Holidays in Review: Christmas & New Year’s

And in the blink of an eye, it was Christmas Eve. We always go to Christmas Eve service, look at Christmas lights, and get our Winter Dream Tea Lattes from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Unfortunately we someone mixed up the times of CB&TL's hours, so we ended up getting hot chocolates from Panera. For those of you who are wondering, yes, my dad did rent a van again for us! We no longer have an SUV/van in the family, so in order for us to look at lights we'd need a bigger car! Mike Badger got to ride with us again and spend these traditions with us, and I was so thrilled! He's been with us on Christmas Eve all of Owen's life now, so clearly it needs to continue for the coming years. (Hint, hint, Mike!)

Our Santa picture this year...

 

Christmas Day we spent the morning, just the three of us, opening presents. I was excited for Owen to play with his new toys that Andrew and I picked out for him. Although he's at a such fun age now, I just can't wait for him to understand Christmas and Elf on a Shelf (yep, we're going to do it) and presents and all the meaning behind everything. I can't wait for him to tell us what he wants to do and what he likes to do!

 

Our tree!

Christmas Morning!

 

Looking at the photo album with Daddy

 

Presents!

 

The necessary mess picture

 

Stockings

 

We went over to my parents’ house in the afternoon to celebrate with them, my brother, and Grammy. Cinnamon rolls were eaten, presents open, naps had, and puzzles started and finished. It was such a good time. Although I said that Owen’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving, I’m pretty sure Christmas is now. The awesome meal of thanksgiving combined with presents? He’s in.



Eating cookies and cinnamon rolls for breakfast is what Christmas is all about



 

There was a bag with Mickey on it that he saw from the other side of the tree...

 

Family.

 

One of my Christmas presents! Started and finished the same day!

 

Looking at the crazy street's Christmas lights

 I hit up Target clearance for the Christmas things and got more things to decorate with for next year! I already can't wait to get everything ready for next Christmas... And it's not even packed and put away yet! I actually really need to stop going to that area of the store because I keep finding awesome things and deals! 

 

Annual stuffed animal and chair picture

 Owen and I went to the aquarium on the 27th with my mom, Grammy, and Uncle Drew. Owen's absolute favorite animals are fish and anything that's in the water. He loves his fish stuffed animals and books and points to anything that has a fish on it or anywhere a fish might be. He's shown me fish in the background of movies, on the towels of book illustrations... Everywhere! So, the aquarium is one of his favorite spots! (Thanks, Granddaddy for letting us have your half of the membership!)

 

Fshhhhh

 

Being silly.

 

Petting the sea stars

 

Grandkids and Great Grandbaby

 

High ride with Uncle Drew

Andrew and I even managed to sneak away for a date night! Grammy loves sleep overs with Owen, so Saturday worked out perfectly to drop him off and then see him when we go over for church. They had a bunch of fun with him that night! And we had a lot of fun too! We couldn't really decide what to do, so I check the Disneyland park hours and we found out it was open until midnight! Score! (Especially since it was already 6pm). We grabbed a quick meal and made our way to Orange County. It was weird not having to wait for the elevator or push the stroller. The park was really crowded, but we managed to ride a few of the big kid rides that we don't get the opportunity to ride when Owen's with us.

 

My love and I in front of the castle

 

So pretty for the winter!

 

Matterhorn and fireworks!

 New Year's Eve was really never that big of a "holiday" for me. I know it has a lot more significance for others though. Last year we had people over, so we decided (extremely last minute) that we would do the same this year! The Kuglers and Tyler came down from Orange County and my brother and Melanie joined us later in the evening. It was a lot of fun eating a ton of food and playing Trivia Pursuit, especially since Michelle and I won! I kept checking the clock and before I knew it we only had 4 minutes left to pour champagne!

Ready for New Year's!

 

Happy New Year's!

2014 was kicked off in a great way with some of my favorite people and an awesome breakfast! We went to my parents' house for the traditional New Year's dinner of ham, black eyed peas (for luck), cabbage (for good fortune), and rice (for fun). We've already been to Disneyland this year, and I'm trying to think of something fun for us to do today.

 

SLTs

 

With our authentic Times Square glasses!

 The past few months have been so busy with fun activities, but also with work, and errands, and the busy day-to-day life. I'm going to do a post about my non-resolutions later, but I definitely want to focus on family and experiences for Owen.