California- Great Start to the New Year

We had the BEST time in California with the Young's. 

Day 1. We got there Saturday evening so the Sunday we went to church and then celebarated Ashur's birthday with tacos and a piñata. We also celebrated New Year's by drinking sparkling cider and going to bed early hahaha. Since we were tired from the drive and had a bid day at Disney the next day. 

Day 2. Cade and I took Lucy and Nora to Disney's California Adventure! Since we took Emma and Reese to London back in October, we told Nora and Lulu we would do a couple days at Disneyland with them. We had the BEST time! The girls loved the jumping jellyfish and golden zephyr that we had never even been on. The first ride we went on was the Carsland one and I didn't think Lucy would ever forgive us for making her go on it :). Then we did the Spiderman ride and Lucy was not a fan of so many new things. But she asked LOTS of questions before we went on and survived just fine! We were proud of her for tryin g so many new things because we know that new sometimes provokes some anxiety. She did great. 

Nora was just getting over a sickness so she was pretty spent by mid afternoon. But a nice worker found some Ibuprofen for us and that kept her going for a bit longer. It was a full day with lots of fun!

Oh, I didn't mention but since it was New Year's morning there were hardly any people in the park for the first 3 hours. It was so great. Everyone else had stayed up the night before, but not us :). 

Day 3. Just random beach and play day. The kids even went swimming even though it was only high 60's outside. They were frozen by the end but had fun. Cade took the older 4 kiddos to the Newport temple to do baptisms. 

Day 4. We took Grandpa and Shepherd to Disneyland with us. We had a great time at Starwars land and all the things. Unfortunately Lucy got a fever that afternoon so she ran out of energy and fell asleep on the sidewalk just before the parade started. 

We loved the time with our girls though. So much fun. 

End of the trip. The last day us ladies went out to a fancy restaurant and walked the shops and beach. It was so nice to go out with just us! That evening we also had a glow dance party and had a blast. We always have so much fun with this side of the family! And we also love that we have a giant van that gives us space on our road trips. Makes us look forward to lots of fun times ahead!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning!

 Christmas Eve this year fell on a Sunday and it was so perfect. I love being able to sing praises and worship together with so many other people--especially on a special Christmas Eve. 

For Christmas Eve dinner we had both sets of Grandparents over and Boose Boose. It was so much fun! We had a big breakfast for dinner, then exchanged "Gifts from the heart" (Jane was too excited to wait until the end) and did lots of music and singing together and ended with the Christmas story from the Bible. 

For gift from the heart Emma gave Lucy a box with pictures of Lucy and her friends/family on it. Lucy gave Jane a tied fleece blanket (avocado kitty print!). Jane gave Nora some homemade elephant suckers. Nora gave Reese some candy bar Twix dogs. And Reese gave Emma a glass plate with pictures modge-podged on it. I love seeing how excited they are to give their gifts to each other. So much fun. 

And then there was Christmas morning! Always magical and exciting. The girls run into our room at 7:00 am sharp! Some fun gifts the kids got were a balance board, t-ball set, polaroid cameras and "Bluey" shirts (the pickle gifts). We gave Grandma Close a big framed genealogy family tree--it was beautiful. And we gave Grandpa Close a book about the treehouse he made in his backyard. It was pretty special to give those gifts. 

Most of all we love our Savior, Jesus Christ. For the peace and joy we can feel through him even during hard time and hard days. I love my family so incredibly much. They are the best gift I could have every received...and they are mine FOREVER!