Streets of Bethlehem

Every year I want to take the kids to see the Streets of Bethlehem in Salinas and every year we are too busy. So this year I finally did. I met some good friends there and my great aunt and although we were quite cold, it was so worth it. It was amazing to feel like we were actually in Bethlehem seeing the Roman soldiers on horses and see the Christmas story re-enacted. The kids could do things like make clay pinch pots to fill with spices used in that time, make bead bracelets, stamp in leather and feed the goats and sheep. The volunteers bore sweet testimonies of the birth of Christ.

Thanksgiving

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year. I enjoyed cooking up a small feast for us and decorating the table with my china and crystal that I so rarely can use. After eating, Albert and I just both crashed on the couch asleep and I was thinking that its strange because I really didn't eat a lot of food but I guess its just the kind of food I ate.... heavier than my usual. I'm glad I don't always eat like that because I just really didn't like that slugglish feeling afterward. I was anxious to go on a run the next day. We'll see what I do for Christmas.

Point Lobos

Before Thanksgiving we had some friends come over for a couple days and we went with them and also met cousins at Point Lobos. It's such a great place for hikes and tide pooling. The weather was perfect and we found lots of cool critters.

Isn't that a beautiful/crazy looking crab there?! God must have had fun creating that one!

Christmas Advent

Source: impressionen.de via Anne on Pinterest

I LOVE Christmas advent calendars. When I was a child it was one of my favorite things and my children love them as well. I bought early a chocolate advent calendar for each of my children (last year Trader Joes sold out before Thanksgiving) and I also bought a new advent calendar that is a little red wooden house with 25 doors that open in which some little special thing could be contained inside. So I decided to fold up a little paper with a scripture written on it to put inside each little door. Each evening we will read the scriptures as a family and by Christmas will have read the marvelous events of the life of Jesus Christ. So, I have copied below those scriptures in case any one else would like to use them. I am also printing off little papers with fun activities to put inside some of the doors such as "Let's make cocoa and play a game together!" or "Let's call Grama and Grampa and sing a Christmas carol to them!" or "Let's walk up to Candy Cane Lane together!" ....things like that. I love Christmastime.

St. Luke 2: 41-52

St. Matt. 3: 13-17

Matt. 4: 1-11

John 2: 13-22

John 3: 1-21

John 4: 3-42

Matt 5: 1-16

Mark 2: 1-12

Matt 12: 9-14

Mark 4: 35-41

Luke 8: 45-48

Matt 14: 15-21

John 8: 1-11

Matt 14: 24-27

Luke 10: 25-37

Luke 10: 38-42

John 11: 17-46

Mark 10: 13-16

Mark 10: 17-22

John 13: 1-20

Luke 22: 40-46

Luke 1: 26-38

Luke 2: 1-21

Luke 2: 22-38

Matt 2: 1-12

Birthdays

My Dad and I recently had our birthdays two days apart. We celebrated right between them with a barbeque dinner at my house (20 of us gathered) and this yummy cake from Layers (a bakery featured on the Food Network). Fun times. I don't feel any older. (:

Soccer Boy

Gavin's soccer season has come to an end. He had a great season. Coach Juan was terrific as usual. Their team never lost a game and Gavin made at least a few goals each game. He is a great great player and a great team player and has a lot of fun playing with his friends. He is excited about his huge trophy and we had a fun party at the pizza place in celebration. Of course I forgot my camera so I had to take the picture later at home. (:

Rainy Veterans Day

Being Veterans Day, the kids are home from school. I'm so grateful for Veterans and military men and women who serve our country. We are blessed to live in an area with many of the best of the military and have so many friends in the military.
As I was talking to my sister this morning on the phone about a hike at Point Lobos, it started pouring rain outside. So, she went and bought the new Harry Potter movie and they came over to watch it with us. Her kids hadn't seen it yet. So we snacked and watched and that was a lot of fun. Then I decided in the afternoon that my kids needed to get out of the house so we went miniature golfing at this cool place just a few blocks away but I'd never been to before. It's blacklight miniature golfing with an ocean theme. We had a lot of fun...even Micah. Too bad Albert always has to work. And Jacen went to Coalinga with my Dad for the weekend. Perhaps tonight we will go to the Shoe Game in which the PG and Carmel rival football teams duke it out on the field competing for a shoe. Weird, I know. It's a fun game to go to though.

Halloween Tag

1) What is your favorite Halloween candy?
I don't really like candy much at all unless it's dark chocolate and expensive so that kind of rules out most Halloween candy.

2) What's your favorite Halloween movie?
Casper or Heffalump Halloween

3) At what age did you stop trick-or-treating?
I think I was a freshman or sophomore in high school. I was small so could get by trick or treating for a long time.

4) What is your favorite Halloween costume that you've worn?
My Grama made me amazing costumes when I was little so one of hers.... witch or princess or bunny...

5) What is your least favorite costume that you've worn?
soccer player cause it wasn't so creative but was my husbands so that's cool I guess

6) Have you ever repeated a costume? If so, what was it?
Only as an adult but I'm always trying to get my kids to repeat costumes because I'm kind of not into buying new costumes every year. It's a lot of money to spend on one night!

7) What are you going to be for Halloween this year?
I guess a farmer because Micah is a cow and that way we'll match.

8) Do you like going to haunted attractions?
Occasionally.

9) Vampires or werewolves?
Team Edward. (Swoon)

10) Do you decorate your house for Halloween?
A little mostly for the sake of my kids. I'm not all that into decorating in general.

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

The kids have been asking me to take them out to Carmel Valley to Earthbound Farms for a few weeks at least. Our favorite time to go is in the Fall. With school schedules, it's hard to find the time but last week was our Fall break. The first half of the week they went to their Grandparents (my parents) house in Coalinga. They had a blast riding horses and playing miniature golf and driving cars and visiting cousins and the list goes on and on. Then when they came home we had time to go out to Earthbound Farms to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. Then a couple days later we also went apple picking in Watsonville with Tera and her children but after getting their we discovered the the camera battery was dead. Too bad. We picked delicious apples and made an apple pie and are planning on making applesauce today. What else have we been doing? Lots of Yahtzee. It's amazing how those old games are still so fun and I like the old versions better then the new versions. We all play in the evening and then after getting the younger kids to bed, Jacen and I play a couple of games more. It brings back memories of playing as a child with Tera and playing with Albert when we were dating.

Isn't this a cute wreath from Trader Joes for those like me who like cute things but are unmotivated/don't have time to make something? I love it on our sage/pea green doors.

The kids were excited about carving pumpkins. Micah says they are scary! I don't know whats up with his faces/smile these days....

Linnea did ghosts, Gavin did a grim reaper and Gavin helped Micah do a face. Micah wanted specifically a scary face! When we lit them up, he was afraid to go outside and look at them!

I just realized that I could take Tera's pictures off of facebook, so these pictures were taken by Tera on her phone. The kids were excited here to start picking apples!

Carter and Gavin loved finding lizards as much as picking apples. Gavin put one on my back and it quickly crawled up my back and neck to the top of my head where it sat in my hair! I screamed and Tera screamed and the kids ran away! Then Carter hurried and got it off. The kids love them more then I do.

Beach

I feel like my posts are kind of all the same but since I am doing this in part to just keep a record of our family's activities, I guess that is okay. Warm weather came our way and we headed to the beach.

Gavin loves the skim board.

This is just the way Micah smiles these days...