Christmas Tree Decorating

This year we let the kids decorate the tree on their own. Outside of me hanging a few of the more fragile ornaments and helping Ian with the star, the boys hung them all by themselves. I tried to encourage them to not put everything on the lower-hanging branches and not bunch them together too much, but otherwise they directed themselves. It was cute to watch them eagerly place everything. At first I'd planned on rearranging the ornaments after they went to bed so things would be more evenly spaced out. After further reflection, we decided to leave it as is. The boys did a great job and I think their tree is perfect the way it is. It's the so-called imperfections that make our tree that much more special and perfect for us. The tree is also heavy in Alice in Wonderland decorations, which is fun for me :)

Here are the boys hard at work:

Our cute boys and our finished tree (except we forgot to turn the lights on):

Merry Christmas to all!

Happy 8th Birthday, Cole!

Eight years ago (yesterday) we were blessed with the birth of our second son, Cole. Cole has been keeping us on our toes since he was born. On my last day of work before my maternity leave (6 days before my due date), I was experiencing contractions on and off all day. That evening we went to dinner with my parents, during which I continued to time my contrations. Casually I announced that we'd have to go to the hospital after dinner. We dropped Ian off at my aunt and uncle's house and then headed to the hospital where my parents (and aunt and cousin) later met us. I was only dilated a few centimeters and the nurse was going to send me home, but I asked if I could walk around instead. The next day was going to be my mother-in-law's birthday and I didn't want Cole to have to share his birthday. So after walking around for an hour, I was much further dilated and they admitted me. I also declined any medications or epidurals because I didn't want anything to slow my contractions. I even told the doctor he had to be born before midnight. Time was ticking away. I got stuck at 9 centimeters and they finally broke my water for me. After that things happened pretty quickly. Cole entered the world at 11:29pm, August 22nd.

Cole has been a joy to watch grow up. He has a strong personality and is a natural leader. He's funny, carefree, adventurous, agile, strong, sensitive, curious, smart, cute, and confident. He learns things quickly and is a natural athlete. He's also very comfortable with himself. He knows that he's small for his age, but it doesn't affect him. He's also been keeping his hair on the long-side for the last couple of years, and is frequently called a girl by those not paying attention, but he doesn't let it bother him. We call him a monkey because he can climb anything practically. He is also a great snuggler and loves to have fun. We have enjoyed these eight years of having him in our lives and look forward to watching him continue to grow and develop.

Here's a look at Cole through the years:

Baby Cole at the Hospital
(I don't think hospital photos are meant to be flattering.)

Cole at 3 months, with very red hair.
(Reminiscent of Conan O'Brien or Donald Trump? lol)

Cole at 1 year old - now a blondie.
Where did the red hair go?

Cole at 2 years old - doing his two favorite things:
Sucking on his fingers, and holding his blankie (which he called an Ah-ja).

Cole at 3 years old - already our little Monkey!

Cole at 4 years old - with his brothers.
Gotta love that cheesy smile :)

Cole at 5 years old - It's fun to play dress-up.

Cole at 6 years old - The beginning of the long hair stage.

Cole at 7 years old - loving having long hair

Cole is 8 years old today!
And he has yet another hair style - still keeping some length.

Happy Birthday, Cole!! We love you very much and are so very grateful to God to have you in our lives. You are truly a blessing. Thank you for the incredibly sweet, loving, fun, and kind boy that you are.

Family Road Trip

We took a week this month, May 21-27th, to go on our first road trip as a family that didn't involve visiting other family members. We had a great time, and definitely have the travel bug (now we just need the money). I'll post more details about the different places we visited, but here's the overview:

Saturday - Lot of driving! We drove from Southern California to Winslow, AZ, which took us about 10 hours with stops. Luckily, the kids didn't have enough time to be bored too long. We packed enough games, school books, audiobooks, video games, and movies to keep them occupied. It may have been a long drive, but at least it was scenic. We even drove some of the historic Route 66. Then we tent camped in Winslow at a KOA, with Darin pitching the tent in the dark. They didn't allow campfires there which bummed Ian out (fire hazard), but the facility was nice so we couldn't really complain.

