Finally Fall

So I was really missing my Utah fall season earlier this year but now I know that California has fall too! Fall in California doesn't come until December and January but man is it beautiful. We just happened to find this secret spot while we were on a walk. I love fall!

It is so funny to me how kids just know what to do with leaves on the ground. And of course, instant fun follows...

I 'm not sure Utah falls can be beat. However, I do know that a major bonus to California fall is snow doesn't come after!!!

And a Happy New Year

After our fun week with the Allen's, we went to Mesa for a 2 days. Crew showed off his new bike for them.

We drove home on the 30th to get ready for the Rose Parade! My parents flew out to join in the festivities with us. We picked them up from the airport on the 31st and showed them around lovely South Pasadena for the afternoon. Crew loved having a new audience at the park to show off and dig in the dirt with!

That night we went to the Fair Oaks Pharmacy to stuff ourselves with their amazing sundays and malts! It was a New Year's Eve hit!

After the Pharmacy we went home and celebrated ringing in the New Year with the people of New York so we could get to bed early!

New Year's Day we were up at 5:30 and we drove a few miles down the rode to wait for the Rose Parade. It was amazing! People were everywhere and it should have been totally crazy but we parked and found our seats pretty easy! All the people made the whole event even more exciting as everyone bundled up and waited for the parade to begin.
Crew was not very excited to be up so early! While we were waiting for the parade to start he kept saying "home" but he sure perked up quick once things started going!
The Rose Parade crew!
You know you are at a happening spot when the Goodyear blimp is flying over your head! Great picture of the fall trees too!

The parade was truly amazing! Every float had so much detail and it was awesome to see it all up so close!

A Stealth Bomber flew over just after the parade began. Those things are crazy amazing!

We especially loved seeing people we knew in the parade! The Brady girls (they are all married now but that is their maiden name) were in the parade with their horses. Here is Kelsy. They looked great!

Crew loved the entire two hours! He kept saying more after something passed by. He loved the marching bands (especially the drums), all the horses and a couple floats in particular. This choo choo one got a serious shout out!

And you better believe that kid went crazy when he saw Big Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street float!

Matt's favorite was the Jack float. I must say he had some great moves up there!

Here is a picture right as the end of the parade was about to pass us. Look at all the people filling the street in the background!
We seriuosly scored in our parking and were out of there in less then 10 minutes! It was definitely a memorable morning!

That afternoon, after all our naps, we went to Griffith Park to ride the choo choo. Here is Crew and Papa waiting for our turn.

All aboard!

That night we had a little birthday party for Crew because my parents had some present they wanted to watch him open. I think we will need to have a few more practice parties so Crew can improve on his candle blowing out skills!

My parents gave him the movies Cars and Robin Hood (animal version), a book and Crew's favorite gift... a shopping cart! Crew giving Papa a thank you kiss.

I think my dad is trying to train him early! Crew loves his shopping cart but thankfully it is always full of trucks not shoes!!!


Wow! What a great New Years! Thanks Papa and Mama for coming up for the parade and for a fantastic New Years!

A Very Merry Christmas!

We were so excited to spend an entire week with the Allen's for Christmas! We started the trip out right by going to the BYU vs. ASU basketball game in the Glendale Arena. Crew loved being in the big stadium and although the Cougs had a tough loss, it was so much fun!

Crew loves singing and cheering so I believe this was a "Go Cougars" arm raise

One of the reasons we were most excited to go home was to see Katherine! We have missed her so much over here in L.A. We are so thrilled that she Devin are engaged and getting married March 20! We love them both and Crew was in heaven having Katherine around again!

Go Cougars!

The kids in their Sunday best before church. These are Matt's sister Jeni's kids minus her third son Tate. Crew loved having his cousins around and this is really the first time he has been old enough to really interact. We just need to live closer to each other because they all got along great, for the most part :)!

Monday morning we all loaded up and went for a hike in the White Tank Mountains by the Allen's house. Dave must have been doing something inappropriate because my camera blurred his face but the rest of the group looks pretty tough!

We always tease the Allen's about the "waterfall hike" but with all the rain Arizona has had lately it was actually flowing a bit! The desert is so beautiful out there and it was just a great day to be out and enjoying Arizona beauty! This is Crew and Grandpa looking at the waterfall.

Kind of scary, but here is our rugged family.

Another group shot in the canyon by the waterfall
What a happy boy!


One significant event on Christmas Eve was talking to my brother Christian in Taiwan! My parents were in Arkansas and Maren was in Utah but we all got to talk on a conference call for about an hour and had a blast! He is doing great and will be coming hom the end of June now (darn those extensions!) It was a wonderful Christmas present to kind of all be together even though we were all so far apart!

This shot is on Christmas Eve. Becky has these bells that each kid gets to hold and ring, on cue, to play Christmas songs. It was really fun and Crew is a really big bell fan!

The Bell Orchestra

A darling pic of the happy couple

Last picture before Santa comes!!!

And man did Santa deliver! Crew was so excited about his new bike that he has been telling us about for months! Even though Santa could only find a red bike on Craig's list, Crew seemed not at all phased.


Testing it out.

Tate got a little drum set for Christmas and Crew was pretty excited about it. He is actually quite good too. I feel kind of bad because he has such potential but I don't know if I can handle it! His birthday is coming up so we will see...

I love this picture! This is Matt's brother Michael's daughters Samantha (2) and Ashley (6) on Grandma's lap with Crew. What cute faces!

Another highlight of the trip that I don't have any pictures of was our little family date night the Friday after Christmas. Matt and I took Crew out to eat and then to his first movie, Bolt. It was one of those nights that you don't want to ever end. Crew loved being in the big movie theater, in the big seats, and between mom and dad. I'm sure the movie was pretty over his head but he loved pointing things out that he saw and every fifteen to twenty minutes he would look up at me smiling and say "hi mommy!" As we were leaving the theater he had the biggest grin on his face and we were laughing the whole way home. This was definitely a night to remember.

The week went by way too fast but we loved all being together. Thanks Allen's for such a great week and a wonderful Christmas! We love you!

Hollywood

We live so close to so many famous places so today we decided to check some of them out! We headed over to Hollywood and the famous Chinese theatre and walk of fame. Crew only liked putting his hands in the hand prints because there was water in them but it still made for a couple fun pics. I must say though, in general, that place has way too many weirdos for me to make it a frequent stop!
This picture is for you Kath! Harry Potter was right below George Cloony, and next to Will Smith. Crew actually tried to drink the water out of Jack Nickelson's prints (I think that is his last name)

Crew must be a big John Travolta fan

And to top off our fun morning we splurged on a delicious Sprinkles Cupcake! They are almost to pretty to eat but Crew had no problem digging in!

Crew has also been really into typing my brother Christian letters on the computer. He likes to sit down and type on the keyboard and always tells me "letter, Tistian" He is pretty good when I ask where Christian is he tells me "mission, Taiwan." It will be interesting to see how he reacts to him when Christian comes home in five months! I think it is so cute though!