You can't beat Christmas in California when you could be in Maryland with temperatures in the low 30's! This was Ethan's first Christmas and Shawn had his first visit to Disneyland!
Sharing in special holiday moments and memories with loved ones is what the holidays are all about. Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed their time with their grandsons! We were treated to a sail in the San Diego Harbor on one of San Diego's many sunny days. Note the lavender hat on Ethan. Long story short, we (I) forgot to pack his hat for the trip. Matt bought the $1.99 lavender hat over a $5.99 BOY hat to be "thrifty". Wait until Ethan is bigger than you Matt...
We even had our own version of "Iron Chef" between me and my brother. The competition: Who could make the best candy cane cookie. I am lucky I was able to submit some decent cookies with greg attempting to sabatoge my entries by karate-chopping my cookie dough...I think he was threatened.
Greg was having difficulty getting his cookies uniform...but we admire the effort. I'll let you pick which one is which. :-)
Despite the barage of attacks from my brother, I tried to have sibly love prevail. I don't think he was buying it.
It finally came down to the judging. Dad was unfortunately in the hot seat. Our "entries" were judged on appearance and taste.
It was a difficult win to accept but one of us had to prevail. Congratulations Greg for coming in second place. But only by a small margin...but a win is a win. Good times.
Christmas morning finally came and Santa was really good to these two boys! Ethan was chillin', not knowing what he was missing. The boys of the house had a great time playing with all the toys!
The day after Christmas we drove to Blythe to see Matt's sister and her family - Angie, John, JJ, Anna, and Katie. Shawn had a greta time with his cousins! Angie really looks forward to seeing family from the east coast! JJ and Anna received a quad for Christmas and the kids broke it in.
We did a lot of driving in a few days, even driving out to the outskirts of Phoenix to see my Grandma. It was worth every mile. Shawn even remembered his last visit and all the cactus in my Grandma's yard. I hope he rememebrs these visits and how much my Grandma means to me. She welcomed us with a pot roast dinner. It was delicious! I love you Grandma.
During our trip Angie and I took the kids to the park and Angie caught this on her camera. I know she has it on her website, but i had to include it on ours too. I know it's sideways - no way around that. The video speaks for itself - too cute.
Our last night we roasted marshmallows on their open pit fire - good planning on that one John! We had a great visit - we love you guys! Wish you lived on the east coast - or better yet - wish we lived in sunny SoCal! - Matt, do you want to move?
And - BIG J - guradian of the marshmallows!!
We had to eventually return to Maryland. We left early on New Years Day - in a way, a great way to beginthe new year, to end the last one so well with wonderful memories. We had so much to be grateful for this year. We welcomed a new son and have watched Shawn become a wonderful brother to Ethan. We are rich with love for each other, family and our Heavenly Father. Thank you yo our families for making this a wonderful Christmas. We love you all.
