A Day at SF Bay

We decided since I wasn't scheduled to work for the weekend, to take the short drive to SF on
Saturday, and visit a few sites. We started with the Bay Aquarium. It is fairly small, but has some (meaning like 3) neat exhibits. The kids enjoyed it.You can't tell, but the picture of Chris and the kids is in a tunnel we walked through with water and fish surrounding us. It was pretty cool. We even saw some sharks which the kids really liked!

The jellyfish were really neat to watch. They almost looked unreal!


Grant's favorite was the shallow water with stingrays and a small leopard shark. You could reach in and touch them as they swam by. The stingrays were very smooth and slimy.

They had another area with tide pool like creatures you could touch. The kids were impressed by the cucumber slugs.

The aquarium was smaller than expected and we got through it rather quickly. Fortunately, the aquarium was right on Pier 39, so we decided to check out some of the stores. You should have seen Nathan's huge smile when he realized there was an NFL shop.

Trying on a Steeler's hat. Too bad he didn't bring any money!
They were pretty pricey.

Grant also checked the hats out.

On the end of Pier 39.

Alcataz is right behind us, but we kind of blocked the view.

Nathan volunteered to help in a show at Pier 39. He is definitely not a shy kid!

Our last stop was at Ghiradelli Square. Love that place! The ice cream sundaes were oh so scrumptious and we've decided that anytime we come to SF, we'll make a stop there!

Kristen was soon asleep in the car, with her crown on!

And even at home, she wore her crown proudly! What a little princess.

Overall, it was a fun family day! We are fortunate to live close enough to take a day trip there, without having to deal with the chaos of living there.

Visit with Grammy

The day after Christmas, we headed to Antioch to visit Chris's grandmother. She turned 97 in January! We feel blessed to have her and had a nice visit. We all went to lunch to one of her favorite places, Taco Bell! The kids had fun seeing their Grammy and I think she enjoyed our visit as well. She is one amazing woman!

Christmas Day Fun 2009!

We had a great Christmas day! I will only post a few of my favorite pictures.

We have a rule with the kids that they are not to get up and wake everyone until 6:30 am. So, in the middle of the night, I could hear a lot of movement upstairs and when I looked at the clock it said 3:30. I ran upstairs to inform my boys that it wasn't yet 6:30. They told me they were too excited and couldn't sleep and so were going to put together the lego set that Grant had gotten on Christmas Eve. I quickly told them that they had about 1 minute to turn out the lights, get into bed and be silent, or the 6:30 wake up would be pushed back to 8:30 am. Boy, can those boys move fast when they are properly motivated! I didn't hear a peep from them until 6:24.

The kids started their morning by going through the stockings. They modeled their new hats.

Snuggies were another highlight! Kristen said she always wanted one!

Later we headed to my parents. Here are most of the grandkids with hats made by my nieces Emma and Laura! Wow! That's a lot of knitting!

Grant got a cool helmet from Grandma and Grandpa to go with the skateboard Santa brought him.

Kristen got a beautiful doll and new coat. I love this picture because she's wearing the skates she got from Grandma and Grandpa Odom. They never left her feet the whole day! She loves them!!

Natha was thrilled with his new Indiana Jones lego set.

I had to include this cute one of my newest nephew, Christian. His present was bigger than he is!

Christmas Eve Part II

After stuffing ourselves with a feast at Julie's house, we headed over to my parent's house. Most of my mom's siblings, their kids, and now their kids get together every year on Christmas Eve. Now that the grandkids are having kids, it has become quite a large gathering. But I love it and look forward to it! It is usually the only time I see some of my cousins.

Some of the kids participated in a nativity reenactment. Kristen was one of the angels.

This is the kids watching out the window for Santa. I remember doing this very same thing with my cousins when I was a little girl, and so I love watching the kids and the excitement they have!

Santa always drops off a sack of toys. Here Kristen is showing off her toy. This is the evening that she declared "I've been nice!" She was so relieved!

Nathan got a football. Lately, Nathan has been all about football, so this was a very appropriate gift for him! Notice the nice polo shirt. We insisted on it that day and I think he looks so handsome. Too bad, I can't always get him to dress nice!

Okay, this is getting me frustrated. Imagine Grant's picture from the top right here because for some reason, I can't get it here. Grant was also excited about a Bionicle set that Santa brought him! He was kind of my mellow guy that evening!



Kristen and her cousin Samantha(or should I say 3rd? cousin) They are only a couple of months apart and get along well. Too bad we only see her a couple of times each year!

My cousin Britaney and I. She is also a nurse and a couple of years ago, I pinned her as an RN. Oddly enough, the evening I pinned her, we were both wearing the same dress. We didn't realize it until we were both on the stage in front of hundreds of people! We still laugh about it and had to take a picture showing that we can be creative enough to have different outfits!

After a nice visit with everyone, we headed home, and to bed so that

Santa could come to our house!

Christmas Eve Part I

Christmas Eve was a very busy day for our family! Fortunately for us, we have family from both sides in the area, so we had two separate family gatherings that evening. We first had a fun time with Chris's sister Julie and her family. We had a huge and delicious dinner and played a fun game that involves passing presents as we read Twas the Night Before Christmas. We also got to see Chris's brother Sean and his family that were visiting from Oregon. We haven't been able to visit with them for over a year, so that was a special treat. It's amazing how quickly kids grow when you don't see them often!

Sean, Erin, Jacob, Mikayla and Mykenna

Erin and I

Chris and I. We rarely take photos together.

I feel kind of silly because I forgot to pull out the camera until most of the excitement was over, so I missed the present passing game, and the dinner.
Well, I guess I know where my resolutions should be focused for 2010!

Cookie Decorating

The Friday before Christmas, Kristen invited a friend over to play, and decorate some cookies. Nathan and Grant were happy to join in the fun, and tasting, of course! We kept it small and simple since things were so busy preparing for the holidays.

Kristen and her friend, Elena
Grnat, showing off his handiwork.

Nathan also enjoyed the decorating.

Let it Snow!

Living in the Sacramento area my entire life, I realize what a unique and exciting thing it is for it to snow here. The second week of December brought that very excitement to us! We woke to find a thin layer of snow covering our backyard. Knowing it will likely be years and years before it happens again, I had to take some pictures to capture the memories.

I was just able to scrape enough snow off the top of our garbage can (it was garbage day), to make a small snowball!
Nathan also managed to put together a snowball and aimed it right at me! Not to worry though, he knows what will get him into trouble, and spared myself and himself any grief!

Kristen enjoyed bundling up for her snow picture!

Grant was also happy to pose in the snow.

I think all the kids were sad when they realized that the snow would melt before they got out of school. They had hopes of buildinga snowman, having a snowball fight, etc. But hey, this is Sacramento, and it's pretty amazing that we got any at all! I just really felt sorry for their teachers that day, whom I am sure had quite a time keeping the kids focused!