Yum - camp food

Playground at the campsite, which the kids loved

Sunday - We headed over to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. It is a beautiful place and we spent hours there looking at all the different scenic stops and taking some short hikes. The kids even completed the Junior Ranger program there and got their first Junior Ranger pins and patches. (Details and photos from this area can be found by clicking here.) This is also where we started our license plate game - trying to find as many different state's license plates as we could during our trip.

Monday - After our yummy all-you-can-eat pancakes at the KOA (for $1.99 per person), we packed up and headed to our next stop. But on the way we stopped at the Walnut Canyon National Monument Cliff-Dwellings in Arizona. (Details and photos from this area can be found by clicking here.) This place was quite a treat. We checked out where the Puebloan people lived - in rooms built into cliffs. It was amazing to see how resourceful they were, and also a bit scary as we walked along the cliffs. Bode had to hold Darin's or my hand the entire time. Then we headed over to Grand Canyon. And Darin was happy because he go to set up the tent while the sun was still out. This was also our first night making a campfire, so Ian was especially happy (our little pyromaniac). Plus, campfire = smores = yummy treats.

Tuesday - Grand Canyon here we come! (Details and photos from this area can be found by clicking here.) I've been here before, but it has been a long time, and it was the first time for Darin and the boys, so it was a special treat. The canyon is amazing, especially in person. Pictures don't do it justice. We checked out the rim, the visitor's center, the geology museum, the Colorado River, and the Junior Ranger program (of course). Ian was a little disappointed we weren't traveling down into the canyon, but with a 4 year old, my nerves weren't ready for that. I think I was a teenager when I first hiked down into the canyon, so we told Ian we'd come back when the boys are a bit older. But we had deer visit us a few times at our campsite, so that's always special.

Before

During

After

Camping Fun

Ian finally gets to make a fire

Yum, hot dogs over a campfire

S'mores, finally!

Gooey goodness

Burning their test prep books from STAR testing

Deer kept visiting behind our campsite

Love the wildlife

Wednesday - We slowly said goodbye to Grand Canyon. I say slowly, because we still had to drive around it to get to Utah. But we made sure to stop by the Tusayan Ruins (click here for photos and details) and the Grand Canyon Watchtower (click here for photos and details). Every view of the canyon is unique and amazing. The drive to Utah was long, but also incredible to see how the landscape changed as we headed away from Arizona and into Utah. God's creation is truly amazing! Utah not only brought us into the gorgeous Zion National Park, but also to a lovely hotel for our last 2 nights of vacation. After 4 nights of tent camping, we were all grateful for a comfy bed.

Tusayan Ruin and Museum, Grand Canyon

The Watchtower, Grand Canyon

Hello Utah

We enjoyed our stay here, especially after camping.

Beds!

Thursday - Hello Zion National Park! (Details and photos from this area can be found by clicking here.) We love this place and want to visit again. I'm still awed by the natural creations around me. We spent the whole day visiting Zion, the museum, the Junior Ranger program, the shuttle tour, seeing the Virgin River, and most importantly, hiking in this beautiful park. We checked out the Weeping Rock Trail and Lower Emerald Pool trail. These easy trails were enough for Bode and we had to carry him part of the way. But it was such a great experience. We even saw baby squirrels (so cute).

Friday - Time to go home. We drove home through 4 states, which was interesting but beautiful at the same time (except for the desert in California - not as pretty as the mountains). We even drove through Las Vegas so we could show the kids the buildings while driving down the strip (which was close enough). And then it was home sweet home. What a great trip!

By the end of the trip, we:
* Drove about 1580 miles
* Drove through 4 states (California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada)
* Listened to two audiobooks (over 10 hours of listening)
* Found 43 state license plates and 4 Canadian provinces
* Completed 4 Junior Ranger programs
* Were amazed by God's creation
* Had a Great Time!!

