Christmas 2011

I almost can't believe that Christmas is over.  December is officially the fastest moving month on the calendar.  Scott and I did our best to continue family traditions and to start some new ones.  We braved crowds, rain and at times bad moods but we did everything on our list!  Here were some of our favorite Christmas memories from 2011.

Church Christmas Party

Jungle Bells 

I gave dad a giant box of chocolates for Christmas.  This should last him until next Christmas.

We spent Christmas in Santa Barbara.  There were 16 of us in the same house and it was a lot of fun. We called it Camp Christmas and we were all happy campers! 

This was a typical day, spending the afternoon at the beach, enjoying the amazing December weather!

Of course we had to play Dance Central.  This was the best photo of the evening. I'm pretty proud of my husband's jazz hands!

We had a surprise visit from Santa on Christmas Eve.  I'm pretty sure Santa was as much of a treat for the grown-ups as he was for the kids.  He dazzled us with a song on the ukulele which we are pretty sure was Silent Night....not positive.  He also let us know that he was taking ukulele classes at the local city college. We think Santa forgot that he lives in the North Pole....the kids didn't seem to notice.

Christmas morning. We are spoiled!

The many looks of a mustache.

Classy or Tacky?  We drove around Santa Barbara looking for Christmas lights.  And guess what...we found them.

Paul and Christine Come for a Visit

The week before Christmas, Uncle Paul and Aunt Christine stayed with us for a couple of days.  As always, we had so much fun with them and J loved waking up his new friends at 6:00 am every morning!

 Safari Park

This was the most amazing moment of the day and thanks to Christine, we caught it on film.  It's probably for the best that J had no idea there was a bird on his head.

Christine took some photos of J while she was here and they turned out so cute.  Here are his glamour shots!

Soooo Big!  

    

It was great having Paul and Christine around and we can't wait for their next visit!

Meeting Santa

Last night we took J to Santa's Village where he met Santa, scored a toy and toured Santa's workshop.  He had so much fun, he even threw a fit when we made him leave the room with all the Christmas trees....probably the first and last time a tantrum will be cute!

 Waiting to see the Big Man.

 We held up the line for 10 minutes with our family photos....woops!

 J was more interested in the candy cane than Santa,  not surprising.

 Touring Santa's Village with Grandma and Grandpa.

J loves hanging out with Leah.

Soaking it all in!

Decking the Halls

We have been busy decking the halls and they are finally all decked out!  

Home Sweet Home

Had to include a picture of J....cause that's what the people want!

Scott and I created this gingerbread masterpiece last night.  I think after this piece of work, we are officially gingerbread artists.

 These wreaths are a few of the Christmas projects I am working on.

My Baby Tiger

Happy Halloween!

This baby tiger likes candy.

Full-body shot.

Yummy!

Pumpkin Patch

J's first trip to the Pumpkin Patch was a success.  We went to a farm about thirty minutes away where they take pumpkin patch to a whole new level.  There were hay rides, straw mazes, funnel cake (good call), and pumpkins.  Lots and lots of pumpkins.  And J was the cutest pumpkin of all!

J really wanted to get his hands on this goat.

 

That's his best pumpkin face.

I'm pretty sure some of the ice cream found it's way into his neck rolls.