Post Christmas

So the day after Christmas, we packed up and headed to LA for our last use of our season passes to Six Flags. We stayed with the Felten’s and they came with us. It was a quick trip-only 3 days since Julio had to get back to work. We had a great time and it was so nice for the cousins to be able to spend time together.

It was unusually cold that day! We struggled to keep warm!Julio and Elliott took the big kids on the rollercoasters.Yesenia and I stayed with the little girls.

I was pooped at the end of the day, but Lucia an d Marco wanted to go “see the city”. So Julio took them to Griffith Park. I stayed home with the girls. I’m bummed we didn’t get any pictures of Yesenia and Valerie-who was home on Christmas break.

It was the end of a great year! We went to Six Flags a total of 10 times from April to December. I think we definitely got our money out of them! Maybe in a couple of years we’ll get season passes again.

Christmas Day

I think this is the last year that all of our kids believe in…you know who. Lucia is just way too smart not to have figured it out yet. I’m glad my kids aren’t early risers, since they have such a hard time getting to sleep on Christmas Eve, which causes us to go to bed much later. They got up around 8 am. We always make them come into our room for family prayer before we go see what’s under the tree.

Pre-unwrapping

Surprise! I got a bike!Some of the aftermathGifts from Grandma and Grandpa

Uncle BWe got Grandma and Grandpa a new bedding set (they really needed it)

He loved his big dogShe was soooo excited to get Cuca-luca (a character from Minnie’s Bow-tique on Disney Channel)

Chilling with GrandpaWe had the Elders Dunn and Burdett over for dinner and played some games.We had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, and lots of yummy stuff.What an exhausting but fun day!

Christmas Eve 2014

These are the years to cherish. Our kids are all at that magical age-it’s so much fun to see their excitement and anticipation on Christmas Eve.  Julio did work again on Christmas Eve, but we still were able to make it to the Free Zoo day-got there with a couple of hours to spare before they closed. It’s a tradition now-we’ve gone 3 years in a row.

It was cold, but always fun.

 

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa’s. We had a delicious dinner-chicken croussaints and Julio’s fancy chocolate cake for dessert. We didn’t do much else. We played a few games, the Felts came over. We let the kids open their Christmas pjs and then we left around 9 pm.

Family Photo

Pre-Christmas activities

We missed our ward’s christmas party this year, so we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s party instead-it was a brunch and very kid friendly. We had a lot of fun.

We made a gingerbread house

We made our own snowman

Visit with Santa. Lucia asked for movie tickets?, Marco asked for a cell phone, Sylvia asked for a Lalaloopsy, and Tessa asked for a Frozen book.

We went to see some different Christmas lights in Roseville this year-a little break from our normal tradition of Dovewood Court. I think next year, we’ll return to our our regular tradition.

We of course did all the other stuff, decorated the tree, took the kids to the Pancake breakfast at the school, watched lots of Christmas movies, went Christmas shopping, baked lots of cookies and delivered them to friends and teachers. It’s a magical time of year that helps us remember our Savior and His birth.

One Sunday in December

Turkey Trot

At the kids’ school, they do a running competition every fall. The kids have to qualify by running about 3/4 of a mile around a course. The top 10 runners for girls and boys grades 3-5 qualify for the Turkey Trot and the first place winner each gets a free turkey. Lucia and Marco both qualified this year, so I went to watch them compete. The PE teacher predicted that Lucia would win for the girls since she had been getting the best time. Marco was up against 4th and 5th graders and was the smallest kid out there, so he thought of it as a practice run for next year. The girls ran first. They were all kind of bunched up at the starting line when the whistle was blown, but one girl was on the end and got a good take off from the starting line-she got a really good lead so Lucia wasn’t able to catch up and came in 2nd place. I was really proud of her! Marco was towards the back of the pack when a boy in front of him tripped and fell, causing Marco to fall over him. He got back up though and ran his heart out-coming in 8th place and beating 2 4th graders! He couldn’t breath at the end of it, but I was so proud of him for not giving up! I see two future track stars here.