Christmas Morning

A few token pictures before opening presents on Christmas morning. I am so thankful for kids who slept in until 8am!

Pretty girl with her stocking.  She was the 1st one awake and had the hardest time being patient for her siblings to wake up.

Happy, Happy!

Me and my girl

Poor Seth woke up feeling horrible and had to go back to bed to sleep for a couple of hours after we opened gifts.  He sadly ended up having to stay home with Daddy and miss out on all the family fun at my Aunt Pam's.  Unfortunatley, that evening, I ended up getting sick, followed by Wayne and Kya.  I had never in my life had a cold that knocked me flat on my back for 2 days straight.

Christmas Eve with the Kubli's

Originally, we had planned on staying home on Christmas Eve with a pizza and a movie. But then we were invited to come spend the evening with our Kubli cousins and so we did pizza and movie the night before and had a wonderful time up at their home. The only downfall was having to fight the Vegas traffic the first hour, but it was all worth it.

Before leaving the house, I got this great picture of all 3 kids.  I am pretty sure this one is frameable!!!

Uncle Jim, Kristina and the kids after dinner

The kids got Jr. Monopoly and have already enjoyed hours of fun playing it.  We in turn gave the Kubli's a fun puzzle that they can put together one cold night.

Uncle Jim and Wayne

Living Nativity with Friends

This is our 6th year attending the Living Nativity and the 5th family we have taken with us. It was pretty cold this year and the line was a bit long, but that didn't stop us from having fun and learning more about the birth of our Savior.  This tradition is one of my favorites and I already can't wait to pick another family to go with us again next year!

This Roman Soldier allowed each child in our group to try on his helmet and hold his spear while we waited in line.

The helmet was so big, you can't see Kya's face!

Petting the show animals afterwards.  Jennifer tried petting an Alpaca and almost got kicked!  Of course, it was her fault as they said to only pet his neck and she reached out for his hind hip.  Oops!!!

I love the look of pure excitement on her face!

PCJBR Banquet Ceremony

Elsie and Seth worked really hard this year learning the sport of bull riding and their efforts were rewarded by a BBQ dinner, awards, great things said about them by their coaches and fun playing pool /hanging out with all the other cow-folks.

Elsie earned enough points to come in 3rd place in her division of Mutton Bustin'.  She earned a cow bell and a really nice jacket that has the team logo on the back and her name, division and 3rd place champion written on the front.  We are excited to see how she does in bull calves next year.

Seth really came a long way his first year of riding bull calves and it was evident in his riding as the year progressed.  His coach, Daryl, nailed it on the head when he said "Seth has a heart for the sport, but he  needs to learn to stop over thinking and just ride".  Seth earned a cow bell with the logo and year engraved on it.  We are also excited to see him continue to grow in this sport next year.

We are fortunate to have older kids ride with the PCJBR and be a great role model for our kids.  Ernesto rode in the Junior Bull division and was always super kind to Seth.

Thanksgiving in Hemet

Taking our annual pictures in Ken's backyard. Love the view and seeing how the kids grow.