He's Home!

It is so wonderful to have Reed home! To celebrate (and to try to keep Reed awake), we went out to dinner the evening he arrived home. Cal snuggled his Dad all throughout dinner. Look how happy he is to have him back:

Reed brought us several special items from the Christmas markets in Berlin, including this pyramid, which Cal was fascinated with. It'll be so fun to take it out each year at Christmas and remember the night we got our Daddy back.

Preschool Field Trip: Planetarium

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's really cute that Cal's preschool goes on field trips! While Reed was gone, Cal's class went to the planetarium at the local college to see a show about the planets. Cal was really excited, and chose a seat by his friends.

The guy running the show was this awesome bearded fellow, who was surprisingly great with all the kids. The class has been doing a unit on the planets -- I was surprised at how much Cal knew, even before the show. I love that the trips build on what the kids are learning, and I love that the teachers have an actual curriculum for the kids.

Cal loved the show, and we got to call Dad in Europe and tell him all about it afterward.

Christmas Projects

With Dad gone in Europe, Cal and I tackled a lot of projects around the house. Nesting was in full swing for me, so I took on several organization projects. 

I know this probably seems weird, but I LOVE organizing. I've grown to appreciate a good organization system even more since living in our small apartment -- every inch counts.

A lot of the projects were more fun, and involved decorating for Christmas, shopping, and wrapping presents. Although, we didn't get high marks for organization in this department. Take a look at Santa's workshop. Yikes!

Cal was actually a huge help in getting everything ready for Christmas. He is very skilled at using scissors (seriously), so we made good use of his talents and had him cut the wrapping paper.

He was very interested in who each present was for, and kept telling me how excited he was for his cousins and grandparents to open his gifts. It was sweet to see how much he was thinking of others.

We got Cal an advent calendar from Ikea again this year, and each morning, one of the first things he'd say was, "My cander!" before running to open the flap and retrieve the chocolate inside. As a surprise, Reed made me an advent calendar of my own, filled with 25 hints that led me on a search for little gifts around the house.

I couldn't believe that he'd set it al up before he left for Europe. It was such a sweet and romantic idea!

We had a fun time at our ward Christmas party, even though we had to attend with no Dad. Here is Cal ringing his heart out to jingle bells with the primary kids.

We definitely missed Reed while he was gone, but I'm glad we got to fill our time with such fun projects and activities.

Live Bethlehem in Santa Clara

This December, Reed went on a work trip to Europe (which I'll try my hardest to get him to post about), so Cal and I were on our own for about a week and a half. To pass the time, we filled our days (and evenings) with lots of Christmas activities. One event we tried out for the first time this year was the live Bethlehem in Santa Clara.  

It was really well done -- I was blown away!  Tons of volunteers were dressed up as Roman centurions, artisans, merchants, shepherds, tax collectors, wise men, etc., each with their own area or market stall where visitors could interact with them and learn about what life was like at the time of Christ's birth.

We met up with our friends, and the kids had fun being taken from stall to stall for various activities. Here they are making talents by pressing a circular mold into the clay:

Cal watching a leather-maker fan a flame with a bellows:

Cal got to make a mud brick:

...and learned how to press wine out of grapes:

Then, of course, the performers acted out the nativity scene, with shepherds running in & wise men arriving on real camels. I loved asking Cal about what was happening, because he actually "gets it" this year.

Afterward, we got free hot chocolate from a stand set up in front of the church for the visitors. The perfect treat for a freezing cold night!

The fruits of a fun and busy day:

Bell Choir (Again!)

Since my pregnancy has been so uncomfortable, I've been saying no to a lot of events that sound fun this Christmas season in an attempt to preserve what little energy I do have.  But one thing that was tempting enough to convince me was Christmas bell choir. If you remember, my aunt Heather and I rang with Jessica's group last Christmas, and when she asked us to participate again this year, neither of us could turn it down.

All the ringers were returning members from last year, which was really fun, and meant that we got into the groove of working together faster than we did last year. We performed at the Palo Alto Creche Festival, with our own 45-minute program (last year we just did two numbers as part of another group's program). We did about a dozen songs. It was a little daunting to learn all of the music, but I think we did a great job. Jessica chose beautiful arrangements of religious carols. It's so fun working with this group of people.

Reed took a few videos of the performance. Here is a clip of "What Child is This?":

I got a chance to sing during the program, too. Here is a clip of "Gesu Bambino", with the bells accompanying me underneath:

The Palo Alto Stake really does such a wonderful job with the festival. In addition to the continuous musical programs that serenade visitors, there are hundreds of nativities, grouped by theme or origin. One feature of the festival that we took advantage of this year was the children's room, where volunteers told the nativity story with marionette puppets.

Cal was absolutely transfixed. He loved the show so much that he suggested "Fluffy Marionette" as a name for the new baby. Thanks, Cal. We'll keep that in mind.

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!