Christmas 2016 and catching up!

Brett's Kindergarten class put on a production of the Nutcracker. It was extra fun because Brett was asked to be Fritz, just like Jason was two years ago! They even wore the same costume.

Just like Jason, Brett's main concern was the fact that he would have to skip with a girl. He did great.

Cute boy! It was so much fun to watch him perform.

The Liau's came and visited us for Christmas. It was so fun to have them.

A handsome group.

We spend the whole month getting into the Christmas spirit. We made some gingerbread houses...

Got cozy in a sleigh...

and went to the church Christmas party. It was a Polar Express theme and the girls did such a cute job decorating the gym.

A prop picture at the party.

Cara's very last Sunday in nursery! She wasn't always an angel for her nursery leaders, but they let her play one on the last day.

On Christmas Eve, we had a visitor! I don't think we have gone a single year without our favorite Santa stopping by for a picture.

We had a short and hyper nativity

The kids in their Christmas jammies, just waiting for bedtime!

They got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. They could not have been more excited!

The Christmas tree was extra special this year with an electric train running through the gifts.

It was such a great surprise in the morning! The boys didn't want to stop playing with it, even to open gifts. We are excited to add to the set!

This guy, Bob, was also waiting under the tree. He is a little less picturesque.

Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa!

Cara really wanted her own Lego box.

A happy kiddo surrounded by Legos.

We were sorry to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, but so excited for Alex and Catherine and Madeline to visit! We had a whole week of fun activities planned.

Our first trip was to Henry Cowell park to see the Redwoods.

Look at these cuties!

The next day we decided to visit the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

The kids LOVED playing in the waves. The water was pretty cold, but we could not pull them away!

Uncle Alex and Cara

Cara writing something mysterious in the sand.

We rode some fun rides and went home tired but happy.

The next day we went on a whale watching tour. I was really excited to try it! The kids in their gear, all ready to go.

Alex and Catherine

It took a little searching, but we did see several gray whales. It was so cool to watch them spout water and see their huge backs appear over the waves. I was also trying to make sure none of my kids fell overboard or wreaked havoc on the ship, so it was not as relaxing as it could have been, but it was a lot of fun.

We saw a big group of sea lions romping in a group through the waves. We also saw one little lonely otter floating on his back looking just like a log until we got really close to him. It was a beautiful day to be out on the ocean, and not really very cold considering it was the middle of winter.

No popcorn bowls, no problem! Just turn your sweater around and you have popcorn hoodies!

I was a little disappointed that the whales didn't actually leap entirely out of the water so we could get a good look at them :). It was pretty fun to see their tails, though.

The next day, we headed out to San Francisco. It was nerve wracking driving on the steep, narrow, one-way streets, but we just followed the signs pointing the way to the most expensive parking lot in the city and eventually reached our destination.

Alcatraz island- we didn't go visit it, but we had great views from Pier 39.

Three cuties at the dock. Whenever Cara sees this picture, she says "It was so stinky there!" She is right. The sea lions were pretty pungent.

We had never seen these guys before. It was fun to watch them. They sure fight a lot!

A day in the life of a grumpy, stinky sea lion.

Our last stop in San Fran was Ghirardelli's Ice Cream. It was quite a trek to get there, but it was worth it! It was a fun day.

On the last day of their visit, we had a fantastic breakfast at Los Gatos Cafe, and then went to an Escape the Room game in the evening. It was a really cool room, but it was definitely the hardest room I have done. We made it out, but not without some pretty serious hints. We're still really smart, though.

We had so much fun with Alex and Catherine and Madeline. We didn't want them to leave! Catherine did teach the boys Pig Latin, which they now use almost exclusively to communicate, so we do have that daily reminder of the vacation.

Back to tae kwon do-  Jason won his first gold in a match. It was extra exciting because the kid he fought was HUUUGGE.

He's about twice Jason's size! In fact, they officials asked if he wanted to forfeit because there was such a height and weight difference, but Jason said "What? No way, I want to fight!" He did fight, and he kicked Goliath's butt!

The final score 5-2!

It was exciting. I hope Goliath doesn't feel too bad.

We also had the pinewood derby. Derek doesn't have good memories of scouts, but the one thing he really liked was the pinewood derby. He and the boys spent a lot of time researching ways to make the fastest car possible and put in as many tricks as they could think of while remaining legal. Brett isn't in scouts yet, so he made a cool Batmobile just for fun. Jason's is the red skull car.

Jason is victorious again! This should be Derek in the picture, because I think he was more invested in the outcome than the boys. I did see Jason closing his eyes and uttering a heartfelt prayer on the final race, though. It was down to two cars in the end, and the first time they raced each other, they tied, all the way down to a thousandth of a second. I think it was 3.246 seconds or something like that. They switched tracks for a redo, Jason prayed, and his car beat the other by a hair. Victory is ours!