probably thought he was dreaming! But he was alert enough to shout out "Mickey Mouse" and all his other favorites as they came along.

If you ever get a chance to go to Disneyland around Christmas I totally encourage it! I especially love the castle and we had to stay until at least 9:30 so Crew could see his first fireworks show. He is still a little scared from the fire next door to my parents and got really nervous when he saw smoke. But we expalined it was safe and by the end of the show he wasn't saying "all done" anymore! He was a trooper and we had a really great day! This really is the happiest place on earth!

The Age of Reason

It has happened. Crew has reached the age of reasoning. Gone are the days where I decided for him what he eats, what we do all day, when he sleeps and so much more. For a while now I have been able to "persuade" him to do what I want with limited choices. But he is much harder to trick these days. One example: We haven't had swimming lessons the past couple weeks because of all the holidays and so he has been asking me often if we can go to the pool. Well, today is suppose to be a warmer day so I told him we could go swimming after his nap. He went down really well and was quite in his room for about 5 or 10 minutes then called for me. I went in and he said "awake now, pool."


Fortunately, having a personality makes him even more fun even though it can be challenging too. We have done a few fun things lately. Crew and I went to Disneyland on Monday and by far his favorite thing there was driving the cars at Autotopia. He is constantly telling me he wants to drive my car so this is a real treat that he can actually drive.

We haven't been to the beach for a little while but here is a pic from our last trip. What a cute face.

We have been to the Glendale Americana with the Copples a couple times this month to see the lights and enjoy the "snow." That place is so beautiful! Don't mind the freaky vampire in the background!

The Copples minus Drew in the stroller

One day when Crew decided he didn't need a nap, we finally decided to watch the Grinch at about 4 in the afternoon. It didn't take long for me to look over and see him totally out. I looked at him sleeping with the Grinch on TV and the room softly lit with Christmas lights. It was such a Christmasy moment I loved it!

Now we are counting down the days for Matt to be done with finals so he can play with us too and Crew is counting down the days until we go to Grandma's house and Christmas. He is now saying "mama's house, next week!" and "Christmas, two weeks, bike!" We have so much to look forward too!

Finally, Home for the Holidays

Because of BYU football, it has been three years since Matt and I have been able to go home for Thanksgiving and the last time we did, this is what happened!
Thankfully, there aren't many deer between L.A. and Phoenix so we were happy our drive went much smoother! But there was still a lot of excitement after we got to my parent's house. My dad got a pretty casual phone call telling us our neighbor's house was on fire and we should move our cars. We went outside with the kids to show them a firetruck and the house was just smoking. A few minutes later the roof over the garage collapsed and flames shot up! A bunch of fire trucks came and thankfully they were able to save part of the house but it was so sad and really pretty scary!

After the fire, the rest of the weekend was great. Maren and I ran the turkey trot, we had an excellent Thanksgiving dinner, had Christmas (hence, home for the holidays) black Friday shopping, family pictures and more.

Look at that face! What a ham! Crew loved playing with Carson and Papa's "BIG CHOO CHOO!"

We also happened to go to the Bass Pro Shop when Santa was there. Matt and I have really been pushing the whole "good boy for Santa" thing so we were anxious to see how Crew did meeting the big man himself. As you can see from the picture, he wasn't quite ready to sit on Santa's lap, but Crew is telling Santa in this picture what he wants for Christmas. "A bike, a big blue bike" (he has been telling us this for over a month) It was pretty cute and he felt pretty good about telling Santa for himself.
Matt took Crew out on the quads one night too. I think you can tell by the picture that it was a hit!

Two thumbs (or index fingers) up!!!

For my dad's birthday on Saturday he got a fire pit. We were all a little paranoid after Wednesday night's big event! But we had great night even though dad kept disappearing doing Bishop duties.

Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas and happy birthday again Papa!

My Obedient Child

This picture has nothing to do with the story. You just have to look at his cute face when you read it!
So Crew has been doing swimming lessons the past two months at the Rose Bowl. After our lesson on Monday we were in the locker room changing when I realized I forgot to bring a diaper for Crew to change into. So I had him look at my face while I told him that I had forgotten a diaper so I would be putting his sweat pants on without one. I told him this was very important and he couldn't go pee pee until we got home so he would have to hold his pee pee the entire way home. He told me ok and we finished dressing and started out to the car. I quickly noticed something was different when he was walking out the door with me instead of his usual running ahead of me. I looked down at him and noticed he was holding himself, and then it clicked! Trying not to laugh I explained to Crew that he didn't have to actually "hold" his pee pee the whole way home, that what I meant was he just had to wait to go pee pee until we got home. It was hillarious and a good reminder to me how innocent and literal these little minds can be! And yes, he didn't go pee pee until after we got home and got a diaper on! What a good boy!

