Christmas Break with the Richeys

We spent a wonderful (and very busy) Christmas break with the Richey family this year. It began with a fun drive down to my parents' house, which we spent writing parody Christmas songs for the different members of my family. That's been our little tradition for three years running, now!

We hit bad traffic in LA, so it was a huge relief to finally make it. Cal loves his cousins and grandparents so much. My mom read the boys books that night. We were all so tired!

Here's my little Cal, fast asleep Christmas Eve:

This next shot isn't a great photo, but it does seem to capture the awesome chaos that is Christmas morning at the Richey home. My favorite is Brooks in the foreground. It was so fun to play with the twins. They're getting super big, and very mischievous. :)

Some of the highlights as far as presents this year included Mr. Whale, a toy that Reed's sister Diana apparently stole from him when he was younger. This was an act of sibling reconciliation.

Cal received Thomas Trouble from his cousin Brandon, which we love!

My parents got Cal a totally cool VW van pop-up tent. Carson got a tent, too, and the boys stored their gifts and treasures inside all week while playing. We all thought they were the best, until we attempted to put them away. Reed, my dad and my brothers spent hours consulting youtube videos to no avail. We're still not sure if we put it away correctly. I'm kind of scared to take it out again!

The days after Christmas were wonderful -- and busy! We enjoyed wonderful weather, which we tried  (and failed) to feel guilty about, given the frozen state of the rest of the country.

My mom and dad took us all to The Lion King at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, which is an amazing building in the Art Deco style.

My mom is so good at planning fun activities and making it convenient for everyone, and my dad is always so generous about treating us to these awesome events. They even arranged babysitters for the kids so we could go. I love spending time with them and making memories.

After our big putting to the Lion King, we set our sights on prepping for Rachel and Taft's wedding, and hosting the groom's family. It was so fun to meet the Memmotts. We spent hours playing "Time's Up" (it was the biggest group we've ever had!), rocking out to "Just Dance" on the Wii, and going to movies at the Krikkorian. 

Reed, Cal, and I saw Frozen (which I loved -- highly recommend it), and got in a little time at the theatre arcade, too!

The weekend was filled with meaningful events for our family, including Rachel's endowment on Friday, the beautiful wedding ceremony Saturday morning, a fun luncheon with close family, and the reception at the carriage house that evening. Rachel looked beautiful, and we are excited to have Taft in our family.

And check out these two little friends in their wedding outfits. They were so good the whole day!

I love the holidays, and I'm so glad we got to see our families during this special time of year!

Olsen Family Thanksgiving Break

We spent a fun Thanksgiving with the Olsen Family in Utah this year. Cal was so excited to see his Grandma & Grandpa and his cousins, he got his suitcase out and packed (the essentials--all toys) almost a week before our flight.

We flew right into Provo, and boy was it cold in Utah! Luckily, Cal had his wool hat and mittens that Aunt Heather had knit him.

The boys had such a fun time together. They are both getting to the age where they play well and really enjoy each other's company. It was sweet to watch. 

One of the days, we all met up at the new Scheels sporting goods store so we could ride the indoor ferris wheel (yes, you read that correctly -- land is so inexpensive in Utah that you can build a store large enough to house an indoor ferris wheel).

There are so many fun activities in Utah at Christmas time! We also took the boys to see a small display of gingerbread houses, which they loved. Each of us got to vote on our favorite.

Cal took this picture of two houses that he really liked:

Even better, we were surprised to discover that the rest of the building was basically an awesome children's museum about the history of Utah. There were so many cute hands-on exhibits for the boys, including a house with a table and a kitchen, a yard where they could fish, milk cows, and hang laundry from clothespins, and a grocery store with hundreds of moveable food items.

The boys loved it, and so did the parents! It was fun to see them imagine, and to play with them.

Thanksgiving was filled with food preparation, the Macy's parade, and the Westminster Dog Show, which I insisted on watching. Cal helped Grandma make her famous rolls:

And of course, we all made ginger snap cookies (Cal was shirtless at this point, nbd).

Grandma Rosemary brought a fun activity with her. On a long scroll of paper, we each drew pictures of what we were grateful for. Then, after dinner, the boys got to present it to us by scrolling through the drawings. They were so excited about it, so we got the show several times.

The day after thanksgiving, Reed and I dashed off to Boston, leaving Cal to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. We are so grateful that they are so good to him. He absolutely loves his grandparents.

Reed at I flew back early Sunday morning, and we all went to church together. It's always a treat to see the Christmas decorations in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I got some extra time to enjoy them, since my RLS had me walking the halls during sacrament meeting.

We had some delays with our homebound Allegiant flight, but eventually we made it back to California, safe and sound.

This year, we are grateful for our wonderful family and friends, good health, Reed's wonderful job, and the new baby that will be joining us in January. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Sunday in Salt Lake

We spent Sunday with Reed's parents and went to church in Salt Lake. Rosemary made a delicious dinner and Richard and I brainstormed over genealogy. The best was seeing Cal bonding with Grandpa. He absolutely loves the time he gets to spend with the Olsens. We were so glad Richard was in town this time around!

Geode from Grandpa Olsen

While we were in Salt Lake for the holidays, Grandpa Olsen took Cal to the new Natural History museum at the U, and bought him some goodies to take home. One of them was a geode that Cal got to smash once we were home in California. Look how excited he is!