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