Last Day at the Beach House

On Saturday, our last day at the beach house, we went to see The Princess and the Frog and then to visit some friends for a little bit and then went back to the the house to start packing and cleaning. After dinner we had a little birthday party for Mason with a pinata. It was one of the best pinatas I've been apart of because no one got hurt and everyone took turns patiently. It was great and the boys had lots of fun.

I had to help Adam get his treats when the pinata broke because he was scared of everyone grabbing everything. So I just pulled a little pile for him outside of the hoard of little kids and he very calmed picked everything up one by one and put it in his bag.

Here's the boys with their pinata loot.

The next morning we got up and finished our last packing and then went to church with everyone at the Spanish branch and then we drove straight home. We didn't get home until almost midnight and Matthew had a very rough ride home but we made it. Matthew did throw up all over me and I had to change clothes in a moving car but other than that there were no major problems. We were happy to be back at home and grateful for the wonderful trip we had in California with family. We put the boys to bed but not until they had checked to see if Santa had come to our house in Utah also. Once assured that he had and that they would open presents in the morning they readily crashed into bed.

Christmas

Christmas morning we agreed to all get up at 8:00 am (after going to bed at 1:00 am) and do Santa presents with the kids. Here's our boys' stash on the couch. The only thing I didn't like about the trip was having to figure out what to do for a present for the beach house. Something that didn't have a hundred pieces and would get lost and something that was small enough to pack etc. But in the end my worries were really just unfounded because everything worked out great.

Matthew opening his present from Santa with his grandma.

Our little family with the boys' presents from Santa on Christmas morning.

After presents the girls were in charge of making Christmas breakfast. We made crepes with lots of different fillings and they were delicious. I was in charge of making the crepes and I think I made about 150 of them. That's me over in the corner slaving away.

This is Matthew eating Cheerios for his Christmas breakfast.

After breakfast we spent the rest of the day on the beach in front of the house. This was the first and only day that the tide receeded enough to give us a beach. Every other day the tide was extremely high and the ocean was rough. One night this loud thud woke me up and I thought Jacob had fallen out of bed and ran to check on him. He was just fine and that's when I realized that it was the ocean waves hitting the sea wall. They were hitting so hard the house would shake. But on Christmas we had a little beach and just little calm waves. It was great. This is David with his only sister, Malena. Isn't she beautiful? Oh and David's handsome, too!

This is Jacob playing with Malena's dog, Max. But Jacob calls him Maxcido like the other kids. He's a hairless dog and the boys were fascinated by him.

A few brave souls took the kayaks out into the ocean. The water was freezing but they seemed to have a good time. David was loving it and trying to convince me to go out on the kayak with him but I didn't want to get in the cold water. So he went out with one of the boys and a wave knocked them over and he lost his sunglasses. Bummer! Azu and I stayed nice and dry on the sea wall steps.

After the cold ocean, I put Matthew down for a nap and spent an hour in the hot tub with the other adults just chatting away. It was a great relaxing Christmas day with wonderful company. And I didn't miss the snowy white Christmas that was happening back in Utah one bit.

Christmas Eve dinner and talent show

Growing up in Mexico David celebrated Christmas the night of the 24th. They had their big family dinner and then opened presents. I love that tradition because the 24th we always celebrate with David's family and the 25th with my family. And then it always works out great. So after our Santa Barbara trip the 27 of us sat down to a dinner of delicous grilled ribs and tons of different side dishes prepared by everyone.

After dinner we had a family talent show and each family performed. David's only assignment to get ready for this trip was to figure out what we were doing for our talent. On the way down we stopped in Las Vegas for a little dinner and while sitting in the restaurant David confessed that he had no plan for the talent show, so I suggested that he do a magic show. David's always showing the boys different card tricks and making money appear in unpeeled oranges and putting coins inside sealed soda cans. So David started planning out his show which I must say (in my very bias opinion) was very entertaining. Jacob started the show with a magic trick of his own and then he and Adam were David's assistants. On the last trick I got to be David's assistant since fire was involved.

I had to included this picture of Ben, little Ben and Azu because I love Ben's shoes. They sang Jingle Bell Rock for us and it ws highly entertaining. Sister Parra wrote a beautiful peom about the Savior's hands that she recited to us and then showed us a beautiful cross stiching we had done of the Savior's hands. After our show we had dessert and then got ready for Santa to come. The boys were so exhausted I had no trouble getting them to go to sleep for the night. In fact that night Matthew went to bed before dinner at about 4:30 and never woke up until the next morning at 7:00 am.

Santa Barbara

We spent a beautiful sunny Christmas Eve in Santa Barbara. We rented three of these bikes and went on this bike path along the beach.

After our hour long bike ride, we all got popsicles. Below left to right: Adam, Josh, Mason, Andrew, Jacob and little Jessica in front. Mason and Andrew just turned 7 and are only a month apart. Jacob and Josh will turn 6 in March and April respectively. Then Adam is 3 1/2 and Jessica is 2. The boys really loved playing with their cousins.

After our popsicles, we walked along the pier and through the little shops. The kids made souvenier pennies. Left to right: Mason, Jordan, Josh, Andrew, Jacob and Adam.

After the pier everyone went there seperate ways to get ready for our big dinner that night. I had woken up early and done my shopping and cooking so we had time to take the boys to the beach. They were so excited to put on their wetsuits and get in the ocean. We collected shells, seaweed and rocks and the boys chased the waves. It was so fun to see the pure delight on their faces as the ran in the waves. Even Matthew had a ball playing in the sand. Then he face planted and ate a big mouthful and he didn't think it was so fun anymore. We left shortly after that.