Christmas Vacation

Chris and I had a great Christmas vacation in sunny California.  The weather was mid 70s and even got into the 80s one day.  It was gorgeous and confusing.  I kept thinking I was on summer vacation, especially since we went to Magic Mountain.

With our best friends the Reids out of town, we thought our schedule would be a little more open but we ended up filling it with great friends and family.  It was so fun to see everyone.

We spent Christmas Eve with Chris' mom and brother.  We had a delicious Brazilian dinner, exchanged some presents, played Cameron's favorite game UNO over and over again and then finished with the traditional Christmas movie Kung Fu Panda 2.  Which we rather enjoyed.  We finished the evening at Doug and Kristen's playing Carcassone the rest of the night.

Christmas morning with me and my hubby.  Chris and I woke up late and came down stairs to find full stockings!  We had so much fun opening presents together.  Thanks for everything!  We feel really blessed to have such great family and friends.   Chris got me a 35mm 1.8f lens.   I was so excited.  I have been wanting that one.  It's so sharp and a great mid-length range.  Chris got a new laptop, which he desperately needed.   

I got some new running clothes for Christmas!

Christmas breakfast: orange juice and chocolate croissants!

After church we went to Chris' dad's house and had lunch, exchanged presents, played pool, and just chatted.  It was so fun to catch up.  That night we went over to the Redfords and played Dominion all night.  

Tyler's new sweet ride.  That thing is SO fun!

On our last day we got to see Erik's new alterations shop (very impressive), have lunch with Dave and Vanessa back from DC, do a little shopping with some fresh new Christmas cash, go see Mission Impossible with Greg and then play Dominion with Greg and Laura again into the wee hours of the morning.  Awesome.  Chris and I are so addicted to Dominion it's absurd.  Watch out.  We intend to force it upon everyone too!  I hope everyone had a great holiday and happy New Year to you!

Merry Christmas to all...

stockings

 I did it!  Phew, and just in time, right?  Man, sewing is exhausting, but I'm happy with how they turned out.   Now we officially have our own stockings for our first Christmas together!

throw pillows

 

I have been so excited about making these, but I had to get the Christmas card off before I let myself start this project.  I saw some Christmas throw pillows at Target I really liked and thought, I can make that.  I think that's the beauty of the Silhouette CAMEO.  I can make anything with that thing, especially since it cuts fabric.  I LOVE it, and there will be many more fabric cutting projects to come.  Anyway, what I really wanted was throw pillow covers so I wouldn't have to store bulky throw pillows for the rest of the year.  I found these red ones at IKEA for about 5 bucks.  Sweet!  I just cut this snowflake out of grey and white fabric using the Silhouette CAMEO and sewed them onto the pillow cases.  Boom!  Christmas throw pillows that match my Christmas tree.   Now on to my next project.  Christmas stockings!  Yikes.  We'll see how that one goes.  We're really stretching my elementary sewing skills here.  

Advent Calendar

 This is the Silhouette Advent Calendar.  We designed it over a year ago, but it was saved for 2011.   It's a limited edition shadow box with a download card to cut all the drawers or a full set of boxes on your Silhouette.   I love it.  In fact, I placed my order early because I knew they would sell out (and they did).  The only problem is I have too many ideas for how I wanted to do it up.  I'm already excited to cut out new boxes and change the style for next year.

cute kids

On Saturday in California, we watched Ryan Reid's soccer game.  Ryan was amazing scoring 5 goals!  Unfortunately, my photos of Ryan didn't turn out awesome and I spent most of my time distracted by the other cute kids playing in the huge puddles.  I just love all of these kids, though.  You Reids make cute babies.

 

California Adventure

We spent the second day almost entirely at California adventure.  This was the first time Scott, Elisha, and I had ever been.  Of course, we had been on a lot of the rides at Hollywood Studios at Disney World, but it was still fun to explore a new park.  We had so much fun.  Thanks Scott and Elisha for such a great time.

 Waiting in line.

 I just love the Tower of Terror.  It's one of my favorites.  California Adventure also had the scariest ferris wheel I had ever been on.  We opted for a "sliding gondola" of course and just couldn't stop the nervous giggling as we slid back and forth on our little track.  Such a weird feeling on a ferris wheel.

Foster was so funny on this slide, he went over and over again while we waited for Molly to go on the rope swing.  He'd just squeal all the way down and get off and start running right back up to the top.

Doug is as clingy to his new "best friend" in real life as he is in UP.  Foster had a hard time getting away.

 

 This is Foster not sharing his cotton candy with Chris (or Chrissy as he's started calling him.  Not as cool as his last nick name "Z", but I think it's still hilarious)

I just love this guy.  We have so much fun together.