Hands Down, Best Christmas Ever! Part 1

We had so much fun on our three day trip to Disneyland and California Adventures! We spent a lot of time and energy, but I think it was well worth the tired feet and aching back. We spent Christmas Eve in Disneyland. We were able to get in an hour early and rode quite a few rides. Shannon and I packed PBJs for lunch to save some money, knowing that Jacob would actually eat that. We left the park early and headed to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, which was right across the street from our hotel. It was a great ending to the day.

The second day we spent at California Adventures. Jacob got some pictures with Mater and Lightning McQueen. We were able to use the combination of Fast Pass and Rider Swap to hit all of the main attractions. My favorite was California Screamin'. Shannon really liked the Soarin' over California ride. Jacob really liked the Golden Zephyr ride. I think Lilly just liked all the attention and people watching. We also got a Fast Pass for the World of Color for the evening, which is an amazing water and light display. Unfortunately, shortly after it started they had some technical issues. It was raining pretty good, but we decided to go back over to Disneyland. On our way into the park, we bought ponchos for Jacob and the stroller. Shannon took Jacob on Autotopia. Jacob really liked it, but at the end they weren't able to get out of the car since nobody was getting on the ride and they were completely soaked afterwards. I then took Jacob on the Matterhorn, which is a lot of fun in the rain. Afterwards, we decided that it was time to head back to the hotel. We were both soaked to the bone and worn out, ready for bed.

(the fist two paragraphs are by Matt, and I'm just finishing up)

On day three we all went and did our own thing. It was nice to be able to good do all the kiddy stuff again with Jacob and Lilly. That night we went to see the World of Color, and it was amazing! I've never seen anything like it. We had so much fun!

Nap time.. when he woke up, we lost that binky, the one and only one he will take...but no worries he's doing great without it. Evey now and then he'll ask if we can go to Disneyland and get his binky, I just say yes we'll go back someday....

Entrance of the Disneyland

Jacob loves his uncle, he's always talking about him, and want to be a big boy like Brigham...

so cute

Jacobs first ride, the "rocket ship ride" he loved it!

So cute! I love that hair flipping out the sides...

Lilly looked like this most of the time, we were nervous but the kids did so good!

All the grand kids.

Another favorite ride of Jacobs

Merry Christmas to us!

Thanks to James and Denine! We love you!

Christmas #2

Santa came to our house early {ha!}

Christmas morning

{how could Santa say no to a "cars" xbox game....}

I love her.

She's overwhelmed by all the pink....

Now that I have kids to share Christmas with, the excitement is totally different. I remember Christmas mornings growing up and my mom and dad would just sit there. They were never in a hurry to open their presents. It's just to much fun watching your kids and seeing their faces light up...

{MERRY CHRISTMAS!!}

Chritsmas #1

{Christmas fun at grandma and grandpa Downs}

At first Jacob was a little unsure of Santa, but he warmed up {once he realized Santa had a gift for him}

Lilly loved Santa...{but really I think she was super excited about chewing on paper}

Jacob got a set of "Cars" cars from grandma and grandpa...{but I'm not sure if he liked them...so cute!}

Matt's grandma made hats for all the kids, and Lilly's by far was the cutest!

Jacob loves Frosty

I think it all started when we went out to San Diego for Thanksgiving. When we stay with the Davis family, we usually sleep in Shannon's old room (a room carved out of the garage space). It is cozy and separated from the rest of the house. This made it easy for us to put Jacob somewhere without having to worry about him getting into things. We have found that if we put on a movie, he does pretty well.

This time he wanted to watch Frosty the Snowman. It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet, but we figured as long as he was quiet and out of trouble he could watch whatever he wanted. Jacob quickly fell in love with Frosty.

A few weeks later, Shannon was out with the kids during the day. Jacob loves to roam around the store, finding new and exciting things to play with. On one occasion he found one of those CD sampler boards. You know, the ones where you push the button and a demo of the CD comes on. Well this particular sampler board happened to have Frosty the Snowman. Jacob pushed the button and to our surprise started singing along with the words (he had apparently learned the song quite well). Now every time we are in the car listening to music, he asks for the Frosty song. So cute!

run run repeat....

For journaling proposes... On Dec. 3rd I set out for my first 10 mile run, up until this point the most I'd had ever run was 8.7 miles. I thought "well I almost did 9 so I'll just jump to 10 no problem"... And it really was no problem, I did have to walk a little around mile 7...bad side ache = no fun...but once it was gone I felt good and felt like I finished it out strong. So the plan is every week increase my long run by 1 mile. On Dec. 11th I went for 11 miles! Annd yeah I finished, but it was hard! And I think it was more of a mental thing. My body was fine (and by fine I mean my legs were still working after almost two hours of running) but my mind was not right. I read somewhere, that your mind will give up before your body...and it's so true, my legs would keep running as long as I told them to...but around mile 9 my ipod died (never will I let this happen again) so I couldn't help but think about something...most of the time i'm running with a friend and we talk the whole time, but I was by myself after mile 6...So all I thought about was, how much longer, can I do this, just keep running, how can I run a marathon if I can't even run half....so when I finished instead of being excited I was really disappointed...and it didn't matter what I told myself...but I need to learn to celebrate the small victories, and not be so concerned with the ultimate goal. (i mean i just started running in October) but anyways now we're updated...and I think this Friday I'll only do 9 or 10 and be happy and think back to when I could barely do a mile :)

Frosty the Snowmans girlfriend...

