Back in Cali.....and Getting ready for Christmas!!!

We had an AMAZING November - leaving Cali on November 5 and driving to Utah - yes just me and the 3 kiddos went on our own --- and it was actually a great drive minus one little hiccup of Griffin choking on his sucker and throwing up all over himself! But we made it, and not even too much longer than planned, and there we had the best trip ever!  It was SOOOOO fun!  And soooo packed!  We had at least one fun activity planned every single day we were there - and sometimes 2 or 3 playdates/activities!  It was SOOOO great to see so many friends and catch up!  I was so busy having fun, as usual I didn't take hardly ANY pictures of the trip.  But it was great!  Thanks to Grammy for having us!

A highlight for me was going to the temple with my cute SIL Hollie!  She is around 30 weeks prego (yeah you can hardly tell at all in this picture) and so we just did initiatories.  It was my first experience and a great one!  

 We always have a blast on our playdates with these cute girls!  I love it because Hilary and I get to chat the whole time and she was so cute and had a fun thanksgiving craft for us to do each time.  Here they were playing pirates and doing their best pirate faces - LOVE Nora's faces - she was really into it as you can see!

 The last night we were there it rained and there was the most amazing double rainbows!  Simply beautiful!

Chip flew in the 16th late just in time to entertain the boys at Chuck-E-Cheese while I helped my mom host a baby shower, go on a date with me that night with my sister and her BF, and then wake up early to drive to AZ for Thanksgiving with his family.  I am so glad he came....it made the trip much more fun and easy!  We had no hiccups going to AZ and made it there by 2:30 pm Sunday afternoon!  It was non-stop fun with his family, and while I was there I completed 3 crafts of which I am so happy with.  I made a blanket for Ivy, a cute board to hang the stockings from, and then my mom awesome project - a wreath for our front door.  My SIL are awesome and crafty and we had so much fun doing these together!!! I love how they all turned out!!!  Thanks to Betty for letting us turn the room into a HUGE GIANT MESS while we were doing our projects!

Beth's is on the left (white) and Becky's is on the right (red)

 Mine - I LOVE IT!!!!

 another view that probably more accurately shows the colors!!!

While in AZ we went over to my Grandma Katee's and she showed me a quilt she made that was inspired by a onesie Ivy has.  It is SOOOO cute! 

I also made this cute board and bought a shelf that will go below it with 5 hooks for our stockings.  My SIL had a bunch of cupboard doors she had brought over and I sanded it, painted, and then distressed it and added a glaze to the middle.  Then Betty helped me create this amazingly cute embroidered sign for it and we picked the font and threads and then set it to work.   Her machine is amazing and had it done for us after 70 minutes.  I really like how it came out - stay tuned for pics of finished project when hung on the wall, and also of my finished stockings (currently causing me angst as I am attempting making some martha stewart stockings)

Ivy had some quality time with her little cousin Ryland - they LOVED each other and the interaction was hilarious - he is 2 weeks older than her!

Then we had a 6 hour drive home from AZ to Cali that turned into 8 hours due to a 2 hour traffic issue that we only went 20 miles - have I mentioned how I HATE CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC!!!

Ivy was SO happy to be out of the car and in jammies once we got home....and so was I!!!  She was an angel traveller, as were the boys once again - and so all our car trips were great!

We got home at 5 pm on Sunday, and after the car was unpacked and vacuumed of course the next thing to do that night was.......put up the tree!  I was so excited about this and the kids were --- Chip is too even if you can't tell from the picture!

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Chip let Cash help him get it assembled!

Getting the finishing pieces up!

After it was up Chip was exhausted and we decided not to decorate until Monday night for FHE when we could celebrate Chip's bday and watch ELF to kick off our normal tradition!  

Instead it was snuggle time for the boys!!

Wait - Ivy wanted in on the daddy time too!  Love this bunch!

Monday, November 26, was Chip's b-day and to celebrate Ivy thought she would start eating baby food for the first time!  Yummy!

Cash helped out by using this amazing new toy we have that holds the baby food and then squirts it into the spoon all in one - thanks Becky for the recommendation!

not so sure!

such concentration (on Cash's part and hers)

She actually did great and loved it!

What a cutie!  6 months as of yesterday the 28th!!!

What is going on!?!

So much fun this little girl is - can't believe she has been here with us for 6 months now!!!

Daddy didn't get home til bedtime so we put off decorating until Tuesday morning!  /the kids and I had a good time and got all the decorations up!!!

Cash helped Griffin know what to do!

Picking out the ornaments and placing them in just the right place!

My aunt Cynthia does this awesome gift of giving each new baby a Christmas quilt and we LOVE ours!  We put them by the tree and each night they get to lay on them and listen as we read a Christmas story and do a Christmas song!  It is my favorite time of day!!! (the pic below on left is before I adjusted my camera settings....and yes Griff has his halloween jammies on!)

We LOVE Christmas and our trying to center ours more on Christ this year!  What are your traditions that help with this?

On a side note I told the story of the Christmas Orange last night and was shedding a few tears while reading it and looked up to see Cash sobbing too!  He said it was so sad that Jake didn't get an orange and that he would share his too if he had been there!  He is so sweet!  It was a very special moment!  (poor little guy got my emotionalness I think!)