2/7/16

December - minus Europe

 Wintertime in California is citrus season.  Our lemon tree produced some yummy lemons this year.  Made great lemonade.
 One of my favorite flowers - Iceland poppies
 Pretty flowering succulents - love those beads of pearls succulents too.
 Bird of paradise.  
 
I have an unhealthy addiction to succulents......obviously. 
 Noah kept coming home with wet socks and I finally figured out why.......a giant hole in his shoes.  Great mothering right there.

 This tree at the church was so amazingly red.  Every week it just kept getting redder and redder.  This is my 6th winter here and it still surprises me that the leaves don't come off until end of December and blossoms start coming back in February. 

 Most of December was spent traveling.  We left on the 10th and didn't get back until the 29th. Our first stop was to Hurricane for Eli and Erin's wedding.
 She said YES!!!  We are so elated to have Erin (and James Michael) join our family.  She really does fit in perfectly.   Ava was so excited to see 'unca Eli', she ran up to him and gave him a hug as soon as they came out of the doors.

 It was raining the whole day, so it made for an wet wedding day.  Ava and Brooke took it upon themselves to carry the dress train.

 James Michael wanted nothing to do with pictures. 



 Had a yummy luncheon at Cliffside restaurant in St. George.  Cute baby Lucy.  Aunt Mary made all these dresses for the little girls.  Such a nice aunt - she even sewed their names into the sash. 
 The boys checking out the refreshments table.  Eli and Erin were going to have the reception outside, but last minute had to change to the church because of the rain.  Grandma Connie did a pretty amazing job pulling the reception all together last second.
 Grant testing out the refreshments.
 
Leah has a large faithful following of little people.  They are all in for a rude awakening when she becomes a mom.   So happy for Eli and Erin.  We couldn't be happier to have them join this family.  Loved seeing all our extended family for a few hours too. 
 Ava found a little puppy at aunt Mary Lu's.
 Went on a little hike to the Three Falls.  Little Ava mommy took good care of Ollie.
 It was freezing cold and soooooo windy.  The caves offered a little reprieve from the wind.


 Went to the Washington rec center with the Wilson cousins.
 Freddie was the only one who made it to the top.

 James Michael had fun at the pool, but he definitely missed his mommy.
 Aunt Jody decided to keep the Ballard Christmas party going and we happened to be in town for it.  Mr. and Mrs. Clause made a visit.  It was the cutest thing to see Ava's face when they walked in the door.  She got the biggest grin on her face and ran over and gave him a big hug. We've been prepping the kids for months that our trip to Europe was their present, so when Santa kept asking what they wanted they didn't know what to say.  I can't remember what they ended up saying, but it was completely random.


 Mrs. Clause told them a little story about the true meaning of Christmas.  Not sure what was so funny to April.
 My Noah loves babies - toddlers, not so much. :)
 Got some more lovin' on my sweet baby Jack.
 My mom spoils her animals, and her kids, rotten.  These dogs were sitting patiently waiting for their cooked eggs.  Pathetic.
 Dunford watching the kids play cars.  My kids think Dun is the funniest dog ever.
 Got to meet cute baby Georgia for the first time. 
 Adam and Georgia happened to be matching.


 Aunt Em was a hero and invited us all over to make gingerbread houses.  We trashed her kitchen, ate all the candy, and then left her with the mess.   We're sweet like that.  :) 
It was a fun few days with both our families.   Love seeing everyone.

1 comment:

mammasweet said...

Come to think of it, that was a super jammed packed week for you, Summer! It was nice to see your pictures and enjoy it all over again.