CHRISTMAS 2015

For the first time since they were married, Annie and Victor finally live on the same side of the country as us! That and the fact that Annie had her second baby just a few weeks earlier, is the reason that we decided to have a Christmas in Monterey, CA.  We are super grateful we were able to go.  It was the first time all of us were together since 2012.

Having cousins together is probably my favorite thing ever!

Annie and I enjoyed some manicures one of the first morning's there.

 Look how tiny Baby Dominic is!

We went on a run with Victor. It's not too bad to take a jog along the beautiful coast.

Because our hike in Oregon was so wonderful, we fandangled another date hike!  This one included crossing a river at the very beginning of the hike.  Michael carried me across = True Love!

Boys enjoyed some shooting

and some golf

On the pier, the different restaurants give samples of clam chowder... cheers to that!  Laila and I enjoyed our hot chocolate. ; )

Matching jammies are a fun Christmas Eve tradition and having all these matching cousins was the cherry on top of the adorableness.

This year we added a nativity to our traditional Christmas Eve program.  

How darling are they!?

Christmas morning we took a family hike around Point Lobos so we could be back in time for our anticipated phone call with Elder Shields!

It's fun to see everyone and although it took some time to get everyone connected, we got to enjoy seeing and hearing from Dallin in the Chicago West Spanish speaking mission.

We love the cute Castro Cottage (and that sweet girl in front!)

One morning we went kayaking as a group.  My feet almost fell off frozen, but it was so fun!

On our kayaking trip we had so many seals all around us and saw a bunch of cute otters playing in the kelp.  I'm so glad we went.

We took some family pics when we had everyone together.  They turned out so great!

Love this family of mine!

It was a treat to be all together and who wouldn't enjoy a Ghirardelli treat too!

(Unless you're lactose intolerant. Then I can understand why you might not enjoy it as much.)

Merry Christmas 2015

THANKSGIVING 2015

Our holidays were so amazing, they need to be documented!  Thanksgiving 2015 took us to Portland, Oregon where we were very well taken care of by the wonderful Walker family.  They had recently bought a beautiful home so it was fun to see it and enjoy time together.  We were there about a week so on one of our first mornings, we went on a gorgeous hike along the coast to a great look out where we saw whales and beautiful views everywhere we looked.

I love my boy! Thank heavens Christi had spare warm clothes. 

My Phoenician babies can't take much temperature change.

The whole group

After our hike we rewarded ourselves with Tillamook ice cream and grilled cheese sandwiches! YUM!

Their house is big enough for us to do this!

Pump It Up is a great cousin tradition!

I thought his flannel shirt and John Deere Tractor made an adorable picture....he did not agree!

Cutest bowler that I know!

Bryce works for Intel and they had a Zoo Nights activity so we got to join them for that.

We had a nice day downtown going to OMSI, donuts and ice cream! Definitely a good day!

Christi also spoiled us by watching our kids so that we could go on a solo date hike.  It was very much appreciated and needed.  This is us behind the waterfall that we hiked to.

And of course, the actual TURKEY DAY!  There was an abundance of food and it all tasted delicious.  We love recognizing and celebrating our abundant amount of blessings- including our families!

 It was a great week and we are grateful the Walkers let us come!