Christmas 2012

This year we got to celebrate with a dinner at Nana and Papa's house.  Brandon worked the night before and had to sleep Christmas morning, so we celebrated in the evening. 

 

Christmas morning Aubrey and I watched a Christmas movie and drank hot chocolate.  She loved the hot chocolate, but I loved the cuddle time even more :).

 

 

Later in the day we got this little one dressed up and she even posed for some pictures all by herself.

 

 

 

She even wanted a picture with daddy :)...



 

and Nana and Papa.

 

 

We had a delicious dinner with the Pierce family and then my parents and brother joined us for dessert later that night.

 

Aubrey had fun opening her presents and playing with her family.  She even gave her Uncle Tyler a hug!

 

 

My brother was exhausted from working so much and traveling that he fell asleep hard on the couch.

 

 

Aubrey, however, was a high energy girl all evening and it was so much to see her interact and play with everyone.  We can't believe this is already her third Christmas! 

 

Although Christmas day has come and gone, we'll be celebrating again the first week in January when Jon, Krystal, and Norah come to town on the first :).  This will be the first time we'll all be together with my immediate family in over a year!  We're excited to get to spend time as a family together soon.

 

 

 

 

First Snow Trip

On the morning of the 19th we decided to just drive up the mountain and finally see some snow this season.  We bundled the little girl up and set off.

 

 

Once Aubrey stepped out of the car she could not be more excited!!

 

 

 

Aubrey loved walking in the snow.

 

Daddy helped her make snowballs.

 

And she did a pretty good job at making her first snow angel :).

Of course Daddy just had to throw some snow on her to see how she would react.

 



 

And Aubrey didn't hesitate in taking a taste of the cold powder.

 



 

It was such a spur of the moment trip we didn't even bring a saucer or sled so we made due with a snow shovel.

 

 

Aubrey just couldn't get enough of it and we know she is such a dare devil that she would have loved to go faster.  Next time we'll plan a little better in bringing a sled :).

 



 

 

 

It was a fun little outing and we'll have to do it again sometime soon when there is some fresh snow :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating 30!!

So this year I have officially crossed over into a new decade.  My twenties are over and a new decade is now upon me.  So much happened in my last decade of life!  Finished college, started my career, got married, bought a house, and started a family! Whew!  But I am really looking forward to what is ahead :).

I'm not one for big celebrations for my birthday so this year's celebrations were small but meaningful. With my birthday being so close to Christmas it always seemed a little difficult anyway to get a big celebration going, but it's really been OK with me :).  This year it seemed as though it was a whole week birthday extravaganza!

The weekend before my birthday we had our good friends Nick and Katie over for breakfast and they decided to celebrate with us a little bit early.  They brought me a "flirty 30" glass to drink my orange juice in, brought a wonderful brunch, and we had the best time watching our kids play together and talking over some really yummy food.  I didn't expect any of this at all, but it was special to have friends who were so thoughtful and made me feel so loved.

The following weekend was my birthday weekend and Brandon really tried to make some plans work out, but I guess they always fell through somehow.  It was a great low key weekend and I felt special nonetheless. 

One evening that weekend we had our small group friends the Purinton's and Pearsall's over for some pizza and dessert.  Brandon didn't just order the pizzas but he actually talked to his old boss at the pizza place he used to work at and worked out a deal to go over and help make the pizzas alongside his old boss.  I love this pizza place and they have the BEST garlic twists hands down!  What a sacrifice Brandon made for me!  To top things off we had desserts from the place we got our wedding cake from.  They were all delicious!  Good thing I had just had my 2nd, 3rd trimester glucose test the day before because there was no way I would pass it after all those carbs and sweets!!  (Regardless the doctor said I didn't pass one of my blood draws so I need to watch those carbs anyway.  A pretty tall thing to ask a pregnant lady around Christmas!).  To end the evening we took hot chocolate in travel mugs, packed into our car, and drove around Roseville and Rocklin looking at Christmas lights. A really fun evening with people who again made me feel so special.

Sunday night, the 16th we celebrated with my parents, grandparents, and in-laws and went to Il Fornio for dinner and then everyone came over to our house for dessert.  My mother-in-law made a beautiful, delicious cookies and cream cake.  Super yummy!  She is great at baking and especially making cakes and it was so special that she was willing to make one for me. 

One of my presents was an apron with a matching one for Aubrey.  Can't wait to bake with her one day soon with both of us wearing these cute aprons!

 

 

It was a wonderful night :)

 

The next day was my real birthday and Brandon got the ENTIRE day off so we could spend it as a family. He usually has two shifts on Mondays, one including a midnight shift, but his coworkers were willing to work this shifts so he could spend the day with me.  HUGE blessing and that was birthday present enough for me, but Brandon had more plans.

 

We spent the day in San Francisco.  Our first stop was to Point Bonita Lighthouse.  I'm not a water person at all, but for some reason I like lighthouses :). 

 

 

It was a cloudy day, but it was great to go back to a lighthouse that we hadn't been to since we were dating!

 

 

It was fun to go back with our now two year old :)

 

 

Our next stop was a small cafe on Polk Street for lunch and then lastly to Union Square where we walked around to the different hotels, did some shopping, and had a great dinner at Cheesecake factory on top of the Macy's building.

 

 

Aubrey did So great all day without a nap and she couldn't be happier looking at all those Christmas lights around the city. 

 

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.  Thank you to all the friends and family who made me feel so loved and special with their texts, phone calls, cards, hugs, and gifts.  I couldn't feel more overwhelmingly blessed by what God has brought in these last three decades.  I can't wait to see what is in store for me in this next decade :).  Bring on the 30s!

 

 

 

Getting Crafty for Christmas

Here's a little craft I did to hang our Christmas cards on. It became kind of a family project :). Brandon spray painted the clothespins, he cut the wire, and Aubrey and I strung the beads and clothespins on. Kind of a fun way to display our Christmas cards this year :).