A Break from Dozers!!!

For the past four months, this has been Crew's favorite movie...


Don't get me wrong, this little 35 minute video from the early 90's has allowed many showers, dinner preparations, and quick little breathers for me! It is very appreciated. But with the Christmas season approaching I thought I would give myself a break from "Construction Foreman Dave" and introduce a classic that has always been one of my favorites...

It totally worked! Maybe a little too well! Crew is now always asking for the "Christmas movie" And we sing "Da-hoo Dor-a" all day long! Thank you Dr. Suess!

El Centro then San Diego

We are really getting some good use out of our suitcases this month! A few days after getting home from San Francisco, we packed up again to head down to El Centro, California for my grandpa's funeral. As much as I miss him, it was such a wonderful weekend! All of my dad's family was there which is impressive since we are scattered from Oregon, through all the western states, Atlanta and Qatar in the middle east! My grandpa lived quite a life and it was so much fun to remember old stories and hear new ones. I love some of these pictures of him below. We don't take pictures like that anymore when we are adults which is sad! What great pictures! Anyway, I also love the saying in this picture. It is hard to read but it says "Dads are the heros who inspire us." That was definitely true about my grandpa and he definitely passed it along because it is so true about my dad too.

We had to stop by the ranch while we were there too. This place created hundreds of memories for me but it is just not the same without my grandpa's touch. Crew still liked it though!

My mom took this picture of Crew in the car right before we left. Sweet boy!

The next Thursday we headed down to San Diego for the weekend because Maren and Cam blessed Parker on Sunday. At least our drives got progressively shorter! As always, San Diego was so much fun! Friday morning we went to Sea World. That place is so much fun! We first hit the flying Elmo ride. Crew actually really loved it and wanted more so we have made some progress since the Dumbo ride at Disneyland.

Maren and Carson

So I guess they just let the flamingos roam wild at the park but they are so friendly!

Maybe a little too friendly!

Matt and I were just as excited as Crew about all the animals. It has been over a decade since I have seen the Shamu show and it was so fun! It is amazing what those animals can do. I loved my dad's comment that "those whales are smarter than half the audience!" Ha!

Another great actraction at Sea World is the dolphin encounter. Honestly how cool is it to touch a dolphin!

This picture pretty much sums up Crew and Carson's relationship. They honestly love each other! Crew says everything Carson says. Carson sucks his thumb when he is around Crew. They just laugh, chase each other and completely enjoy being together. It is really fun.
I already posted Halloween pics but I like this shot of Crew from the distance to get the full effect of his costume.

Too bad this was the face pretty much everytime we tried to complete the outfit!Saturday morning we got up and went on a bike ride around Coronado Island. It was a great day and Crew is always up for a good bike ride. Maren and I had the kiddie mobile and it was great!

Hanging out by the water. I love this spot!

The boys

Some of Cam's family was there too but this is just our family

All in all, it was a great day and of course Crew would have something in his mouth! Will he ever out grow this?!?

The next morning was wet and cool but a great day too. Parker made sure he was known at the blessing but it was still great and we loved being able to be there. Thanks Mav for a great weekend and we love you and your sweet boys!

Shark!

No, not in the water although I'm sure Crew would have loved to have water some way incorporated into this already awesome holiday! Crew's first time trick or treating ended up a major hit. The first task was getting the kid to put on the costume instead of just carrying it around. It wasn't pretty but we finally got him in it and a quick "trick or treat" example out of the way. At last he decided this was a pretty good thing.

This is one of the only pictures I have of him with the head on. He never really warmed up to that!

In fact, I don't have any of him smiling because he is eating in every shot! Notice though that the wrapper is still on in every picture so he didn't really eat as much as it looks like!

Knocking

He really likes lights

We were in San Diego with Maren's family (I have more to post later). It was a fun night and weekend and I will post more later!