Christmas

This is a little late, but I've been busy, so here's Christmas...

Jay had 3 Christmases this year. First we had Christmas with the Connellys in Utah (yeah, I still need to post about our trip to Utah), then we had Christmas in California before daddy left and then of course we had Christmas on Christmas Day with my parents. By the third Christmas Jay had figured out that Chrsitmas is a very good thing because opening presents means getting new toys! We had a very nice Christmas with my family. Cory drove up from LA to spend the weekend with us so it was the origional 4 plus Jay. It's been a long time since it's been just us. I loved spending time with Cory, and Jay especially enjoyed playing with his Uncle.

We always spend Christmas day with grandma and our cousins here in town and this year all my 3 beautiful cousins were here: Amy, Kristin and Lizzie. Amy's husband Matt couldn't make it because he was working, so strangely enough we really had only the origional family together. It was a blast spending time with my cousins. I love those girls so much. They really are the sweetest, kindest, smartest, best cousins a girl could have. They really feel more like sisters than cousins. I'm so excited that Amy is pregnant!!! She is going to make the best mom ever. I loved seeing my Unlce Jeff, Aunt Carol and Grandma too. They are so generous. I can't believe what a kind and loving family I have. We spent Christmas Eve together at Jeff and Carol's house. We had a great dinner complete with ham and mashed potatoes. Yum! That night we read the Christmas story while we sipped on hot cocoa. It was a very peaceful night. The next morning we woke up, not so bright and early but early enough and Santa had come! Here's a recap of Christmas Day:

Great-grandpas grave.

Christmas Eve at the Frost house. Jay LOVES Bach!

Making dinner.

The whole fam.

Christmas morning with mommy.

Nona with her favorite cereal.

Papa, Dej & Cory.

Wanna doughnut Papa?

Jay's cool new toy from Cory: a band in a box. Cory says he got it for Jay because 1. it's educational, 2. Jay will be able to enjoy it for a long time , and 3. it will really get annoying for mommy. Thanks Cory!

Jay recieved some new cars in his stocking. Mater is his favorite!

Jay playing with his new cars. He wasn't even interested in opening presents after finding these guys!

Playing with Uncle Cory.

A white Christmas!

Isn't it beautiful?

Family party time - Kristin & Dej hanging out.

OPEN!

Beautiful women.


Christmas dinner.


Playing marbles with Papa. Jay loves his new toy!

Ahhh, Papa... I love you.

Good Times

Here are a few pics showing what we've been up to lately... I have to keep daddy updated :) We miss you and we love you sweetie!

Here's Jay's new best friend "Eva" from the movie Wall-E.

Jay loves his mommy too. Aren't his wide mouth cheek kisses great?

Watching movies in Papa's movie room.

Christmas shopping with mommy... Nordstroms is so fun!

Where's Jay?

Hanging out with the best cousins in the world.

Baking cookies!

Even Jay helped. What a good boy!

Let it Snow

First off I want to let everyone know that Mike is doing fine. He made it to Central America and he's currently enjoying 75° weather and eating excellent food. He is loving how much the dollar is worth down there compared to the Euro exchange rate we received in Spain. Since he gets so much for his money he has his own maid who cleans for him 3 times a week and does all his laundry and ironing. That's more than I did for him at home! ;) Oh, and don't worry too much about him missing Christmas in the States. He had two official Christmases before he left (and plenty of presents) and over his 4 day holiday he and a friend will be hitting the beach and scuba diving. Of course his only complaint is being apart from Jay and I. It's certainly not easy but we're trying to make the best of it.
Jay and I are doing great with my family in California. They are spoiling us of course and I think it's time I get back into running before I gain 50 pounds! They definitely feed you well here. It has been snowing like crazy lately and it is so beautiful! I've missed the Sierra Nevada snow. I know my parents are sick of shoveling, but Jay has had a good time playing outside. Mom and I took him out one day and after getting over the fact that he had to wear boots he had a blast. He even put his mittins on without complaining after a while. We tried to make a snowman but the snow wouldn't stick. Dad says it was too cold. We had a great time sleding down a slide dad made while shoveling though. Jay laughed the whole way down and even mom and nona enjoyed it. I think Jay's favorite thing was tasting the snow. He has an obsession with anything frozen. He HATES food that is luke-warm to hot - ice cold is his favorite. He's such a cutie. He's talking all the time now and my favorite new phrase of his is, "What's that noise?" I don't know why it's so funny when he says it but it is. We sure love our little man. Oh! We've been binki free the past 24 hours! That's been accompianied with some tears, but he's making progress. Wish us luck! Here's Jay in his cute snow overalls.Mommy, Jay and Cory when the snow started.Walking down the hill to to Aunt Carol's house. Papa, Nona and Jay.Spanky the dog.Let is snow!

Family Time in California

I'm now going back to document the past month, since I've been too busy soaking up time with Mike to blog. After flying into Travis AFB from Spain we spent a few days with the Johnson family before heading to Utah. After three weeks in Utah we came back to Cali for another week. Here's what we did in Nevada City:

Going on a walk in the beautiful Fall-like weather...
Jay's favorite part was holding Spanky's leash on the walk. He walked like this for over a mile and a half! He sure loves that old doggy.Jay also enjoyed walking through the leaves with his Nona. Nona is Jay's favorite person around these parts. He can't get enough of her!

Climbing up the big pile of rocks left by the contractor...
Playing on the swingset (newly refurbished by Papa)...

Making funny sounds with daddy...
Mike told us a story about a time he went to Lake Powell with his family. Every morning they would wake up very early to the crows crowing an annoying, "Caw! Caw! CAW!" One morning they woke up and heard, "Caw, Caw... POW POW!" One of his uncles had woken up earlier than the crows and scared them off with his shotgun. They didn't come back after that. After listeing to the story Jay started saying, "Caw, Caw... POW POW!" He thought it was hilarious! You never know what they'll pick up on.

Hanging out with Spanky the dog, Lana the cat, and Clark the cat/dog...

Eating cheerios in the morning...

Going to Victorian Christmas...
Jay liked the hot chocolate best.

Visiting with Uncle Cory... The guys had a great time juggling together. Cory tried to teach Mike how to "steal" the juggling balls. Jay thought it was pretty fun!

An early Christmas with the fam...
Christmas dinner. mmm... raviolis, tri-tip, salad, beans, rolls, veggies. You couldn't ask for more!Jay loves his Papa!
Isn't my husband hot? I miss him :(Cory helping Jay sneak a candy cane.

I love my family!!!!