Homemade Cookies

Chilling out at home, making cookies.

Annual Disneyland Visit

One of the things we have made a tradition over the last four years, is a trip to Disneyland every time we come to Southern California.  I guess, it's really one of the things that I (Tracy) really look forward to.  We had a nice visit, but it was a little shorter than originally planned.  The kids had their Disney-fill by the time we left, but it was CROWDED...in fact, OVER-CROWDED.

Disney On Ice

The kids had a great night out with Grant, Grammy & Papa...they all went out to dinner and then hit the rink for a Toy Story 3, Disney on Ice show. Fun night out!

The American Girl Meets American Girl

We had a special lunch at the Los Angeles American Girl Store & Restaurant with Grammy, Lisa, Mommy, Aurora, Molly, and Kristen.  It was a fun afternoon...mommy brought her American Girl all the way from Alaska, Grammy brought her American Girl, and Emily got to bring Aurora to eat lunch with us.

They had a delicious spread with seats and cups for all of our dolls to eat with us at the table.  And, the trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to the American Girl Store downstairs, where Emily and Aurora continued to be spoiled.  Nice day!!

Zoooooooooooooooo

We were fortunate to be able to share a great day at the L.A. Zoo with Grandpa Mike, Grandma Rose, Uncle Mike, Kylie, and Declan.  Ethan loves the "zeebees" - Emily just loved seeing all of the animals and spending time with her cousin Kylie.  Thanks Grandpa Mike for taking the day off work to share it with us!!

Santa's Here!

The kids woke up Christmas Morning to see that Santa had paid them a visit.  Emily was excited to see that Santa had eaten the cookies and drank the milk she left for him; and the reindeer had eaten the carrots she left on the plate.  The kids ran around the corner, and under the tree were MORE GIFTS from Santa!

A Swedish Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve has always been a very exciting event in our (Tracy's) family.  Hundreds of presents pour out from the base of the Christmas Tree, and the Holiday Cheer is bustling throughout the house.  Being able to share this family tradition with our kids was very special for me.  Thank you!

1st Mani/Pedi

 Emily got her very first manicure/pedicure.  She was a little apprehensive, but was excited to have a girly-girl day!  Emily, Mommy, and Grammy all got matching toe nail paint with Christmasy red and green nail polish.  It was a fun afternoon at the salon.

Christmas with Great-Grandma Tess

One of our most-cherished moments was spending the evening with Great-Grandma Tess.  We all had a delicious Christmas Dinner, and the kids opened presents from Great-Grandma Tess, Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Tony and Tina. They both loved all of the toys they received, and they were adorable as they stood for pictures with Grandma.  It was a fun evening and I know that Grandma really enjoyed seeing those two little angels.

Welcome to Cali

Well, it wasn't easy leaving the season of snow for the warm weather of California...I know that sounds weird, but nothing feels more like Christmas than snow!

As most of you already know, our travels to California on the airplanes were a nightmare.  Ethan was NOT a good flyer.  We even had a stewardess pass out earplugs to the airplane passengers because Ethan was screaming consistently...and when our flight was over, that same stewardess suggested that we see if a place in the airport sold Benedryl or Dramamine so that we could drug the poor boy.  Ya, to say the least, it was a rough flight getting to the sunny-state!

We were looking forward to the exciting time and adventures to share with our family and friends.  We were fortunate to have many visitors this summer, and we were glad to see everyone again for the holidays!

Snowing in Kodiak

I'm kind of back-logged on blog posts, so this topic seems like a mute point...but it's snowing in Kodiak!  Our first snowfall of the season came on November 1st.  The kids have really enjoyed playing in the snow...building snowmen, throwing snowballs, making snow angels, sledding, shoveling the snow, etc. It's just been a lot of fun!

Here are some pics of all that white stuff...


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