Visiting our Colorado Family

This has been a busy month, so I'm now trying to catch up on my posts before the month is over. May 11-16th we were fortunate enough to travel as a family along with my parents to Colorado to visit my brother, his wife, and our two nephews. Colorado is always full of surprises, especially the weather. I haven't had a lot of luck with weather.com predictions, and this trip was no exception. Coming from California, I expect May to be a little warmer. Instead, we experienced snow, rain, slush, wind, and a little sun. I only packed light jackets, so we were short on warm jackets. At least I packed one long-sleeve shirt for each kid and pants. Luckily my sister-in-law had some extra snow clothes for the smaller boys to borrow so they could do some snowplay. Our trip went something like this:

Hanging at the airport with Gramma and Grampa

On Wednesday, we flew in and were greeted by snow. The snow was beautiful as always, so I guess we can't complain too much. We were greeted by a blanket of snow, and by the time we left the snow was mostly melted away. Amazing. But the kids made sure they squeezed in some snowplay with cousin Logan.

Cole couldn't wait to love up on Cousin Landon.

Here's the snow that greeted us on arrival.

On Thursday, the boys started the morning with some snow play. 

Bode and Cousin Logan

Cole and Cousin Logan

Ian and Cousin Logan

Bode and Logan going for a slide

Ian shoveling snow

My boys

Bode "cleaning" Uncle Chris's car

Then while Darin and Chris were working, we took the kids to play miniature golf and to the arcade. The kids love playing miniature golf in the dark, with glow-in-the-dark golf balls. The arcade may be small, but we're always up for a good game of air hockey. Even the grandparents got in on the action playing the motorcycle racing game.

Cole in action, with the family supporting him

Ian taking a shot

Nice form, Bode

Cousin Logan and Bode

Don't forget Cousin Landon

The boys, glowing in the dark

That's a good looking group of boys.

Bode and I playing air hockey.

Grampa vs Ian

Ian vs Gramma

Bode the motorcycle dude

Cole vs Ian

Ian vs Bode

On Friday, we visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where they had the Real Pirates exhibit. The exhibit was amazing. It took me two hours to get through it - my family made fun of me because they went to lunch without me because I was taking so long. I wish I could have taken pictures inside, but they didn't allow it. But the artifacts were incredible and well worth the trip. (More details can be seen in my post about Pirates.)

The museum had many other great exhibits to explore and a great Kids Discovery Zone.

Bode petting a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

After the museum, we visited Jessica's grandmother's house for dinner. She and her husband are wonderful people and great hosts. We had a great time eating, chatting, and letting the kids play. The boys were joined by their cousins and Tatiana (Logan & Landon's cousin). Fun!

On Saturday, Chris joined us for some family fun. We had some interesting things planned, but the weather had other plans for us. The rain and snow put a roadblock on our outdoor plans, so we improvised and stayed at the house. At least my Dad got to make his special french toast for all of us, so that was a treat. The kids were creative and found plenty of things to do. It also gave us some extra time for card games, which we all love to play. Jessica's dad and Tatiana joined us, so it was another fun family day.

Wasn't there just snow here?

Ian and Cousin Landon

Is that rain and an elk? What happened to the sun we had earlier?

On Sunday, we ventured out to go bowling - all 13 of us (actually, Landon didn't bowl, so just 12). It was a lot of fun. There were some great plays out there, lots of strikes and spares. The kids had fun as usual. Then Jessica's dad was kind enough to take some of the kids back to the house so the rest of us could check out a Dim Sum restaurant. As you may have guessed, we kept baby Landon and crazy Bode with us.

Bode bowling in the dark

Cole going for it

Ian trying for a strike

Daddy and the boys

Racing cars with Bode

Gramma, Grampa and all their kids and grandkids

Don't forget Guy and Tatiana

On Monday, we flew back home to the California sun. We had a wonderful trip and always love seeing our Colorado family. We look forwad to our next visit, when our nephews will be bigger and who knows what kind of weather we'll have. It's always a fun adventure.