Our Little Family Christmas

Our first Christmas in California was pretty perfect.  The kids loved getting all the packages that came their way.  I organized an Adopt-a-family with my church Moms group and when we went to deliver the gifts Ellie made me oh, so proud.  We had discussed why we were bringing this family gifts and how we wanted to spread some holiday cheer by singing some carols to them.  Ellie was really into the idea and had the songs chosen we would be singing days in advance.  We got to the house and Ellie assumed her position front and center and sang her little heart out.  It definitely broke any awkwardness that could have occurred as they were just smiling ear to ear at Ellie.  In that moment I felt so grateful for all we have, but most of all for the amazing little family I have.  We were able to get away for a little ocean side vacation after Christmas and headed to Huntington Beach and then to San Diego so Jayson could catch Nebraska play in the Holiday Bowl.  It was such a treat to be by the ocean two days in a row.  The kids love it, Ellie took a shell she found and threw it in the ocean with a wish we could come to the beach everyday.

Decorating our cookies for Santa...  

Jack's frosting kept disappearing into his mouth.

Ellie's adorable cookie was the sure fire winner for Santa!

Christmas Eve...

It's a Christmas miracle Jack is in pants and a long sleeve shirt!

We had to bribe him with presents to get him to keep his outfit on. Once we got to church he was asking to leave and gave his worst church performance to date. 

As soon as we got home he stripped down.  Thankfully Ellie was a little angel at church.

Grandma Debbie came for Christmas!

Christmas Morning...

Santa brought Ellie a Merida bow and arrow.

Santa brought Jack a race track.

Lots of princess themed gifts for this little lady.

Jack's favorite gift was his remote control McQueen!

Most of the morning was spent playing with his car.

Ellie had to get all dressed up and to try out her bow!

Huntington Beach...

Jack wasn't too sure about getting in the water he just wanted to
follow the tire tracks the life guard trucks left.

Ellie was super excited to find that Huntington Beach was "shell heaven!"

After some shell searching she was ready to play in the waves.

She just couldn't get enough!

We had a great day enjoying the ocean.

Huntington Beach was a good stop!

Mission Beach in San Diego...

Jack was ready for the waves today!

This beach didn't have the shells Huntington did but it had lots of surfers to watch and super soft sand.

We lucked out for both of our Beach stops as they weren't overly crowded.

Balboa Park...

Our search for cheap entertainment lead us to Balboa Park.

Pink puppy wanted to be a part of the fun.
Ellie was having Pink puppy pose she's a funny little gal!

There were trails to take, sticks to find and architecture to climb on.

A stage for our little star, she was in her prime!

An organ started playing and she was thrilled to have some music to dance along to.

 
Silly little monkeys making art in the sculpture garden.  There was a lot to see and we didn't even make it into any of the museums.