Christmas Day and Extented Festivities

Christmas is done, New Years Eve is today! What a blur this year was. So busy. Dad came down for Christmas day, we did Christmas Eve at our house with Chris, Kim, Dad and us. We got up Christmas morning and opened presents with everyone, dashed off to Tutu's for her Christmas brunch (which is delicious and she makes this bacon that I always eat too much of) then we came back home and somehow managed to make a full Christmas Dinner. Complete with turkey and all the trimmings. It was a long day! Saturday after Christmas we went to Brett's dad's house up in Apple Valley, and did Christmas with all the family up there. Brett's mom was down visiting and we had homemade tamales and lots of yummy deserts. Tonight is New Years with the Pifers!

Brett giving us his "Blue Steel" look. At his dad's house.Mr. Aaron, brother in law, also at Brett's dads.

Little Miss Candice, my neice, and her mommy, Doris.

Blue Steel, double trouble.

Christmas morning, pre-mess.

I just threw this in, did you know it snows in the OC? This is Saddleback Mountain behind my house, a week before Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

We drove six hours to Phoenix, Arizona for Thanksgiving with Brett's cousins this year. It was a wise choice. The food was good, the company was excellent. Fun was had by all. Brett's mom was there, as well as lots of other people we had not seen in a while. We stayed for three days. Chris and Kim babysat our dogs, sorry they were so naughty!

This is Debbie and her husband Noel, they were the wonderful family members who did all the work, cooked all the food, put up with our kids. It was great.Brett, Cousin Kym, Brett's mom Patty, Cousin Noelle and her boyfriend Marty.

Debbie and Noel live on a lake, they have a boat. We rode around, the kids did this....

Cousin Kym is a dental hygenist.

Kym's baby boy, Zachary. Cutest kid in town. He's four.

You know Tyler. Peace out.

Brett's good with the kids. Matt, Zach and Samantha.

Day after Thanksgiving we took a drive to the old Goldfield Mining Ghost Town.

Across from the town were the Four Peaks Mountains. Pretty awesome.

We also drove to Canyon Lake.

Kym always has her tongue out.

Canyon Lake. We would like to come back here and camp. (Not me, the boys.)

Cactus! We saw lots of these.

Airplane Graveyard

On our way to Arizona, just outside Palm Springs, we passed all the giant windmills. If you have traveled that way on the 10 freeway, you know what I'm talking about. Brett told us that his dad drove him through here a lot as a kid, on his way to his mom's house in Phoenix. Apparently, Brett's father told him that the windmills were in fact, airplane gravestones, all part of a big airplane graveyard. When the airplanes died, this was where they were buried. Their propellers served as giant head stones. Brett recalls this story with bitterness, because he was gullible enough to believe it. Our children didn't buy that story for a second.

The Flying Nebula

David is still jumping out of planes, he is up to about eighty jumps. Here is what he has been doing.... Oh, and he has not broken any bones yet.

Wingsuit Flyby - Nebula & Ren

Impromptu Camping

The kids were sick with a nightmare of a flu last week. I thought our four day weekend was shot. Sunday morning came and everyone seemed better, so we decided to go fishing at Lake Irvine. Its only ten minutes away, which was good for me because I do not sleep in tents. Yes, I went home to sleep in bed while the men stayed there! Yes, I know I am a spoiled girl. Weather was good, fishing, not so good. We caught one we could keep. Regardless, the boys had a great time and Brett and Chris enjoyed some much needed down time.

We rented a boat for a few hours, it didn't help us catch fish, but it was still fun.Awwww! Chris and Kim.

Matt likes water.

Fire foot!

This is evil Chris. Looking evil.

Even Tyler caught a little bass, but you can't keep the bass. We had to put him back.

Our only catch, the catfish.

Brett and Chris all excited about their catch.

Tent in a tent.

AWANA

Thursday nights at our church are AWANA nights for the kids and I, and a theology class that Brett attends. This is the first year that Matthew has been, and it is so much fun watching him learn. He got his book and finished it in just a few weeks, the first one to finish out of 200 kids. That meant he memorized about twenty or so verses, and the books of the new testament. Not bad! Call him up and quiz him on the verses sometime, its his new favorite thing to do. In honor of his achievement, they gave him a special award last week. Chris and Kim went with us.

Tyler is a TNT (truth in training) kid this year, James is an LIT (leader in training).
Chris playing with the boys after class. See, Chris did not burn up when he passed through the doors at church. He said he would!

Blurry, Matt gets his award from Mrs. Hamilton, our director, on the stage.

The last two nights have been crazy. We went to a party at Matthew's friends house down the street one evening, and last night we were at our Church's Fall Festival and then back home to do some trick or treating. The boys have had lots of fun and have candy enough to last them very long time. I will add more pictures when I finish downloading.

How long has it been since you have bobbed for apples?This was Matt's first time.

Got a little wet!