Christmas in California part 1

This is going to be a multi-parter, since there was so much activity packed into a weeklong trip. My dad was generous enough to offer to fly us out to California if we wanted for our Christmas gift, and after initially declining, I decided (and convinced Jenna) that we should go ahead and make the trip this year, since future years will be all spent at home and I hadn't seen everyone in a long time. We chose wisely as this was the first of three Christmases since we've been in Colorado that wasn't a white one.

The trip started out pretty interesting. As we were taxiing out of our gate, the pilot got on the intercom and announced that the west half of the airport was shut down for some unknown reason, and we were going to be delayed. We found out on arrival in Burbank that the reason for the delay and shutdown was that Continental flight that crashed on takeoff. Suffice it to say, that an hour delay sounded pretty reasonable given the circumstances.

We got to the Hoskinsons house (my parents) and put Laina to bed, then spent the next day at their house with Laina's three cousins (who were eagerly awaiting her arrival) and aunt and uncle (my brother and his wife). The kids had a great time playing with their cousin Laina, showing them as much fun stuff as they could come up with in a day. We went outside for a while and they all spontaneously broke out in a production of "The Wheels on the Bus" to Laina's sheer delight. I can't decide if she got a front row seat or she's the star of the show.

We basically spent the whole day hanging out, playing games, and watching the kids parade around the house with Laina. She loved it. We spent the night there, then headed up to the Ali's house (Jenna's parents) Monday for Christmas #1. That's all for part one. Here's some pics:

This is a classic "lets make the kids stand facing directly into the sun" picture... sorry guys

Dueling lego towers action. Later I started building lego robots for battle, and Kaity (red dress) kept asking me "Can you build another mighty robot Uncle Colorado Jay?" How could I refuse? Although I don't know how mighty they were if Conner kept destroying them. Incidentally, I'm "Uncle Colorado Jay" because they have another Uncle "J"

We discovered that Laina just perfectly fit inside the lego wagon, along with a teddy bear buddy, so many laps were made with her in tow (with all three cousins getting a 'turn'). Luckily she loves wagons.

She WALKS

Yes, it could be considered a Christmas Miracle! Just one day short of 20 months, Laina decided she can walk all by herself. She has been consistently walking with Jay or me holding her hands, and just in the last couple days would walk a little bit holding onto only one hand. We knew she had the balance and skill to do it on her own, but we thought she was afraid to try. Well today she conquered that fear. I was in our bathroom putting on makeup, and Laina crawled over and asked for the headband on the counter. I gave it to her and continued getting ready. Then I looked over and saw her walking on the tile, all the way across our not-small bathroom. (I love how she picks the hardest floor to fall on for her first walk!) When she got to the carpet, she sat down (for a break I guess), then got back up and continued walking on the carpet, half way across the bedroom, where she sat down again. Then she got up and walked right out of the bedroom and down the hallway! Of course I didn't have our camera with me upstairs, so I had to re-create the moment later. I particularly like how the lighting at the beginning makes it look even more like a Christmas Miracle.

eating crayons

Why is it that the baby doesn't eat crayons - the dog does? I should have taken a picture of the evidence the other day when Ella chewed up a crayon and left little bits and pieces of it all over the floor. And just now I caught her with another one in her mouth. Oh but she sure is cute, isn't she?

Story Time

Laina has been so cute lately, reading stories to her baby dolls and stuffed animals. I caught her on video yesterday reading "Go, Dog, Go" to Little Nut Brown Hare, who she calls Brown Hare. I'm putting both videos I took up here only for the grandparent's sake...I know most people will be bored by the same thing twice. She just says a few different things each time.

Also, check my other blog for my very own banana date bread recipe which I improvised from a few online recipes.

