A Californian Christmas (2007)

It seems like Christmas was ages ago, but it was really just 2 months ago (as of tomorrow!)...how time flies! For this Christmas, we went to my parent's home in Yorba Linda, California - the home that I grew up in and the only home that my parents have ever owned. What? You've never heard of Yorba Linda? For the history buff, Yorba Linda is the birthplace of the late Richard Nixon and now houses his Presidential Library. Yorba Linda is located in Orange County in Southern California next to Anaheim (think Disneyland) and 45 miles outside of Los Angeles.

The last two Christmas' we have spent in Utah, so I was really excited to spend Christmas with my brothers, sister and my wonderful parents (not that I don't love a white Christmas with the Grady's!). Here are just a few shots from Christmas morning:

Say hello to my sister-in-law, Tracy! Tracy is married to my oldest brother Steve - they make a great pair! I love Tracy!

Say hello to my little sister, Stacie, and my second oldest brother, Mark - Mark is pretending to be asleep, I guess!

Stacie and me!

Me and my honey!

This is my brother Steve. Steve is a pilot in the Airforce and after flying F-16s now flies jets for Special Ops.

So, funny story - On Christmas morning, my dad received a very strange gift from my mom - a bunch of headbands? My dad is bald (as you can see) so, was my mom being ironic? No, she just mislabeled the box, but it was pretty funny when my dad opened the box and pulled out several cute headbands and then gave a very confused look...

I had to get a shot of him wearing one!

I love Christmas and am so fortunate to have wonderful parents and parents-in-law that make sure that we can celebrate Christmas with our family, whether we can afford the very expensive plane tickets or not...thank you! One day (when Kevin is bringing in a paycheck!) maybe we won't need to have our parents buy our tickets! So many things to look forward to! It sounds silly, but I am so excited for the day when Kevin and I are actually financially stable and independent. Mom, Dad, Artis, and Lionel - thank you for getting us to that day!

Looking Back - Thanksgiving 2007

From time to time, I want to post some older pictures that predated our blog, and I am going to start with last thanksgiving. Just like many married couples, we are on a holiday schedule that enables us to spend time with both of our families over the holidays and to be there at the same time as our other married siblings. Well, in 2007 we spent Thanksgiving at the Grady's in Cedar City, Utah and Christmas at the Chapman's in Yorba Linda, California.

Traditionally, when we visit Utah, we plan our trip around a ski day at Brian Head, just 45 minutes from the Grady house...but unfortunately, this was a snow-less Thanksgiving and we were unable to go skiing. Kevin and I were very disappointed! So, instead of skiing, we took a day and went to Zion National Park, which is about an hour from Kevin's parent's house. We had a lot of fun hiking and picnicking in the beautiful park.

Here are some of our pictures from our day at Zion:

Kevin is looking at something - not sure what!

On the trail...

Me on the trail...

Looking up at the steep canyon walls...

We made it to the end of the trail!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Taking cue from many of you, I decided to take pictures of everyday things around my apartment to post and to show you...and what is better than V-day decorations? I love holidays and always decorate our apartment for the appropriate season...but I never have to buy my decorations because my wonderful mother sends me a package full of fun things for every decoration-worthy holiday (thanks, mom!). So, here we go!

A cute pink platter with heart shaped sparkling candles and yummy raspberry kisses.

Harry the Wild Thing came to our little family on our first married Valetine's Day and has been with us ever since - he has survived a couple of moves already and hopes to see a few more in the future!

I love teddy bears!

Now, I apologize if this piece offends any of my blog visitors, but it is dear to my heart! At BYU I was a humanities major and this is a miniture version of my favorite statue that I studied - The Kiss by Rodin. I think I told Kevin early in our marriage that I loved the piece and on my last birthday he surprised me with this marble masterpiece! It is such a beautiful statue!

My husband is such a wonderful man! He started our Valenine's Day celebration a little early this year as he surprised me with roses in my office today - it turns out that flower delivery is $10 cheaper the day before Valentine's Day so Kevin had them delivered today. Some may find that cheap, but I don't! I now get to enjoy my flowers all V-day long!

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Vday too! I love you Kevin!

Blog Insecurites

I have now spent HOURS searching online for a template I can live with...and I can now say that I love our little blog! I found a great template (the background of the one you see) but it was all in black and white and while I love the look, I wanted just a little more color....so, being the genius that I am (not really!) I manipulated the HTML code to bring in the light blue and you know what? I think it looks pretty great! I was so worried about the blog looking cute mostly because I have seen so many amazing blogs (all of yours!) and I have to keep up in cuteness. I have also noticed that many of you are quite amazing photographers (check out the Moon's blog for cute everyday shots - you are amazing Elizabeth!)...I guess I need to carry my camera around with me more. You all inspire me!

Christmas Card Pictures

Just in case you didn't receive our Christmas card (sorry!) I wanted to post some of our favorite Christmas card pictures. A special thank you, of course, to our fabulous photographer Kelly Crawford! She did a great job and we were more than pleased with her gratis work - thanks Kelly!

This is the main photo that we used. It almost looks like a fake background, but I promise it is real!