New Year's in the Desert

We headed back out to the desert to ring in 2012. Justin took an extra day off so we were able to stay out there for 4 days! Savanna was excited to wear her new riding gear that she received for Christmas. She looked so cute in it! And she did a ton of riding this time around. She is getting more and more confident on her quad and we are so proud of her. I am also getting more confident at driving the Razor even though I don't go very fast. I am getting some good practice in!

I managed to snap quite a few more pictures this time, yay!

We went to this big hill called Test where people like to race up the hill. Justin raced one of our friends that we were camping with. Justin was on a quad while the other guy was on a dirt bike. About halfway up, his dirt bike left Justin behind! So after a few times up the hill, Justin wanted to try riding his dirt bike. Justin hasn't been on a dirt bike in 15 years! He loved it. I think we will be acquiring a new toy after this season! :)

A little video of them going up the hill:

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Justin testing out the dirt bike:

Savanna loves to ride in circles around our camp. We even built little hills for her to get used to going over. She is getting much better!

Justin took a little video of her:

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Then on one of our family rides, we stopped at a hill and Gavin went wild! He loved going down the hills! I think because his walking is almost turning into running now, he realizes how fast he can go down a hill, it was so cute:

I LOVE this picture:

The dunes just go on forever out there:

Dec 2011 Sledding Fun

The day after Christmas, my brother and his family took Savanna and I up to the snow to go sledding! We were all supposed to go but since Owen was still sick, Justin stayed home with him and Gavin. Savanna and I had a ton of fun!

It was such a beautiful, sunny day:

My niece, Maddy and Savanna making snow angels:

My sister-in-law, Emily and my nephew, Mason:


And a cute, little video of Savanna sledding:

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Dec 2011 Christmas

We had a streak of illnesses hit us right before Christmas. :( It started with Savanna and then went to Owen. Luckily Gavin did not get sick but did get a cough from everyone else. When the kids started winter break, we couldn't go anywhere because someone was sick. Then when Christmas came around, Owen was still sick. He was going on 4 or 5 days of having a temperature. Poor kid! He tried to enjoy Christmas eve but wasn't really into making cookies or anything. He just rested on the couch with a sad look on his face.

The rest of us preparing for Santa's arrival:

So sad that he's not feeling good:

We even made special cupcakes and gave one to Santa. The bowl has goodies for the reindeer that Owen made at school. The papers on the wall are letters that the kids received from Santa:

The kids went to bed super excited for what the next day would bring. So of course, they woke up early! Gavin was still asleep so we headed downstairs and started with opening our stockings:
Then we headed over to the tree. It was jam packed with presents everywhere! Savanna and Owen started with their presents from Santa and then proceeded through the rest of them. A huge, huge thank you to everyone that mailed and gave us presents. The kids loved all their presents and are enjoying them very much.


This was a special present that Savanna made for us at school:


We spent the rest of Christmas day just relaxing and putting together new toys and having fun playing with them.

Dec 2011 A Belated Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary, Justin and I went on a horseback ride through the wine country of Temecula. I purchased this ride back in September of last year and we finally got to take our ride in mid December. She was always either booked or it was way too hot to go. She was very flexible though in finding dates that worked for us and even gave us the option of rescheduling that day because it had rained the night before and was quite chilly. We decided to just go because we weren't sure when we would be able to find someone to watch the kids again. I was so happy we went. It was absolutely beautiful! Justin and I had a great time and will definitely do it again.

With my horse Big J:

Justin with his horse Trooper:

Practicing before we head out. I haven't been on a horse in over 25 years:

I felt pretty comfortable with Big J:

Justin said his horse was very easy to maneuver:

Even though all of the grapevines were being cut back, it was still beautiful to see all of the vineyards and the rolling hills in the wine country:









Justin and I are going to buy a house out here someday:

Dec 2011 Owen's Holiday Show

On the last day of school before winter break, Owen's preschool class did their holiday performance that evening. We were so excited to finally get to hear Owen and his classmates sing the songs they had been practicing! They sang 5 songs and were told if they sang really loud that maybe a certain man in a red suit would show up at the end and he did! Owen did so awesome, we were very proud of him. He was always paying attention and singing and doing the best he could. He's becoming such a sweet, little man!

Here he is all ready to go looking so handsome:

Waiting for the show to start:

My littlest man being so patient:

Their first song was "Feliz Navidad":

Here's the video of it:

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Their second song was a cute poem called "Christmas Tree" and was Owen's favorite:

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Their third song was "Melekalikimaka":

Their fourth song was called "One Little Candle" and the fifth song was "12 Days of Christmas". All of those videos are really long so I don't think they will load for me.

Owen with his main teacher, Ms. Angie:

Then we finally made it through the line to see Santa! Owen loved sitting on his lap telling him what he wanted for Christmas:

We also got a family picture taken with Santa! I love how well it came out:

Dec 2011 Mom's 75th Birthday

My Mom celebrated her 75th birthday last month and we threw a little party for her. She was really excited because she said that no one has ever thrown her a party before. Really!? I don't know if that made me feel good because I was throwing her a party or bad because we've never done it before. Well I guess it was about time!

With all of her grandkids minus Gavin who was napping:

The yummy cake made by Emily:

We love you Mom! Happy 75th Birthday and many more to come!