Christmas time

Brendan and I made this tent for the girls.

Brendan's birthday is on Christmas, so we always celebrate it in the evening at his parents' house.  Hazel and I went and bought him a guitar that he had been wanting for a while.  Hazel surprised him and walked out wearing it on her back.   

 We went ice skating at the Gallivan Plaza a couple days after Christmas.  It was fun, but the girls started getting cold and Hattie just wanted more hot cocoa.

Enjoying some of their new presents.

 A couple days before Christmas we had a nice dinner with the Olson family.

The family night before Christmas we had Brendan's family over for a cheese party.   

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the big holiday in my family, so we were in Sacramento again this year.  Wednesday- the Turkey Skate, Thursday- the big feast with over 100 people, Friday-  chair soccer and shopping, Saturday- San Francisco city fun, Sunday- the dreaded drive home.

Brendan had the great idea this year to surprise everyone and dress up as pilgrims and indians.  The idea was last minute and I had to make all of the outfits except my own because we already had it luckily.  It stressed me out and I barely finished them on time.

 My brother Bill was in charge this year and did a great job!

Just some of the exciting games going on.

 Hattie took off all of her white, so she looked like a nun.

Aunt Val made the pinata turkey.  There was also dodge ball, and bounce houses, and a mechanical bull.  I overheard my cousin's wife saying that her parent's Thanksgiving just couldn't compete with this kind of party.  No wonder her kids want to come to this side of the family.

 Mom and all of the girls, except Paige and Whitney.

This is outside of Whitney's house.  She lives in a really nice neighborhood in San Francisco called St. Francis Wood.  The houses are beautiful.

Brendan's cousin Casey and Uncle Pete live in San Francisco too.

Alamo square at night.

 Christmas tree at Union Square.

Fall fun and Halloween

The past two years we have gone to Rowley's Red Barn in Santaquin.  We took the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and played on the giant slides and big quadricycles.  Brendan's parents, Christopher, and my sister Breeze came too.  The biggest let down of the night was that they were all out of apple cider donuts.  That's kind of the reason I came.

The girls were so excited for Halloween.  We did themed costumes this year.  We bought the kids costumes, and Brendan and I made ours.  We went to dinner at Brendan's parents and then took the kids out for a while.

I just love donuts in the Fall, and Hazel and Hattie loved our Provo Bakery donut trips.  I caught Hattie sneaking into the Halloween sugar cookies. 

I could only get Niels to smile and look at me. 

 Hattie can usually be found with costumes, books, toys, and random stuff on her or around her while napping.

St. Augustine and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

So far most of the driving on our trip was only 2-4 hours between most destinations, so it was very doable with the kids, but heading back we wanted to try and get back with just one stop.  We just needed to make it back to Ft. Lauderdale.  We looked for a cool destination as our half way point and found St. Augustine would work.  It is the oldest city in the United States.  It was settled by the Spanish in 1565.  The architecture there is very European.  We weren't there very long though, because we wanted to make our way back down to the beautiful beaches of Ft. Lauderdale.

 Memorial Presbyterian Church

   

St. Augustine also had Hazel's Hot Dogs.  How cool is that?

Ft. Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale is the yachting capital of the world.  There are neighborhoods all along the water with huge houses and yachts docked in their backyards.  The water and beaches were beautiful.  We stayed right on the water and loved it.  There still is no such thing as relaxing on the beach with toddlers and babies though.  We managed to sit right by a sea turtle nest which was roped off with do not touch signs all around it, and warnings of being imprisoned or fined if touched.  Of course when I looked over Hattie thought it would be fun to run right through it.  I tried getting her out as fast as I could.  We are kind of looking forward to taking a trip to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami without the kids sometime.

Brendan got us a nice upgrade with a waterfront view.

In our hotel the night before we were flying out, Hattie threw up all over Hazel's head.  It was around 3 am and we had to throw the kids in the tub and there was lots of screaming.  We were all tired.  It was terrible.  We kept hoping it was food poisoning or something and that she wouldn't throw up again.  When we were at the airport she threw up again, but not too much.  We were lucky she didn't throw up on the plane.  

By the way, we loved these scoot cases we got for the girls last year at Christmas.  They fit all of their clothes for the whole trip and they can ride on them and be pulled around.  It was kind of funny because everyone was watching and pointing and taking pictures and saying how cute they were and what a great invention.