Christmas and New Years2013

 It was the time of the year for the annual church party- and another party to decorate with a 0 dollar budget. It's always a challenge, but we had a lot of fun this year. We decided we would try to create a winter wonderland in the woods... so we went to the foothills and collected dead branches, chestnuts, greenery, logs etc. This is the "table scape," always better in person...

 The decorated branches... ah, what a headache, but turned out really nice when the lights were out.

 I think the stage decorations were my favorite when they were done.

 And, Steve added falling snow on a projector on the stage.... done and done :)

 The big ticket items for Christmas morning included a gigantic barbie house for Emilie that she has wanted for practically the whole year, trucks/cars for Sebastian, joke book for Maddie which she loved and read to us for weeks and sky chair for the girls' room- what kid doesn't want a swing for their room???

 New Years is always a Surf and Turf cornocopia... and this year may have been the best. Steve got himself a membership to a restaurant depo store (Costco on acid for restaurant owners), and bought crab legs, filet minon, and ridiculous sized stuff... but it was soooo soooo soooo good.

 This is why there are food photographers. This photo is so bad, but the food was so good! Steve made his family bread recipe- yum, filet minon, tomato and basil salad, fruit salad....ah! I love food.

Cheers!

Random fun and life

 Everytime we go outside, I feel so refreshed and energized. One random day, Steve stayed home with Maddie and Sebastian and Emilie and I went on a hike. It was awesome and so fun just to spend time with her. For such a little skinny fairy, Emilie is an awesome hiker and practically runs up the mountain.

 This is our favorite spot where we have a picnic, soak up the sun and look at the bay area views with dead silence. Love it.

 We signed Emi up for some soccer and this was the first happy day- sadly, everything went down from there and we had to get our money back! Yuck- I think she didn't the rough house boys, so we are going to retry with an all girls team.

 Chilln out at lunch.

 This is one of the two days that it's rained this year, and we jump at the chance to wear our boots. This little guy is adorable.

 We found a drop in Play place- the best ever...

 Played at the park with old preschool friends...

 Mini Golf! Playing with three kids is hard by yourself!

 Maddie's aunt and uncle sent her some money for her birthday and she jumped at the chance to bike to 7/11 to get her favorite treats!

 Lov'n that icecream :)

 Sebastian is the greatest little toddler- even though he is guilty of hitting and throwing right now, he is the first to hug/kiss you once he does... which is a step in the right direction? He loves to sing, and we find him humming his favorite songs (twinkle twinkle, BINGO, wheels on the bus, and sometimes Frozen songs?)... I kind of can't believe it, because he is so young, but we all hear it all the time! He is obsessed with trucks and shows us, tells us, and sees trucks everywhere. It is hilarious and completely coming from him 100%. He has started to tell the difference between cars/trucks/buses- yay! His other favorite words are apple, baby, mama and gin (for guinea pig).

 We signed up for a monthly craft box which has been an interesting experience- we love it when it comes, but do the crafts in one day! There just needs to be more!!

 We spend tons of time at the playground after school... everyone is happier outside!

Maddie's Birthday!!

This year instead of a birthday party with friends, Maddie wanted to celebrate with the family- which we all thought was a great idea! We went out to Maddie's choice- Panda Express aka fatty Panda, and then went to the opening night of Frozen- which the girls loved! This lucky girl also got her first tablet so she can read as many books she wants... and so far it has been such a good buy. We love the parental controls, and she gets to play games, read books, watch videos...

I can't believe Maddie turned 7, and it makes us sad! She really is growing too fast, and we are trying to slow it down as much as we can. We are so lucky to be her parents- sounds trite, but she is really the greatest little girl ever. Smart, caring, thoughtful...and creative. Everyday she is creating something new with a craft, or a game, or a song. She definitely is not a follower, and it makes us proud! She also has such a tender heart and is always doing the right things which is most important of all. She loves to cook and makes a killer greek salad. She is one of the best students in her class, is learning piano like a star, loves basketball, trading pokemon cards, everything crafts, the park, riding her bike, making forts, playing with her sister and brother, coloring, making bracelets. We love her very much.

Family Sealing

It was a long wait, but we finally went to the LDS temple to get sealed as a family (story very abbreviated, but we believe that families can be "sealed" for eternity in a special ceremony in the temple which unites husband and wife, children to parents etc.) When Sebastian joined our family, we were very excited to have this ceremony with him :) We decided to fly out to Steve's family so they could be a part of it.... and here are the details!

We really couldn't take photos in the temple, but it was very sweet, and I will remember the feelings we felt there forever. We are very grateful that we could do this as a family, and grateful that Steve's family was able to join us there. Maddie and Gabby are great cousins, and this was the first picture I took. (sorry you are out of focus Gabby! We miss them terribly, and wish we could see them more).

 The epic family picture!

 The younger, yet mightier, cousins. Super adorable.

And of course, the man of the hour. I had a really hard time finding clothes for the special day, but thought this little outfit was perfect for him :) He is such a cutie.

 Oh, the bowtie. Even if it's not on straight, still cute.

 Lol. Long day!

I love this picture because it is just pure Sebastian. He is so energetic, loves running, and laughing and chasing, and everything boy. Love him lots.

 A great photo of the grandparents and some of the grandkids!? (we missed Rune and Mina and Sam and Matt and Grace and Johnny)

Well, and this had nothing to do with the temple, but Emi loves little Johnny, and they are darn cute if I do say so myself.

We hired a photographer for the morning to take family portraits and here are some of those highlights:

Yes, super cheesy, but super special!!!