Another Christmas come...

I had a lovely Christmas day with my family this year.  Honestly, I spent most of my day with my nieces and nephews.  But we had a blast!

 

I read quite a few fascinating stories...

 

 

And we played with Tabitha and Abigail's new baby dolls they had gotten for Christmas. 

 



 

When we just arrived, we were all supposed to have brought something.  I signed up to bring a pie...but didn't end up having time to make a pie, so I made a trifle instead.  My sister Lydia was supposed to bring a fruit tray, but didn't have time to cut up the fruit.  :)  So this was a picture of her, with her "fruit tray". 

 

Tabitha, showing me her new baby doll

 

 

 

Reuben was soooo cute on Christmas.  He was being fussy and kept starting to cry.  But as soon as he would see the camera I was holding, he would try to stop crying and smile...It worked, like 7 times in a row, and then when I tried to video him, he stopped trying altogether. :)

 

Hanging out with Hudson, Abigail and Tabitha on the stairs.

 

They were all pretty fascinated with my ipad I must say. 

 

Those are just some of the pictures I took.  I enjoyed my day, and ate a lot.  We had another celebration on New Years Day as well, but I will post those pictures later.  Until then!



Black Friday Flea Markets

 

So, I am back in California now!  It was a lovely break, and I had a nice relaxing time.  It has been like a breath of fresh air and now I am fully prepared to finish the semester strong!  It was great!  Because now that I am back, teaching is fun and work is fun...it's amazing what a short, week long break can do for you.  Anyway, these are just a few more pictures from my break. 

we went "black Friday" shopping...at a flea market!  It was great, and of course, there were some terrific deals!  :) 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we went to a park where we thought it would be fun to explore. We found the strangest little camper I have ever seen. 

 

So I had a lot of fun, but I am back now, and ready to finish this semester in just a few weeks!  :)

Until later! 



Giving Thanks in 2014

This year was the first Thanksgiving...being home in five years.  Since my Christmas break this year will be shortened by about a week and a half, I thought I would come home for Thanksgiving.  Also, because I have not been home for Thanksgiving in years. 

 

I was really excited when we got about 10 inches of snow the night after I arrived home! We even had to cancel church that Wednesday night. 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday I went out grocery shopping and planned the menu for everything on Thanksgiving for the meal.  I haven't been able to plan an event in a long time...it was so nice to be able to do! 

 

Then on Thursday morning, my church had a Thanksgiving service in the morning.  It was nice to see everyone...and of course, take silly pictures on the way to church.

 

This is just a bit of the food I made for Thanksgiving.  Mostly just desserts actually... 

 

I had to get pictures with all of my nieces and nephews.  This is Reuben.  He is so cute!  And has such an expressive face...:)  I loved being goofy and making him smile.

 

Tabitha and Abigail are so adorable.  Tabitha is quite the little grown-up now.  It was so cute to see her mimic EVERYTHING I did.  If I would fold my hands, she would, or if I crossed my legs while sitting, she would too.  And Abby?  She talks soooo much now.  I love asking her silly questions just to hear her jabber on and on :)

 

And I finally got to meet little Ella Rose!  She is just as cute as her pictures.  She seems so tiny...its hard to imagine that she is "growing so fast", because she seems absolutely tiny to me!

 

Daniel had all three of the older nieces and nephew on his lap at once.  It was cute. 

 

My week-long break is almost over.  I have a couple more random pictures from when Oliver and I went black Friday shopping at the Green Dragon in Lancaster.  But I will post them just a bit later. 

I had a lovely Thanksgiving Day and I am so glad I was able to come home for it.  I am not too sad about leaving to go back to CA just because in just a few short weeks, I will be back home again for Christmas! 

Until later!