This past week, we made what will be our last Christmas trip to California. Mom is now up in an assisted living place in Utah (Aaron’s kids are making sure the house is lived in and okay until it gets sold), so this trip was mainly me and some of the other siblings going through boxes and making sure the sentimental stuff gets sorted. It was bittersweet being there without Mom, but it was a good visit, nonetheless. We took the time to go to Universal Studios and Knott’s, so that was fun for the kids, too. Stap in for a lot of photos!
AC stopped by with his youngest daughter who is just a couple months younger than Abigail.The two of them had a ton of fun.Kayla pulling “oldest girl cousin” duties.I don’t really know what was going on here, ha.Jason and Luna came over as well.Going down to the Lower Lot at Universal where Mario Land is.We only rode one ride in Mario Land, which was Mario Kart. The line was long, but entertaining with tons of detail.Joseph made it his mission to pop his head into the background whenever possible.That’s one happy girl!The star in the background was cool.She loves selfies.Ope, there’s that “surprised happy” face.Yet another photobomb moment.The details in Mario Land were pretty cool.Pointing out fun stuff.The entrance to Bowser’s castle.I think Abigail was done with the line at that point.Playing with her power-up band.The other Lower Lot ride we went on was Transformers. Not as much cool stuff to look at…but a ton of buttons and switches to play with.With the spark.Cool Transformers logo.I asked to take his picture.THAT’s better!It was fun going during the holidays.Up where you can see out into LA.It was pretty cool to look out and see everything.Visiting Hogsmeade.It was crazy crowded at that point, so we didn’t go on any rides. We did the wand experience (for me and Abigail since Joseph had his wand from an earlier visit), got some butter beer, and called it good.Waiting in line for the wand experience.With Hogwarts in the background.We felt this was also really well designed for details.She liked the first sip, but once it got fizzy, she was done.Joseph didn’t mind getting an extra. 😉The funny thing about this was that Sirius is moving around in this a lot (as is typical for Wizarding World newspapers), but I got the shot right as Joseph happened to be making the same face.We met up with one of Paul’s LP friends and she got some good shots of us.It was a long day, but fun!Snuggling with Daddy.My wand (made to look like Tonks’ wand) and some Mario mushroom ears.On our way to Knott’s, we saw a really cool vapor trail. I took a picture and you can see the jet at the top (it looks like a pin prick, but if you zoom in, you can see the jet shape).Hopefully the only time she’ll be behind bars.Right before Paul took Abigail to Camp Snoopy and I took Joseph to the big rides.The ride that probably did me in. We rode this ride and one other (which was much smoother than this wooden roller coaster) before my back muscles started to spasm really bad. After that, Joseph went on a few rides solo. The next day, I ended up in urgent care for muscle relaxers and extra strength Ibuprofen.One of her favorite rides.She loved being able to go on stuff on her own.Striking up a conversation with the kid next to her.She really liked this ride.I love seeing such a happy pictures of her!Joseph on Silver Bullet.See? There he is!Seeing a donkey.Any time she saw a coffin, she had to take a picture.See?Sitting with the other girls. 😀We went on this train ride (which Abigail ended up not caring for since it was mostly in the dark)… …and this one which takes you around the park.Abigail with Snoopy and Yoshi.The measuring door at Mom and Dad’s.My address for the first 21 years of my life.The fireplace my Daddy built.This is a permanent fixture in the house.Foothills, citrus, and palm trees…The last time in the back yard.Man, I’m going to miss this house!The last time (for a bit) driving past the windmills in the high desert.One of the things I brought home with me…now I have a bit of home at home.
I’m finally getting caught up on my pictures! As soon as we went on break, we had a few chill days at home, then it was Abigail’s birthday, then Christmas, and then we left for California (which will be a separate post). We’re back home, so it’s time to play catch-up!
Joseph had his holiday concert (the same night as Abigail’s winter fun event). I went with Abigail and Paul went with Joseph. Here’s a great shot that Paul got of our percussionist in action.I like that the directors give parents a chance to get good end-of-concert pictures, too. It’s hard when he’s all the way in the back!One of my coworkers put this together, framed it, and gave it to me for Christmas. It just about made me ugly cry, y’all.We decided to have Abigail’s friend party at Peter Piper Pizza. It was easy to plan, the kids were entertained, and Abigail (as you can see) loved it!Blowing out the candle.Unwrapping presents.I love how genuinely happy she was with each present.When we got home, we let her unwrap presents from us and Jason, Saira, and Luna.Did I mention this cat (which we’re pretty sure is feral) has decided our yard is a good place to live? At first, Paul was kinda chasing it off…because there was evidence that it had probably caught some birds (we have bird feeders in the back yard because we like seeing all the birds).Pretty soon, though, we found out that it had kittens. Three, to be exact. Well, Paul said he didn’t want to see kittens starving, so we are now feeding four cats. Hopefully once they get bigger, they will all head off. We’re not playing with them or anything, just setting out food. We’ll see what happens.Abigail’s interests are always so fun to see. Things that are the typical things girls like right next to things that are more typically reserved for boys. I love that she doesn’t care and just…likes what she likes.She’s into making excited faces for pictures, as of late, so…there’s that, haha.She’s eight!!On Christmas Eve, we decided to go see Sonic 3 in the theaters. It was a fun family outing!Two of my favorite things about Christmas are all the lights and the nativity. I got this ornament this year and couldn’t help but get this shot with the lights in the background.Christmas Eve prep…Stocking fun (Santa got her Rescue Bots).Santa got him a new game.Playing with her new Care Bear doll (it’s a Barbie that is dressed up like a Care Bear that has its own Care Bear).Showing me a fun book from one of our good friends.We got him an electronic drum kit……that he put together on his own. Yay!Abigail got a Switch for Christmas, so it was fun seeing the two of them playing together.
Okay, so the time between Thanksgiving Break and Christmas Break is a bit…dicey. It’s a busy time at school with dress-up days, concerts, grading, tests, and tying up loose ends before Christmas. Abigail had her school’s Winter Wonderland event, I went to a fun Relief Society book exchange, Paul got covid (luckily the rest of us did not and he has made a full recovery), and Joseph has been practicing for his winter concert which is this week. It’s been a busy time for sure! We’ve got one more week before having two blissful weeks off. Hooray!
Showing off her interchangeable Minnie Mouse sweatshirt (the sequins flip back and forth so Minnie is either black, white, and red or black, white, and silver).The book exchange was white elephant-style, so people could steal books. Luckily, nobody stole mine. It’s really intriguing and I actually want to sit down and read it, even though non-fiction is not usually what I reach for first.We’ve had dress up days all of December (and still have one more week to go). Recently, my phone added a feature for the camera where if you put it in front-facing, you can back up, hold up your palm, wait for the camera to recognize it, and then it will set a three second timer so you can take a selfie without having to hold the phone. This was my test shot (sporting my Grinch sweater and earrings for red and green day). Pretty cool!Abigail with Santa at her school event.Throwing “snowballs” (they were plush). I like her strategy: gather up as many as you can so you have a full arsenal and the enemy…doesn’t.So…the fake snow machine. There was actually quite a breeze blowing, so it ended up more like a blizzard, but Abigail actually loved it.We went to Bass Pros to take a picture with Santa and Paul was helping Abigail practice shooting.I’m pretty sure I have at least one picture (if not more) of him doing this same thing with Joseph.
