Christmas 2016

We had our annual Christmas Eve morning brunch with the godsisters- one of the best holiday traditions!

2014/2015/2016...

I didn't really get any pictures of Christmas Eve at my parents or Christmas day, except of Gary smoking a turkey in his brand new Orion smoker for Christmas dinner!

Oh, and also some remnants of Santa's visit. ;)

The day after Christmas, we had a super fun day with grammy and pop pop and the cousins!

2012 and 2016!

Disney on Ice

I surprised the kids with Disney on Ice on Christmas Eve eve!

Christmas Parties, Baking & SCP!

We had our annual neighbor Christmas party and white elephant exchange...always a good time...we love our neighbors!

And I've been doing a lot of baking for neighbor gifts and dessert for the party...

During the day before the party, the kids and I ventured to South Coast Plaza...I thought it would be an absolute zoo, but it wasn't too crowded at all!  We browsed the Disney and Lego stores, threw pennies in the fountain, rode the all glass elevators, had some lunch and of course rode the reindeer carousel!

Santa!

We finally found time to visit Santa and decided on Roger's Gardens this year.  I tried to get some photos before we saw Santa, but this was Everett's mood...

Luckily his mood vastly improved when it was time to see Santa...this is only the second year that there were no tears, and the first year that Everett would sit on his lap!

Kidz Bop!

One of Ella's friends took her to see Kidz Bop- her very first concert!  I heard they had a ton of fun!

This was the first concert attire...Run DMC shirt, high pony, bright lip gloss and lots of glitter in her hair. ;)

Holiday Recital

Ella had her holiday recital on December 16th, and she ROCKED it.  We were so proud of her!  She is improving so much!  I didn't get many photos of her jazz dance but got lots of ballet!

jazz...

Big Holiday Activity Weekend

We packed a lot of activities into this little weekend!  It started Friday night with our annual holiday couples' dinner...

Then the next night, we did our annual dinner and Christmas light night with the godsisters- one of our favorite traditions!

We've been doing this for four years and counting!!

The next morning we met up with the twins to donate gifts at the fire station, which Everett looks forward to and talks about all year!

My 3rd child showing the kids how he thinks they should pose for the picture...

That night, Julie and I took Ella and Olivia to their very first real ballet...the Nutcracker at Segerstrom  performed by American Ballet Theatre!  The night was absolutely magical!!

I LOVE the Nutcracker, and Julie and I have been talking about taking the girls since they were born, but we wanted them to be old enough to appreciate it (and behave!), and we picked the right year.  Ella leaned over to me during the performance and said, "I love this mommy."  I can't wait to take her to many more ballets!!

Oh, and she also said that she wants to take more ballet classes. ;)

And while we had our girls only night, Everett had a boys only afternoon at the Ducks game with Nathan and the daddies!

Sock Hop!

Ella and Gary had their Indian Princess Daddy Daughter Sock Hop, and oh my gosh, it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!

Twinsies!

After the dance, all the girls and dads went to Ruby's for dinner because of course you have to go to Ruby's when you are dressed up 50s style!

And while the girls danced, a few of the brothers got their hair cut! ;)