Christmas Excitement

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was the first one we've had in our new home and it was so fun to start our new family traditions. Christmas Eve we went over to Brooke and Joe's place (Dan's sister and husband). We had yummy soup and lots of treats then went over to see the lights on Dove Court. It's a street in Orangevale that every house has a billion lights. Each house seemed to have some kind of theme too. One had Charlie Brown's Christmas theme, there was one with a giant carousel in their garage. It was amazing. Then we headed home to wait for Santa. It was so fun to bring Marston down the stairs on Christmas morning and see that Santa came. Marston got a very cute radio flyer tricycle, lots of books and puzzles, some cool balls, a little tool box and a peg and hammer toy. He loved opening the presents. I can't wait for more Christmases to come.

Christmas Tree Adventures

We went searching for a Christmas tree last Saturday. We started at a little Christmas tree farm about 10 minutes from here. It was unimpressive. We got there right when they were opening the gates (it was like 9:45am...if that was your business and you only had to welcome customers for about 4 weeks out of the year, wouldn't you get there early?) and no one said hi or welcome, here's a saw and a wagon, we stood there waiting for a few minutes then we grabbed a wagon and saw and hiked up the hill. The trees were not groomed. There were some with branches way longer than the rest of the tree. So we let Marston run around for a bit then we took off with no tree in hand. After that we decided to go to a Christmas tree lot. They had some really nice trees but they were all so expensive. We were just looking for a 6 to 7 foot tree and they were charging $80-$100. So we hopped back in the car with no tree and went to Lowes. We found a beautiful 7 foot douglas noble fur tree for $40. We love it.

Later that day we went to the Lincoln Christmas parade. It was so much fun. There were all kinds of floats, people, and animals. Really cool horses and dogs and a ton of goats. We had a really good time and are really happy we live in a small town that holds nice family friendly events.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, I got to have my family come out. Well, some of my family. We had my parents, Isaac and Jenn and Bethy, plus Daniel's parents and Brooke and Joe. It was so much fun. We had a wonderful feast. The table was beautiful, the food delicious and the company even better. It truly was a wonderful day. While my family was in town I got to show them around our new town, Lincoln. I tried to get them to move to California the whole time but I don't think I've convinced them just yet but I think they really liked Lincoln. We mostly just hung out. We shopped a little, went to Grass Valley, played games, watched movies, baked and baked some more. I loved every minute of it. Now my house is quiet again and I have only a little 18 month old to talk to (which I love but is not the same). Marston loved all the attention. About a half hour after they left, Marston ran upstairs and looked in every room for his grandparents and aunts and uncle. It was really sad. But we will look forward to the next trip.

Bethy wearing my dad's very out dated glasses.

Daniel got a pack of head lamps so my dad decided to become an alien.

Beth had to throw a Greek dinner party for one of her classes. This is her preparing dinner while Isaac and Marston watch.

Thanksgiving dinner. Dig in everyone!

Would someone please say the prayer so we can eat!

Brooke keeping Marston busy.

Brooke ready for some grub!

Brooke and Joe

The roll king!

Every year we churn our own butter.

As a kid I thought it took hours but it seemed like it only took about 30 minutes and we had fresh butter.

Daniel and my mom clipping coupons for black Friday.

Beth and I ran a couple of days while she was out. We had matching shorts.

Pumpkin vase.

Beth traced Marston's hand. He loved it!

Playing with Grandpa

Daniel's parents came over for dinner last night. Marston and grandpa ran around the house chasing each other for almost 30 minutes straight. I'm not sure who was more tired at the end of the night, Marston or Grandpa, but it was sure cute to watch.

Bishop's Pumpkin Patch

There is a fantastic pumpkin patch about 15 minutes from where we just moved and so we invited some of our friends from Cameron Park to come out to see our new house and go to the pumpkin patch. This is the most incredible pumpkin patch I have ever been to. There were fields and fields dotted with orange pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. But that was not all. There is a train that takes you around the farm, a petting zoo, giant slides, corn mazes, tree forts, and tons of greasy, sugary food. Totally commercialized but really fun. It will be a family tradition to visit that place every October. I love fall!

I did it!

My race was this past weekend and I finished! It was so much fun. The air was fresh and chilly. It smelled like eucalyptus and there were thousands of runners. We started at the Aquatic Park, ran through the Marina, up to the Presidio, over the Golden Gate and back. It was foggy when we started but about half way though it all burned off and there were beautiful views of the city. I loved it. It was hard but worth it. I was also really glad I trained on hills because there were some killer hills. I finished in 2 hours and 13 minutes. Next up...duatholn (run, bike, run) January 2nd.