Bah-humbug

Jay's post was correct. I've been feeling a little like Scrooge this holiday season - like, can we just pretend it's not Christmas time? Can I just not deal with decorating, shopping, party-going, traveling, merry-making and the like? I told Jay I did not want to put up our tree this year (the awesome, retro-inspired, all-white tree that I love) or do any other decorations. So, Jay (and his little elf, Laina) did everything. It was great. They put on Christmas music, put up the tree, decorated it, decorated the fireplace, Jay did even more with the outside lights, and I worked on a crafty project for my church mom's group.

It was pretty much Laina that turned me around. She was of course so adorable, completely enamored with all the ornaments and decorations, asking "what's that" about everything, helping decorate the tree, and being so enchanted with the season. And, as Jay pointed out, it also snowed, making the day perfect. Jay and Laina built a snowman. I couldn't help myself and had to get the camera out to take pictures of everything. To make it a truly perfect season, I'll just have to make sure Jay understands that he has to also take down all the ornaments after Christmas!

There is still stress and lots going on, but I realize I need to focus on what's important, namely Jesus. I'm not typically the scripture-quoting type, but I find myself thinking a lot about the verse that says in my weakness, Christ is made strong (or something like that - see, told you I'm not good at quoting scripture). I really can't push through all the stress and chaos in life without Jesus. Only he has the power to bring order and peace. I am convicted that I need to get back into regular reading and studying of his word. I know that will help me during this time (and always!) It's so easy to push quality time with God (or anyone) aside and get so consumed with me, me, me, and what I've got going, and what I need to accomplish. So that's my intro to this holiday season of 2008. My prayer for myself this season is that God will remind me to focus on him, help me find a consistent time to study his word, and that he will help me embrace this season - of the year and of life.

On a lighter note, see my other blog for the Chocolate Yogurt Cake recipe Jay promised.

Oh, and one more thing that will completely get me into the holiday spirit - watching my favorite Christmas movie ever - Elf (cuz, you know, that one's totally about Jesus!)

Thanksgiving-ish

We don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving, but we stuck around in town and celebrated with our friends the Heldts in Castle Rock. We brought over the game Rock Band to play in their shiny new basement on the gigantic screen with intense surround sound (though my ps2 doesn't have surround), enjoyed a delicious and gluttonous feast thanks to Mike and Rachel, Mike's brother Kevin and his family, and our contributions... one of which I'm sure Jenna plans to post a recipe. All the kids had a good time (I believe there were 7 kids there between our three fams), and Laina especially enjoyed the cranberry sauce (takes after her dad). We stuck around late and played some pool and darts on their fresh table and dartboard while Laina slept upstairs.

Here's a picture I stole from the Heldts blog of the whole crew:


Friday was 'deck the house' day. Jenna was feeling pretty scroogy this year, didn't want to put up a tree or anything since we're heading out to California for Christmas, but I put on the music, broke out the tree and the ornaments (which captivated Laina), and proceeded as normal. Laina loved the ornaments, especially the "little guys" and the ladybug, which she's hanging in the photo below

That night we went to check out the Parker "Tree Lighting", though we realized quickly there was no specific tree, it was really the lighting of an entire area at the entrance to 'downtown' Parker. We stuck around, but it started getting really cold, so we walked through town a little, got some free hot chocolate and checked out the horse-drawn carriage rides, then wandered back for the big event. We then snapped a quick photo and got out of there... it was freezing!


Shortly after we got home, it started to snow. Pretty good timing, as we'd just gotten the tree up and the outside lights up, and our neighbors lit up their houses, making quite the scene. This morning we woke up to a couple of inches of snow, so Laina and I went outside and made a snowman (my first ever, I think, and not very impressive... I think I worked out a few kinks on this one, though).


So after all the lights, the music, the tree, the cute kid getting all excited, and finally the snow, I think Jenna's coming around...

"Music!"

Our old school CD changer full of little finger prints

Laina loves music. She loves to dance. She loves to sing. Every day she holds up the remote to the receiver and says "music on". This usually happens in the mornings after breakfast. Then if the music is turned off later in the day, she inevitably asks for it to be turned on again sometime after her nap. It's totally fine with me, because I love music, too. And so does Jay. That must be where she gets it from.