Merry Christmas!!

We had a fun, quiet Christmas just with our little family in Yakima this year.  On Christmas Eve we acted out the nativity scene (Grant was the angel, Tate a Shepherd, Luke was a very loving Joseph, I was Mary and Ryan was the narrator/Shepherd).  Luke had a hard time leaving baby Jesus in the manger, but it all went well and was pretty cute.  We also upheld the Nickerson tradition of going for a star walk to "find" the new star.  We did not end it with donuts, however, since we were still stuffed from dinner. I decided to do a big, fancy dinner on Christmas Eve so I wouldn't have to worry about cooking on Christmas.  We decided it made Christmas day feel a little less "Christmasy", but I appreciated not having to cook anything after breakfast.

 Unplanned, we still fulfilled the serious and goofy shoot of the boys.

 The boys were able to open their Christmas Eve present that night.  Thanks to Munga and Papa for the new PJ's and books!  They were very excited!

 Here are the boys in their new jammies and enjoying a Christmas Eve bedtime book.

 On his last day out, Hermey decided to go out with a bang and spent the day riding Luke's reindeer around and around the living room (attached to the ceiling fan).  I'd say it was one of his most clever reveals yet.
It appears that Hermey tied himself onto the reindeer's back with rubber bands around his ankles and wrists then tied one end of a strand of thread around the reindeer's neck and the other end around his hind quarters.  Then threw the strand of thread over two of the fan blades.  This ensured that the reindeer always flew straight ahead and never turned or twisted during flight.  The fan was on its lowest setting and it never got old!  Throughout the entire day the boys would turn on the fan then shriek in delight as they watched Hermey and the reindeer fly around and around.  I must admit it was pretty sweet!

 We tried to keep the toy situation a little more simple this year, and the kids were happy with their loot.  Looks like Santa delivered on those Chima Legos for Tate.

 Grant loves having warm feet during the winter (and had taken to wearing my slippers around the house), so we were both excited for him to get some of his own.

 Luke was very excited about a certain pair of fuzzy mittens.  So excited, in fact, that he kept them on for the remainder of the morning.

 One of Grant's frequent early requests to Santa was a robotic dog named Zoomer.  Later in December Grant had changed his mind, but I told him "Santa" had probably already got the first list and might not be able to change it.  He was still happy to get Zoomer and all the boys have had a lot of fun with him.

 Yeah!! A big dump truck!!

 Grant's first try with Pokeman cards.  So far he hasn't requested any more, which is a good thing :)

 I surprised Ryan with a new fancy carry on bag (which was good timing with the handle recently breaking on his old bag).  Notice and enjoy Ryan's fancy bed hair to match his fancy bag.  Very, very fancy.

 Looks like Santa made good on that shovel for Tate too.  He was ready to get to work in the backyard later that morning.

 We debated over getting Luke the singing Doc McStuffins doll, but he loves that show and every time we passed the doll at the store he wanted to hold her and play the songs.  Here he is swaying his hips to the melody of "time for your check up, time for your check up..." 

 Last but not least, the Stocking stash.  I remember always being exited about those little stocking gifts.  You always seem to forget about them until all the presents are opened, and then it's so exciting to know you have a couple more coming.

 It's also exciting getting some cash from Grandma Wood.
For some reason I don't have a picture of my gifts, but Ryan surprised me by making all of our blog into one big book.  I'd been wanting this for a couple of years and Ryan took some serious time this year making it happen.  It's always nice to have a physical copy in case we ever loose computer access (you know, when "crap hits the fan").  Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Activities

For Thanksgiving and Christmas we knew we would be on our own so we planned lots of fun activities to help us get into the spirit of the season.

 The Ward Christmas party is always a good place to feel that Christmas spirit!  We enjoyed a yummy breakfast, planned to give service, and received a visit from jolly ol' St. Nick.  There were no tears this year, but no one quite mustered the courage to look Santa directly in the eyes.

 

 Tate told Santa that he wanted a Lego Chima set, a scooter, and a shovel (???, that must be from his Wood man roots).

 Grant told Santa he wanted a laser gun, nothing else.  This was a new revelation to us, maybe slightly influenced by the kids in line next to him :)

 We upgraded our tree this year and got a really tall, bright one.  I actually was able to get quite a few Christmas decorations on super sale after Christmas last year, so it was fun to decorate the house together.

 The boys loved decorating the tree.  There is something so sweet about little pajama-clad boys getting excited and putting ornaments on their Christmas tree.

I told you that tree was bright!  It was almost jarring to look directly at it.
I almost expected it to go up like a Roman candle at any moment but I'm happy to report that it made it through the Season without even a whiff of the sharp tang that heralds the coming of a brilliant electrical fire.

 

 We enjoyed hot chocolate and marshmallows on several occasions.  It just wouldn't be Christmas without them!

 We were able to enjoy the "Journey to Bethlehem" for the 2nd year at the 7th Day Adventist Church.  They do a great job making it feel like you are a traveler in Bethlehem when Christ was born.  The Roman guards might be a slightly overzealous in their heckling of us "Jews" though, seeing how Tate only remembers "those guys on horses who yelled at us", but overall the production is great and a tradition I would repeat every year if we stayed here.

We enjoyed watching Grant's "Holiday performance" (because the school might offend someone by saying the C-word during Christmas).  He looked so handsome in his church clothes and recited his part perfectly!

