La Quinta New Years 2017-2018

Two days after Christmas we headed to California! We have some places we always go when we are there, the tennis courts, Sweet Tomatoes, the Mexican restaurant nearby but this time we decided to go somewhere new for a little outing. Our first stop was the Salton Sea. We have only been to the west side before, and that is pretty much a ghost town. But to get to our final destination, we went along the east side this time and happened upon the Salton Sea State Recreation Center. When I was young, I had a friend that went to the Salton Sea for vacation. It was a hotspot for fishing and boating until it became too salty and all the fish started dying. Now we learned the only fish that live in there is a species of tilapia and there are 400 million of them in the lake.

After a short visit at the lake, we headed to Salvation Mountain. One man, in his quest to spread the message of the Gospel, made and painted this entire thing. He spent 30 years of his life working on it.

The man who originally did all this passed away a few years ago. The man below is the caretaker, John. His job is painting, as needed, for upkeep and to keep people walking only on the yellow brick road. We saw him throw a few people out because they wouldn't listen to him and kept standing in the waterfall to get pictures.

I completely forgot we were supposed to go a few more miles to Slab City. This is an old army base where only the slabs are left. Artists camp out there and create works of art that you can walk around and look at. Yes, the desert lends itself to extreme people!

On the 30th, Dar had everyone over for a gathering. Both Aunt Helen and Bill were staying at Dar's. I miss the family gatherings so much. It felt like old times.

Dar's pool was just finished and it was a beautiful sunny day so we all hung out there.

Matt and Lauren are having a baby in May!

The girls were happy to have other kids there.

Joey and Brittany were able to make it.

Once back at home we swam and swam and swam. It may be the last time we are there as we are putting it on the market. It doesn't make sense to keep it if we are only going to use it three times a year. Dan spent the entire first day there, his birthday, doing chores.

On the 31st, we had our usual New Year's, find an old video from a few years ago and do the countdown at 7:00!

We came home on the second!

Christmas Weekend

On the Thursday before Christmas we got to participate in Operation Santa Claus. I believe we have only missed this charity event twice since we have lived here - 12 years! It is a very special time for our family and each year I see the girls understanding more and more about doing service for others.

On Friday we all were supposed to take the Georgetown Loop Railroad Santa Train. I had a weird 24 hour bug so Dan went by himself with the girls and met up with Becky and Arek and the boys. They had a blast, but Dan says he he is done with Santa trains. :)

The hair gets a little crazy when Mom is not there.

On Christmas Eve the girls sang in the choir at church just like they did at Easter. They loved it. Mia is in the back on the right. Rylee is next to her.

Anna is in the middle row on the left.

Afterwards we got home and Oli put Baby Jesus in the manger.

We ate lasagna and then opened presents!!

Oli loved the backpack we gave him so much he wore it all Christmas morning as he rode around on his new bike.

And then it was Christmas morning at our house! Mia wanted her electric guitar from Santa to be wrapped. And so, of course, Anna wanted her bike wrapped too! That wasn't going to happen. Instead, we wrapped a big box with a bag of rice in it and a note that said to look in the unfinished basement. She didn't get it. She was actually happy to get "her own" bag of rice. She LOVES plain white rice.

But somehow we got her in there to find her rainbow bike. This is the bike she said she wanted BEFORE she told Santa she wanted a gold bike. We decided we were not going to take back the bike we already bought. And do you know what she said when she saw it, "Just what I asked Santa for!!"  Huh?

Mia was soooo excited about getting an electric guitar! She hasn't used it once since Christmas Day. Oh well.

Whatever this was I don't remember but Anna was sure excited to get it!

We also surprised the girls with electric scooters. I was a little apprehensive about it but they love them and are using them responsibly...so far!

In the afternoon we had a few families over for prime rib which Dan smoked in the smoker. It was a Merry Christmas!

This and That December 2017

The plan was to blog about the second holiday weekend in this post. But I have ZERO pictures of the second weekend. We went to another work Christmas party on Saturday and then a family caroling party on Sunday. At the caroling party they even set up a nice Christmas scene on their wall and had accessories to use for pictures. It would have been nice if I had remembered it was there!

But I did take a lot of miscellaneous pics! We celebrated Arek's birthday. He doesn't like cake but loves ice cream. So the kids and I made him an ice cream cake.

Mia brought out her science kit she got last for Christmas. They love these gloves that keep bubbles from popping when you touch them.

Anna had been working hard on the splits for tae kwon do and she is almost there!

The girls put out their shoes for St. Nicholas Day and were happy to see Little Live Pet ladybugs inside.

Anna made a video of our family traditions for her first grade class project. Here she is telling about Easter egg hunts.

There is NO VACANCY at the pet hotel.

Dan did the annual Christmas puzzle pretty much on his own. I'm not all that interested in puzzles anymore.

We love Oli's elf jammies!

Dawn and Bill stayed at our house for 10 days while they got this camper ready to live in. They are now traveling the U.S. in it.

We have several Christmas activities this coming weekend and I hope to get some pictures!

Holiday Weekend 2017 #1

The Holiday season has begun! I am doing the tradition of taking each of the kids out separately to buy Christmas presents for their siblings and dad. I took Mia out Saturday. I did Anna a few weeks ago but forgot to take a picture:( For lunch I told Mia she could have whatever she wanted. She chose an Icee to drink. When I asked her what she wanted to eat, she said a smoothie! I guess she wasn't in the mood for solids that day. Sugar high anyone?

That night Dan and I attended the last of his big company parties. It's always called an anniversary party because the anniversary of ULA is December 1st and they don't want to offend anyone. But make no mistake, its a holiday party!

This year it was at the Bronco training center. This is much closer to our house than the usual venues so we were thrilled. We got there early because Dan had to shake hands as people entered. 

My deer in the headlights picture.

On Sunday we went with the Maciols to Brunch with Santa. Maks and Oli were so excited to talk to Santa.

We might have to work on the kids' smiles a little bit.

Maks is the perfect age to visit Santa. He took it very seriously and had a smile the whole time.

Oli could not wait to get away.

Mia told santa she knew he wasn't real. He had her tug on his beard. It was real! She was quite surprised!

Anna told Santa she wanted a different color bike than we already bought. Luckily it hasn't been assembled yet!

Anna is getting pretty good with picture taking.

And especially with selfies!

I love this time of year!

A Few Little Things

We have a adjusted to being home again after our trip. It usually takes a few days. Mia LOVES stuffed animals. She has been sleeping with quit a few lately. It takes her longer to fall asleep because she plays with them but that's okay because she doesn't need as much sleep as Anna and the two don't share a room anymore.

I still get to spend time with these sweeties every Wednesday!

This has been one of our best purchases ever. Mia uses it almost every day. The tricks are very simple and easy for kids to do on their own.

I am doing the tradition of taking each of the kids out separately to buy Christmas presents for their siblings and dad. For lunch I told Mia she could have whatever she wanted. She chose an Icee to drink and a smoothie to eat. I guess she wasn't in the mood for solids that day. Sugar high anyone?