6 Years Old!

Austin turned six today! I am amazed at how fast the time has gone by!
Austin at age 6 is:
Very social
Always talking or singing
Caring towards others
Curious about everything
Learning to read
Expressing himself through his artwork
Always making plans
Loves to do experiments
Getting more like his daddy everyday
Very determined (and stubborn!)
Here are a couple of pics from his party yesterday. The next phase of his birthday will be his trip to Disneyland in just a couple of weeks. I think I am just as excited as he is!

Spending Time with Oma & Papa

We enjoyed several days with Oma & Papa. We went down to the wharf for lunch and to see the sea lions, our local Covered Bridge park, a little bit of antiquing and a trip to the Sylvan Music store (full of so many beautiful instruments!)

Christmas Day

We had a beautiful Christmas day, the first in our new home. Nessa and Laith came down for the day and mom & dad stayed for several days. It was great to get to share our Christmas with them! The boys had a blast and are enjoying all their new toys. I personally can't wait until the batteries die on some of them!

The boys in their matching camo pants and with their new nativity set.

cute boys all wrapped up

Love this pic of my baby sis, taken by her hubby, Laith.

The boys making the gingerbread house.

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Digiscrap pages

Here are some of my current digital scrapbboking pages:

Dearest Family and Friends,
I will not able to send out Christmas cards this year. I regret not being able to personally send out our holiday wishes to each of you individually. I hope you know that we love all of you so much and are so grateful for your love and support, the happiness that you add to our lives. May your holiday season be filled with love, laughter and warmth.
Love,
Bryce, Sarah, Austin and Danny

Natural Bridges

The Boys and I went to Natural Bridges today to see the monarch butterflies. The weather was perfect and they were flying all over the place. Even Danny was impressed by them. After we went down to the beach so the boys could run, scream and play in the sand. Danny thought it was hilarious to throw sand at me. I now have probably a cup of sand down the front of my shirt! There was also a negative tide so we got to walk out behind the arch to see the sea stars and sea anemones. The pics are from my phone so they may not be the best quality.

How to Return an Elephant

Austin was talking to his Grampie on the phone this weekend. During the course of their conversation Grampie asked Austin if he would like a motorcycle or an elephant for Christmas. Austin responded, most enthustisically, that he would like the motorcycle. Grampie replied that it was too bad as he had already got the elephant. Austin is not one to let a little obstacle like that get in his way. He calmly informed Grampie that all he needed was the reciept and he could return the elephant!

Decorating the Tree

Here is the tree all finished. I wanted to get a picture of each boy with the lights as a backdrop. They had to stay very still to get the lighting I needed. Needless to say it was impossible for Danny. Even though the pic is blurry I love the way it turned out.

A few of my favorite ornaments. Three are from my very early childhood. The white angel was a more recent find. It is handcrafted and I just fell in love with the scroll work.

Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree

We went to Johnson's farm on friday to pick out our tree. Johnson's farm is up in Boulder Creek and reminds me of Apple Hill. I can give it no better kudos than that! I think this is one of my favorite trees. It needed no trimming or straigtening. Once we got home it was up in five minutes and looked great!

The trip up the hill The boys cutting it down Carrying it off to the truck Danny on the bridge to the barn and gift shop
Loaded up and ready to go!

Celestial Sunset

When leaving my parent's on our on way home last night we caught this spectacular sunset along with the moon, Jupiter and Venus. I had to stop the car and snap a picture. I just wish I had my tripod handy (instead of hidden away at home so Austin stops using it as a microphone, rocket, etc)!

We made it home 5 hours later! Ugh! But it is good to be home again. The kitties are settling in nicely and getting used to all the noise and commotion of the boys. Here they are taking over my bed. They are such sweeties!

Traditional Thanksgiving

Saturday we had our traditional feast and it was so good! My dad cooked the turkey to perfection. Heidi made yams with apples that were very delicious. I am going to have to get the recipe! Tanya treated us to 2 desserts, a pumpkin parfait (with gingersnaps - while she was making it the smell had me drooling!) and a cranberry and apple (?) cobbler. We finished it all up with glasses of banana crush - a frozen slushy mix of bananas, orange juice and pineapple juice. My Grandma Jukes made it for us all the time when we were little. Thanksgivings at her house were one of my favorite things as I child. I would eat her rolls until I got sick! I made some of the rolls for our dinner too but it was always better when Grandma made them. The weather was beautiful so the kids got to play outside all day and were thrilled to eat at the little kids table outside (along with Uncle Laith)

The table set and ready
Mark feeding Maysie some mashed potatoes
The necklaces are Christmas gifts made by my Grandma Warner. Aren't they beautiful!

Danny and I enjoying our Banana Crush

Austin and Taska in their Indian headbands