Christmas Day

Haws and I spent Christmas morning just ourselves. We were lucky enough not to have rain in the morning, so we went for a long walk, had breakfast and opened gifts.

Don't mind the mess or the couches... but do notice our beautiful leaning tree!

We went over to my parents to open gifts... this was the only picture I got. 

We then headed over to spend the rest of Christmas with Haws' family.

Jared, Sarah and Thor were here from Utah. It has been fun having them in town and being able to hang out with this little guy.

He is not so little anymore.  Haws wanted to eat him!

We got Thor this little thermal hooded onesie. They thought it looked like a "jailbird" outfit, but it is actually navy blue, so I think he looks more like a little sailor.

What a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spent with my side of the family and it was a crazy one!!! We headed over to my grandma's house to spend the evening with some of my extended family. Now that my cousins and siblings are having kids, things are getting a little more chaotic. John, Brooke and the boys were in Montana with Brooke's family. I can;t imagine what it would have been like with the two boys added to the mix!

Dana and Chase came in from Utah. It was so much fun having my sister back home. I miss her!

The kids 

The Scantz family came in from Utah. Having them here definitely added to the excitement.

Chase, Dana, Haws, Lori, Kori and Brad

Kori and Brad, Ty, Cambria, Nicole and Brett

What a surprise!!!! Haws fell asleep around 900pm. after opening gifts. He says the biggest compliment he can give to someone is to fall asleep in their home.

We had so much fun being able to be with our family and cousins. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. And especially blessed to be related to so many of them!

Dec Birthday Celebrations with the Families

Growing up, there were four families in the neighborhood where we would juggle around kids, take vacations together, spend the night at each others houses, eating each others food and teasing each others siblings. Now the "kids" are all grown up and starting families of their own. Fortunately for us, most of us have been able to stay in the area. Those that are away... are always with us in spirit. Besides those who are out of the state, we were missing some of the Jacobs due to work and some of the Clawsons because Alisa had just given birth to little Von. I didn't get a picture of Sharon and Kate, but here are the rest of the clans.

Some of the Clawson clan.

Most of the King clan.

Most of the Davis Clan.

Sara and I share the same birthday and it doesn't seem right unless we celebrate it together.
Sara had a big birthday gift this year... a beautiful ring!!! Sara and Dave were engaged and will be married this summer. I am so happy for both of them!

I love this picture of Luke. His smile is adorable!

THE BIG 3-0! Disco Skate Party

My time has come to turn the big 3-0! People keep asking me how I feel about it and to tell you the truth... I feel great! I really think the thirties have a lot of good things in store for them. 

The birthday weekend was full of fun activities. It started off with my birthday dinner followed by a night of roller skating, 70's attire required. I was so happy that people got into it and dressed up! I was a little rusty at first and only ate it once (with a nice bruised up knee as a souvenir). After this night, I wanted to make roller skating a regular activity... good wholesome fun :)

The fro was a big hit! Paul even got a few little fans that followed him around at the rink.

Disco meets hippy. Callie and Grant covered both styles of the 70's.

Jackie and Ryan.

Brad and Koko. Little Tan-man was so good that night. He just hung out and slept in his little baby carrier.

Ryan and Haws enjoying some yummy mexican food.

Dana and TaeTae

"The girls" with a few good men.

Nicole and Ty came decked out and even brought Cambria dressed up in bell-bottoms!

FINALLY!!!

After a year and a half of waiting... it finally came in the mail today. Yes, our amended marriage license finally came back from the state! We needed to make some changes to it before I could legally change my name and it only took the state over a year to do it! Now I get to start the fun process of going to the social security and the DMV to take on Haws' last name. This is more work than you would think. 

Tis the season...

To be blog slacking!!! I have failed to post anything about our family trip to Lake Arrowhead, Thanksgiving and many other holiday festivities. This time of year gets so busy and then I forget my camera!  I am just going to throw some pictures on here of the some of the activities we have been doing over the past few weeks.

Baby Tanner's baby blessing

Luke and I in Lake Arrowhead. 

John and Haws swinging the boys. They loved this and could probably swing all day if we had the patience to push them that long.

Baby Tanner bundled up for a walk down on 2nd street. 

My friend Kimberly and her husband Doug had their little girl last month. This is their first child and she is so good! She just fell asleep on me for a good 30 mins. Kimberly said in the 4 weeks she has been home, she has only cried about 3 times. Amazing!!!!

Thanksgiving spread at the Bendheims... yum yum!

Redge letting the tryptophan from the turkey work its magic.

One of the shots Callie took for our Christmas card. I love the way Haws looks in this picture... his eyes are so blue! Too bad I am looking a little weird or this one would have made the cut.

This is our little Christmas tree. We got it from a tree farm in Irvine where you pick your tree and they cut it fresh for you. This is a tradition I want to keep going. I love REAL Christmas trees! We have a modge podge assortment of ornaments and add to our collection whenever we take a trip. 

Ostrich... yummy!!!!

Yes, that is right, I said Ostrich is yummy! Tonight I made another one of Karina's recipes and substituted the beef for some ostrich meat we had. When Haws and I were on our honeymoon (ages ago) in Solvang, we visited a Ostrich farm there and tried some of the jerky. It was so good that we vowed that we would make it sometime. While shopping at Whole Foods, I came across some ground Ostrich meat and HAD to buy it! Ostrich is a great alternative to beef because it is super lean, low in fat and cholesterol, and high in protein and taste!!! To get the recipe and see what it looked like before we devoured it, check out Karina's Stuffed Acorn Squash. It is a wonderful cold weather meal :)

We feed them... they feed us! 

This is what was left by the time I thought to take a picture. I made a few tweaks to the recipe as I always do, mainly because I didn't have exactly all the same ingredients. This has a lot of flavor... sweet and spice!