cheer

*Last weekend we helped my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary! It was such a perfect, low key, but special evening. They had the brilliant idea of going to The Cheesecake Factory (ha!) and the weather was perfect for eating outside.

After dinner, we walked to an outdoor area and had dessert as my parents opened their gifts. My parents have truly given my sister and I a wonderful example of what a Godly-kind talking-put one another's needs first-marriage looks like.

Last night we had a kid-free night as both kids had overnight church events. This morning consisted of just hanging out, watching The Office, and enjoying the quiet house.

Such fun to pick up this girl after her church slumber party!

Right now Kendall has a friend from school over, "LOL'ing" it up in her room. I'm getting some work done while watching a new favorite show (and apparently I'm not alone), Cheer.

corn chowder

*Chris found this the other day and we both thought it was pretty funny and oh so true. :)

*I've transitioned from using disposable K-cups to non-disposable. I feel a little more friendly to the environment and I like how much money I know I'm saving. I took this pic for my mom because she bought me a non-disposable cup for Christmas. :)

*Went on a VERY windy bike ride yesterday. We felt quite accomplished by the end considering how much harder it was simply due to the wind!

*I made Cheddar Corn Chowder last week. I thought it was amazing and one of the most flavorful soups I've had in a long time. The kids really liked it too (Chris enjoyed it as much as he can enjoy soup. Ha!).

back to work

I can't believe three weeks has gone by so fast. Ugh. I will say I did get a lot of relaxing in, Gilmore Girls episodes watched, Just Dance songs danced with Kendall, and quality time with the kids. Not a bad break. :)

I attended the Rose Parade for the first time in about 30 years! My mom and I took the kids and lucked out with some pretty decent seats. Here is Kendall loaded down with her LOL's and coloring stuff to keep her busy. 

A few days ago the kids, quads, and I walked down to Frugos.

For our last Christmas break hoorah, we took the kids to see the latest Star Wars yesterday. It was a pretty darn good movie. :)

christmas break

We have one more week of break and I know it will go way too fast. Here are some highlights thus far. 

*I ended up going in to work a couple of days during break. I actually love working when school is not in session. It's quiet, I'm often alone in the office, and the slow pace is a welcome change. 

*My mom bought us another advent book this year. The kids always love these.

*Chris and I were able to get away for a few days with some friends to Vegas. We had an amazing time. Lots of great conversation, golf for the guys, massages for us girls, and yummy food. :)

*We celebrated Christmas a little early with Chris' side of the family. 

The weather was pretty dreary so a lot of indoor LOL play, Hallmark movies, and relaxing took place. 

*Christmas day found us back at home. We started out with a Christmas breakfast tradition, Land of Nod.

Later my parents came for lunch and presents. Here is Kendall reading the Christmas story.

 *Otherwise our break has been filled with LOTS of quad action. Kendall and the girls are typically occupied with LOL doll play for hours on end.

Cameron got a Nintendo Switch for Christmas and has been over the moon excited about it...so he and the boys have spent a lot of quality Super Smash Bros. time together. :)

gilmore girls

 *Flu shot time. Kendall had a really rough time (pretty anxious/nervous), but she was a champ and got through it. :)

*Had a really fun time up north for Thanksgiving. We were able to spend some time with some dear friends who moved a few years back. The kids LOVED being with their cousins. And lastly, the food spread was amazing as always.

*Kendall was a camel in our church Christmas play. This was the first year she had expressed interest in participating. Boy was it a time commitment with the number of practices it required! But we would do it again in a heartbeat considering Kendall said it was one of the highlights of her year. :)

*We realized we had not been on a hike in a very long time. My dad joined us a few weeks back and it was so nice to be back on the trails.

There were a couple of steep parts that about did me in. :)

*I helped out at the Christmas celebration at church a few nights back. I was the "photographer", which basically meant women gave me their phones and I took their pictures in front of the photo area. :)

*I started Gilmore Girls from the beginning and am loving it all over again.

christmas list

*A couple weeks ago Chris' brother had another conference out in the desert. He again offered his hotel pool to the kids for a swim. Apparently they had the pool practically to themselves and had a great time!

*Only our son would create his Christmas list in not only a list format, but also a graph! Ha!

*Perfect Saturday morning = coffee and finishing up our last movie in the Hunger Games series. 

*I've been prepping my work lunches over the weekend and it makes my mornings sooo much easier! I'm one that doesn't really care if my salads are soggy, so having them done a few days in advance isn't a big deal. :)

*Our Sundays have turned into quite the jam packed days with the rehearsals for the church Christmas play ramping up. Here we are killing time at Subway for lunch. 

no power

*Last week was a bummer of a week on the electricity front. Our power went out twice, once due to high winds and once due to a car accident. We lost a bunch of food in the fridge the first time. The second time I was able to take a load over to a friend's house. We tried to make it fun at night and had a little pizza picnic, however the novelty quickly wore off and we were ready for power! :)

*Luckily Halloween was sandwiched between our two power-less nights so all the fun decorations people had out were lit for trick-or-treating. 

*This last weekend I spent the night in Santa Barbara with some friends from college. The weather was beautiful and it was fun catching up on one another's lives.

On Sunday morning, the time change had me wide awake at 4:15am. Ugh. I stayed in bed for a while but then decided to go for a walk while I waited for the girls to wake. It turned out to be such a highlight as I found a cute little neighborhood to explore and my whole walk had ocean views. :)