Scouting...

Yup. We're heading down this road now. Ian's pretty excited about Scouting because he gets to hang out with his buddies once a week and he has awesome den leaders! I'm glad he likes it but I feel a little intimidated by the whole thing...I'm still trying to wrap my brain around all the patches, bobcats, cubs, wolfs, beads, belt loops, den, troop and the rest of the Scout jargon. Ben and his four brothers are all Eagle Scouts so the pressure is on!

Big Old Recap

Well, blogging has been at the bottom of my to-do list and since the holidays aren't officially over until the boys have had their joint birthday, I'm entitled to my extra-long blogging break, right?
Thanks, readers.

Well, here's what we've been up to since last time y'all tuned in.

T'was the Night Before Christmas

We decided leave for our Utah on the Eve of Christmas Eve since the weather forecast predicted snow, snow, snow for almost the entire week of Christmas. We stopped in St. George for the night at my sister Stefanie's, and ate breakfast at the best breakfast place EVER...the Bear Paw Cafe. They serve everything you could ever want for breakfast all day, every day. YUM!



We surprised Ben's family on Christmas Eve and my family on Christmas day. It was great to see the stunned look on everyone's faces when we showed up two days early!



Once there was a Snowman

The kids had a blast playing in the new-fallen snow. Even though it was 17 degrees. Kate and daddy made a snowman.

I'll be home for Christmas

For the first time all year my entire family was together including my parents, my 4 siblings, 6 grandkids, 3 in-laws, one boyfriend and the cat, Samantha.

What Child is This

Every time I see my baby sister Julie, we have to compare feet. Not mine, Ian's. Yes, my eight-year-old has about the same size feet as my 23 year-old sis. In fact, they are officially bigger for the first time.

Happy Birthday to You

Ben and Ian celebrated their joint birthday at Disneyland. The promotion this year gives you free entrance into the park, or a gift card in the amount of the entrance fee! Ian got $59 to spend and Ben got $69.
And we saw this starlet up close and personal hanging out with some friends by Tomorrowland. She even smiled at me!


Auld Lang Syne

Because we left early for Utah, we had to come home early. We spent our first New Year's Eve in California! Ben and I rung in the New Year at home, all alone, for the first time since we got married.
New Year's Day our kids begged us to go to the beach. The weather was cool but sunny, but when we got to Corona del Mar, it was foggy and freezing. We explored the tide pools, saw a seal and the kids got in the ocean even though the water was less than comfortable. Crazy kids!