Monterey Bay Aqaurium

On New Years Eve Dan had the day off and wanted to go on a big outing with the kids. He took them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is a couple hours away. We've been down there before but the kids have always wanted to go back. Here are a few of the pictures they took:

Getting ready to start exploring!

The Jellyfish:

Looking for whales:

The fish:

The penguins:

They all had so much fun and no one got lost! Way to go Dan!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Dan's birthday was the end of December, but I'm still attempting to catch up on our blog for a bit. At a whoppin' 29 he is only one year away from the big 3-0! :)

Now, we all know I'm not a mushy girl... but, I can't help saying how lucky I am to have married this awesome guy. He takes amazingly great care of me and he is the best daddy to these kids there could be. We all adore and love him more than imaginable. So, happy birthday Dan!!!

We had a really fun day with the kids. First we went shopping all together which Dan always wants to do but I refuse (it is quite an event!) and then out to lunch as a family afterwards.

When we got home while Dan was taking a nap with Cali, me and the boys decorated the house, made a cake together and wrapped up his presents.

The kids picked him out some cars or star wars toy they thought he would like... he of course did. He loves toys as much as they do!

Here's his colorful cake... that's a lot of candles!

So. Cal Family visits

Josh and Alex's family were able to visit us on their way to see Alex's family in No. Cal last week. We're so glad they stopped and were surprised at how much fun we can have in such a short time (hint: there's a lot more time if you stay up until 4:00 in the morning!)

Here's a few pictures we got:

Lunch... quite a crew! We realized Brooklyn is the same age that my oldest sister, Casey was when I was a baby... that's a whole lot of little kids!

And here are some cute pics we got of the kids walking Max to school.

Our First Christmas... at home :)

I just keep pluggin' away at this blogging thing... still not giving up! It's that time of year when at least one person in the house is sick at all times, but I think we might actually be done! Hence, I finally have some time to try and catch up on the blog. Starting with Christmas:

This was the very first time since Dan and I have been married that we spent Christmas by ourselves. I was a little nervous, but pleasantly surprised to find out how much fun it was. Dan had been working like crazy since we got home from Utah so we didn't get to do much as a family. But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day he was home and we had a great time.

We had to go up to the Temple and see the lights... it looks like it was snowing (ha!) but it was just raining like crazy. It's always so pretty (not that you can tell from the picture), but we're still glad we went!

The kids making cookies for Santa and decorating Gingerbread houses. Poor Lincoln started feeling sick right in the middle of it all and kept throwing up. He would make a weird face, say his tummy hurt and then throw up everywhere. But then he was right back into the fun... he refused to let being sick get in the way! He is one funny kid.

Our little Christmas Eve program. We sang songs, played a game, did the nativity and talked about the Savior's example to us.

We let the kids open a couple presents. First their Christmas jammies. They were so thrilled to have Star Wars pjs! Lincoln was still throwing up and threw up on his pants. He was so upset that he couldn't wear them to bed.

Then their presents from each other. They had all picked out books for each other.

Dan read Twas the Night before Christmas and the kids went right to sleep.

Christmas morning once all the kids were awake we started the unwrapping. By now poor Cali had gotten caught up in the sick bug, but she was a trooper.

Max and Doman were so thrilled they got Lego Star Wars from Santa (and I was happy they didn't mind getting a shared present from Santa!)

Lincoln got a little racetrack from Santa.

... and Cali got a ball. :) Seriously, we just don't need any more toddler toys around here!

She also got a few pairs of shoes. :) I had already gotten them, so I wrapped them up and she was so happy. She is way in love with shoes right now so it was perfect.

Then we spent the entire day in our pajamas playing with all the new toys. It was so fun and actually a bit relaxing. Plus with Dan home we got a lot of cleaning done. :) We were sad we had to miss our nice dinner with some ward friends, but the kids were so sick we thought it'd be mean to give it to other little kids on Christmas. But we had a great time playing at home.