I made these for my Activity Day girls and they turned out so cute! I had to share, they were so easy! I think I might be making more...It's a full sized "crunch" candy bar, just in case your wondering...

for me...

im doing this post from matts phone...so yeah im not gonna worry about typos and caps...so anyways this post is more for me then you...today i ran 8.68 miles... some highlights and lowlights...i stopped a couple times b/c the super cold air at 430 in the morning has given me a runny nose,so i had to blow my nose right onto the st...we saw a coyote and i was worried about it the whole...had to run my last 3 solo so my crepper radar was on big time...after mile 4 my stomache was cramping from who knows what...after 8 miles i was glad i accomplished my goal, but was sad when i saw how close iwas to 9...

this has nothing to do with my run, but trying to do a blog post from a phone kinda sucks...and i would go as far as saying more challenging then my run this morning....

Random

Matt put grass in a few weeks ago and it's growing!! And the kids love it!

I just liked this picture, I think Jacob is teaching her to crawl...

run run run....

I could hardly believe it last week when I broke 4 miles for the first time, and went on to 5....and then this morning I just went for it. I ran 7 miles! And the weird thing is I never really felt like I couldn't keep running. Like my feet got used to it. And when I stopped to get in the car (not even joking) I felt every step I took. Suddenly it felt like my feet weighed a ton...So anyways I said I'd keep you updated (like anyone reads this thing)...

....now I am sitting down and eating a HUGE "Costa Vida" pork salad...and I will not feel bad if I eat the whole thing!

yummy mummy....

Matt had a campout last night, so I made these...

so cute!

Ragnar Relay

I'm sure some of you have heard me talk about it, the Ragnar Relay. Well I'm in. It's official...I'm runner number 8! Runner? I know, I'm more like a jogger. But I think with 4.5 months of training I'll be a faster jogger. So anyways my 3 legs of the race are some of the easier ones. My first leg will be 5.8 miles | Moderate, second 4.4 miles | Moderate and third 3.5 miles | Easy. My first two legs look like they're up hill. And the third is all down hill. And yes I got the easier legs. (One runner on our team has to run close to 22 miles)

Here is a better explanation of the race- Saguaro cactus, red rock cliffs, live bands, and biker bars. Your team of 12 maniacs will run around the clock in this springtime relay through the Arizona desert. While this 202-miler runs from Wickenburg to Tempe...

Sounds fun right?!? My team is all girls, and I think I'm the youngest...and yes the older Ladies have the harder routes...but anyways just thought I'd share!

I'll keep you posted on how the running is going. This morning I went out and thought I only did a couple miles, but when I mapped it out it was just over 4 (not gonna lie I did walk a mile of it but I have plenty of time to get there)...

I love Lilly.

Sorry I don't really have anything to say, except we love her.

Halloween

BOO!!!!!

This is my only Halloween decor.....

Caught up!

This is the only mess I love to make :)

After a couple days of scrap booking I am completely caught up on Jacob and Lilly's. One of those days I was up till 1:30am, and decided that 6 1/2 hours straight was enough for one day. I know it's silly but it's my way of keeping a journal for the kids.

Anyways....My friend asked if I could help with "Super Saturday" and here's what I will be teaching....

It's a Christmas Advent calendar made on a mini muffin pan...I think it turned out pretty cute...Sorry for the crappy picture, my camera is dying :( ...but Christmas in coming right?! 78 days!

Why I love Target

best find ever....original price 129.99, clearance price 65.98, rang up as 32.34! what! I know lucky day! I even had the lady double check the price for me.....

before-

after

The Mission and Randoms

-Old Mission Santa Barbara-

Inside the Church at the Mission, Jacob always likes to point out that "Jesus has owies"...

yes Jacob's wearing a pajama shirt...

Happy camper!

Random factoid- Did you ever read "Island of the Blue Dolphins"? (one of the only books I remember reading in school) Anyways, the girl from the book is buried at this mission. It was neat learning about her life after they went back and got her.

Trying to get a picture of Lilly with the lily's, but she didn't wanna smile...

This is how Lilly really felt about the trip...She was pretty good for a 4 month old...

Thats our trip in a nutshell. We had a blast! We can't wait to go again. We camped 5 nights, and it still didn't seem like enough time! Jacob was so good the whole time. And Lilly, well she's a baby. Her schedule was a little out of wack, and got 5 shots the day before leaving.