Crazy December

December is always craziness for us and this year proved to be worse than usual. In addition to our son being diagnosed earlier this month, my mom has also been in ill-health, so I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit as much this year. We only half decorated the outside of the house and didn't do some of our yearly traditions this year, but we still enjoyed our Christmas since we got to spend a lot of time with family. I'm going to be posting this stuff out of order since I'm not done editing my Christmas day photos, but this is what we've done since Christmas.

 

 The day after Christmas we loaded up the van and drove to my mom's house. We were bummed to learn that my younger brother wasn't going to be able to be around the same time we were so we didn't get to see all the nieces, but we did at least get to hang out with Josh's family for a bit.

 

 

  

Lindsay and Ella are only a year apart so when the kids get together, they are pretty much inseparable. They used to bicker when they were younger, but they really get along well now that they've gotten a little older. It's nice to see my kids really bond with their cousins even though we only see them a couple times a year.

 Hannah is really funny about Bailey. She calls her "Big Girl" and is pretty much attached to Bailey's hip when we're around. I love to see what a caring and loving girl Bailey is with her young cousin.

 

I knew when we were going out to Cali that I wanted to do a quick shoot with two of my favorite girls and I came up with a few cute shots considering I did it in really high contrast lighting in my mom's front yard in about five minutes. These two are such sweet sisters, I just can't get enough of them.

 

 Ella was a super pro when I told her I wanted to take photos. We got out there and she posed and smiled nicely, it only took a couple pics to get a great one of her.

 

 

Hannah is ever the goofball, so it was a different story with her, but I couldn't help but laugh at the poses she was giving me to work with. She's such a funny girl.

 

 The day after we got there, we met up with Jason's family at the Irvine Spectrum where we hung out all afternoon.

 

We met them at the Barnes & Noble and Dianna was shocked when we got there that Bailey was about her height. If she hadn't been wearing boots that made her a little taller, I think her niece would be the same height. Definitely by the next time we're together Bailey will outgrow her aunt.

While we were hanging out at B&N, Lindsay looked awful cute in some of her Christmas gifts.

We found this hat at a stall at the Spectrum and Cole was in heaven.

Of course we also found a stall that had really cute flowers for your hair so the girls got to pick out some accessories too.

I couldn't resist snapping one of my sister in law by herself. Since she travels all over the world, we hardly get to see her any more so it was really nice to spend some time with her.

And I know Jason always has a great time hanging out with her.

Especially when he gets to take shots at her. I think every time we get together they have to take a shot like this because we have one taken years ago when Jason was still a teenager. Now we can't even get them to pose that way without laughing.

Of course I got to have my fun with my husband when I was telling his family about all the grays he has (hey, I have all the other problems with old age, he has to have one I don't have!), so I got his mom and his sister to inspect his hair for the grays for me.

The kids were happy that Grandma and Grandpa were with us when after mom told them she wasn't buying tickets to the carousel G&G bought them tickets to the carousel and the Ferris wheel. It's always nice to have G&G around to spoil the kids.

It was nice to hang out with them for the afternoon and I know the kids really miss their extended family since we see them once or twice a year.

We all made out like bandits too with gifts from them, the kids all got activity books and gift cards to spend and Jason and I got a nice meal one night this week while the kids were gone with their gift cards to us. Of course I could have done without the A's pillow pet that they gave my husband; I had a difficult time allowing it in the house. Now I'm just trying to think of creative things I can do with it. At least it's an American League team, anything to do with the Giants would have to be burned first to make it look better (sorry, Matt, no Giants stuff for J!). But I think they were equally happy with the gifts we gave them which made us really happy. So while it was a whirlwind trip, it was nice to see our family and celebrate the holidays.