Sunshine and flowers in grandmas backyard

Here we are in Simi Valley!

Sarah said it is a real treat to get to see Uncle Wayne and Aunt Jolene!

Elizabeth's look

Chances are if you talk to Elizabeth, this is what you'll see... The trying not to smile,

the angry eyes,

the full blown pout!

Then, if you are really lucky, you will see her beautiful smile! She is a funny girl!

Upgrades!

We finally got a new couch. Even my mom said it was about time! Our old couch wasn't bad, it just isn't what I wanted, ever. We got it for the basement when we moved to Michigan. It fit, it was cheap and I was pregnant and tired of sitting on different couches. It served its purpose and I am happy to say goodbye to it!
We've actually been looking for something new for quite a while. I haven't found anything here in Chico and everyone here knows, there aren't a lot of places to look. So when Costco put out furniture this year, we looked. I liked what they had, but didn't feel like it was much of a change. Our room is beautiful, lots of natural light, really open, and totally overwhelming to me when I think of decorating it! So, we didn't buy anything. Then, my friend Shelly did a little decorating of her own and I fell in love with the rug she got. Guess what, she got it at Costco! I asked her if she minded too much if we had the same rug and she said no (I hope she meant it!). So we looked at Costco again, with a whole new perspective. I LOVE the rug! It is just what our HUGE room needed. I feel like I can start adding other stuff now that I have this foundation! So thank you Shelly for all of your decorating advice and the use of your truck to haul your furniture! Thank you also to my super strong friends who helped me surprise Donald by moving the new couch in and the old one out while he was a work! I enjoyed the time we spent moving furniture! Cindy and Jenny, you are both so strong!

As long as I'm posting updates of the house... Just before Christmas we got a bedroom set. We've been married 13 and 1/2 years and for the first time we have real bedroom furniture! I do admit to missing Donald's old teenage furniture and using our living room end tables as night stands, but this furniture more than makes up for that! There isn't a foot board, so Donald is happy (yes, his feet do hang off the bottom of the bed and yes, it is a Cal King bed) and there are even two storage drawers under the bed for linens. The big bonus for the kids is that they can crawl under neath and therefor have a new hideout! The house is really starting to come together. Please don't be shocked if we do something drastic like say, paint!? (No Angelee, the bedroom set isn't from Costco!)

We were happy to have Wayne and Jolene visit us between Christmas and New Year's. It was the only family we saw this holiday and we were so glad to have them. They are super easy house guests and seem to really enjoy being around the kids! Thanks for the visit!

Sarah playing beauty parlor with Aunt Jolene. Jolene very patiently
let her paint her nails!

Uncle Wayne playing with Elizabeth. I think they really bonded on this trip!

We had a fire in the fire pit on new Year's Eve. All of the wood was really wet, but Wayne was so patient getting the fire going. The kids were terrified of the flames and sparks, so they hid behind a piece of cardboard!

Dressed for Church the day after Christmas. Yes, it is the best one!

Super Joshua and his super special bear, Berry (that is as in blueberry!).

The kids left cookies and notes for Santa. When I was little, I always wanted to leave cookies for Santa, but was afraid to ask. I think I thought my parents would think it was a dumb idea. I'm glad the kids want to, how sweet is that?

Santa brought Elizabeth a rocking horse.

Joshua got Joker's Fun House.

Sarah and Molly got an American Girl Horse.

The very special gifts I got from Sarah. Each evening in December we sit around the fireplace and read a story about Jesus' birth, helping to get us prepared for Christmas. Elizabeth isn't in the picture since we always put her to bed, then did our reading. Joshua gave me a very sweet hand print as well, but the pictures didn't come out good of it.