 

 You can see him holding the mic right before his speaking part.  For some reason we didn't get a photo of him giving his part, but rest assured it was moving and poetic :)

 This is my attempt at a family picture after Grant's performance.  At least Grant is looking.  The other two couldn't peel their eyes off the model bull elk in the glass case.  In their defense, it was pretty cool.

 

 Tate also had a Christmas performance this year.  Since he goes to a Methodist preschool, the program was Christ based, so that was nice.  The kids were cute and did great with their songs.

 

 Tate, always the ham bone.

 

 We all enjoyed cookies after his program, and someone's pregnant belly photo bombed us.

 Another Christmas tradition is eating, I mean, making gingerbread houses.  I tried something different this year and used melted sugar to hold the houses together.  It's a little tricky to work with and doesn't taste great if you try to eat that part of the house later, but man does it hold those houses together!  It's the concrete of the candy world. 
Just melt sugar in a pan then spread it on the edges of the graham crackers and stick them together.  When the sugar cools the cracker will break before the sugar joint will- a welcome change from last year when we used frosting and spent the whole time trying (unsuccessfully) to keep our houses from collapsing.

Grant was very careful in designing and decorating his house and the finished product was almost too cute to eat!  Almost...

 Luke spent the majority of the night shoveling candy into his mouth.  What can you really expect when a two year old is sitting at a table literally covered in candy?

 

Tate and Luke with Tate's and my finished houses.  Pretty cute, huh?

 

 Ryan took a lesson from Luke's book and didn't waste any time with the decorating part of things.  It seems that Ryan can overcome his dislike for frosting when M&M's are involved.

 There are always extra treats lying around during the Holidays, and on some occasions Luke did whatever he could to get his hands on them.  One day he ran off and disappeared after his bath.  After a minute of trying to find him in the bedrooms, I finally discovered that he was hiding under the kitchen table with a plate of goodies that he was about to devour.  Mean old Mom has to ruin everything!

 A new activity we tried this year was to attend the Luminaria at the local arboretum.  There were thousands of lighted candles in white bags illuminating a mile long path through the arboretum.

 It was a fun experience and I would also add it to my list of traditions if we were to stay here.

 We did have to keep our eye on Luke.  Lit candles in white bags are very appealing to two year olds.

 There was even hot cocoa, cookies, and live Christmas music to enjoy afterward .  Fun times!

Long Legs

 I was just looking through some pictures on my phone and came across these forgotten gems.  Tate was trying on a pair of Grant's PJ's and the effect was quite comical.

 It makes his body look almost cartoonish. 

This picture is to tell you that we had a fun Thanksgiving, even though these two Indians look a little disgruntled at the moment. 

San Diego Trip

I am so late and behind in all my posts that I have been forgetting about important events!  Like the important event of Ryan and I enjoying a completely kid-free weekend in San Diego this past October.  Ryan had an ortho conference to attend and I decided to join him for some fun in the sun.  My kind sister watched the kids for us (again! we owe her big time!) and we enjoyed a weekend of relaxation, beach time and delicious food.  Well, Ryan was actually at the conference all day so I enjoyed the relaxation and beach time and we both enjoyed the food.

 Ryan found a great house in a historic district of San Deigo and we rented it with several ortho friends from over the years.  Unfortunately, no other wives were able to make it (which would have given me more company during the day).  However, I did enjoy being able to sleep in as late as I wanted, go for 2 hour exploring runs in the beautiful weather, hang out at the beach, and basically do whatever I wanted during the day.

 Ryan and his buds Rick, Sam and David.  We missed Craig in this picture.  It was fun to see everyone and I know Ryan enjoyed catching up with his pals and talking ortho.

 This is a glimpse of the back yard/patio where we stayed.  The picture doesn't do it justice, as there are stairs in corners leading to hidden patios and the second floor of the house.  The vine-covered walls became a waterfall at the push of a button and that blue pad under the second story patio is the cover of the hot tub.  It was awesome! 

We spent some time trying to find some of the best places to eat while we were there.  One night we got some cake to go from Extraordinary Desserts and could barely finish 1/2 of each piece, they were that extraordinary and rich (and $10/slice).  No really, they were freaking good!  We had gone to a highly rated Italian restaurant earlier that night that about knocked my socks off (best pork chop of my life!), so the cake was a great finish.

 We had to visit "Hash House a Go-Go" for breakfast before flying out the last day.  They are known for their tasty and HUGE breakfast servings.  Ryan got the french toast made with three slices of 2 inch thick banana infused Amish bread, fresh fruit, pecans, and a grilled banana on top.  It was the best french toast we have ever had!  Erin got the fancy-shmancy eggs benedict- a bed of mashed potatoes with biscuits and gravy in the middle and a batch of eggs on top, covered in a delicious tomatoey-zippy hollandaise sauce.  It was a savory dream come true!  And if you know Ryan, you know that he pushed through and cleared off both our plates even though that was enough food to kill a lesser man.  But he's an American and he finishes what he starts. 

 I'm not going to lie, this was one of the highlights of the trip.  I just love laying under a hot sun on the beach, reading, people watching, or just listening to the waves and seagulls.  It's been quite some time since I've just gone to the beach and sat, not trying to keep a child from drowning or eating sand, so it was quite enjoyable:)

I was soaking up the weather and foliage on my exploring runs (you can't find places like this in Yakima!).  If only it wasn't so crowded, expensive, and liberal, I think San Diego would be about the perfect place to live!