Dinner with the Crosier Family

It was fun to have the Cosier family over for dinner one night.  Scott is one of Donald's oldest friends and Brenda and I have always gotten along easily.  The kids seemed to have a great time and we all remarked on how funny it is that when we lived in Chico, much closer to where they live in the Sacramento area, we hardly saw them.  Now that we are back in Simi Valley, we will probably see them when they visit their family!  How fun!

 

 

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning we got up and opened presents.  I was surprised the kids all slept until about 7:00!  We were in our matching pajamas, even Donald and me, and the kids were so happy and appreciative of all they got!
 

 

 

After we opened our gifts and got dressed, we headed over to my parents for brunch.  Brenda was really sick, so they stayed home.  The rest of us exchanged presents and enjoyed seeing how cute August was on his first Christmas!

 

 

 

Christmas dress up

I took these pictures the Sunday before Christmas after seeing a picture of them dressed up sitting in front of the tree from a few years ago.  They all look so BIG!
 

 

Christmas Eve

We are having such beautiful weather here!  It makes it that much better knowing that Michigan is really suffering, even having a huge ice storm right before Christmas.  Having lived through that awful weather, I can truly appreciate the nice weather here.  On Christmas Eve, I was out in the yard, cutting roses!  I had a whole bouquet to put on the island for Christmas and they smelled so good every time I went to do dishes!


We went to Donald's mom's for Christmas Eve dinner.  I was fighting a headache and thought Donald was taking pictures....
The kids loved their gifts and had extra stuff to open since Vickie's friend Ann was visiting from Chico!  Our favorite moment was when Elizabeth opened her gift, a talking pony that she really, really wanted, and she said "Oh no not this!"  We were all surprised, then she said "My mom told we we couldn't get this because it was just going to break!".  Poor girl was so torn, she was really excited and wanted it, but believed me that I said it looked like it would easily break!  In my defense, it has these plastic wings that stick out and they look like they are going to snap right off!  But, isn't that what grandmas are for?  To buy the stuff that mom says no to?  **See Sarah's giant panda birthday gift form Grandma Doris as further evidence!

Donald got this.  He should tell about it, aparently it is really cool and he would have loved it as a kid!  Ash was pretty excited about it too!

 

Christmas Cookie Decorating

This is one of my favorite things to do with the kids- make and decorate cookies.  We miss Keilana being able to decorate with us, but were lucky to have my mom drop by!  Joshua is getting to be quite a pro, using the piping bag to outline his cookie, then using a toothpick, like he sees me, to spread around the icing.  The kids love going crazy with sprinkles and making special cookies for them selves or to give to someone.  The cookies are starting to look nicer and nicer too!  I only made a few "fancy" cookies.  My favorite was the Grinch, but the picture didn't show up in my photo stream.  I'll add it later or do more next year!
 

 

 

 

 

Funny boy

We were just curling up to watch a Christmas movie and I noticed Joshua's hair all slicked back. I asked him if he just combed his hair and he said yes. I asked why he combed his hair at bedtime and he said, "I need to look good in case I meet a pretty girl in my dreams!"

Some girl will be lucky to get him!

The Christmas Tree Train

We had gotten used to going into the mountains to cut down our Christmas tree, so we weren't sure what we would do here in Simi Valley.  Donald looked on line and found The Christmas Tree Train out in Fillmore.  It was fun!  We boarded the train and rode for about 45 minutes to Santa Paula and the tree farm there.  Donald was super worried I wouldn't like the type of tree they have there, but I actually love it!  They are Monterey Pine trees and it is what I grew up with.  The smell is so strong, the whole house smelled like pine in the morning!  Plus, I think it looks pretty!



 

They had a bunch of Christmas decorations to look at while we waited to board the train.

 

The kids on the train.  It was such a nice day that we chose an outside car for the ride out!

 

I gave Joshua the camera to keep him busy and he took a LOT of pictures!  These aren't the best but it shows a little of how pretty it was on the train.  We were passing orange groves and avocado orchids with the hills in the background.  I know it isn't a very traditional Christmas setting, but I love it!

 

Santa came around for a photo op just before we got to the tree farm. 

We selected our tree right away and each kid took a turn trying to help.  I even tried, unsuccessfully!  It is a good thing Donald was there!

 

It was just so pretty with the mountains in the background!

 

 

 

 

 

Another picture with Santa!

Waiting for the train to take us back.  I don't know if we will make it a tradition, but it sure was a fun adventure for this year!

 

Donald's work party

Two weeks ago, Donald and I went to Santa Barbara for the weekend for his work's holiday party. I was a bit nervous about it, spending the whole weekend with the other radiologists and their spouses and trying to fit in and all that. Friday night was the formal dinner. The food wan nice, but it was very late when we ate and I was so tired, but we still had a nice time. Saturday was a "surprise activity". I was dreading not knowing what the day held, but it ended up being ok. They took us wine tasting to three different wineries. Well, since we don't drink, it was a bit awkward, but they had us on the "party bus" where the seats all faced the middle and by time we got there, several people were feeling motion sickness creeping in and we were not the only ones not drinking. The second winery was the best, it had a nice fireplace and they served us lunch on the patio. Normally that would have been nice, but it was extremely cold that weekend, so everyone gulped down their food and headed back inside. The third winery was not ready for us and they sent us into a back storage room! By then a lot of people didn't want anymore to drink, so again, we blended in and it was fine.

Church Christmas Party

Last weekend was the church Christmas party. The food was good and everyone had fun. At the end, they had Santa and the kids got to tell him what they wanted. I am so glad we didn't have to go to the mall for that!