Christmas Day

The boys woke up right on schedule, 7:30am. I heard them go straight downstairs but thankfully Santa had wrapped his gifts, just to stick it to them a little. Actually, if he hadn't, Ethan would have known for weeks what he was getting. We trapped them in our room for a bit while Eric and I got ready and because nobody else was awake yet. Interestingly enough, they asked for breakfast before presents. After our big breakfast we got to it. The boys were maniacs. Ripping and tearing any paper in sight. I felt like I didn't get to see anybody's gifts they opened because I was trying to control the boys. Oh well, they had a good time. It was a great Christmas at the Brown's. And afterward we headed over to my parents house to hang out and open a few more gifts. I love having our families close so that we can spend time with both at the holidays. Merry Christmas to all, thank you for all the kind gifts, the great food, and fun times.


Choc chip pancakes!

Rip & Tear

lego headlamp - for all his late night lego building



This was a pirate treasure that Ethan had to excavate in order to find his buried treasure. It was work to get to. My knuckles were raw.



Eric's favorite gift - an inversion table to help relieve his back pain.

Beach volleyball on Christmas - amazing.



Lucy Jean - posing like a pro



Corona del Mar beach

Sunset view from the beach house.

Eric's Birthday, ie Christmas Eve

Every year Eric's birthday is celebrated by all as we get together for a big Christmas Eve dinner at the Brown's. This year my family was invited which was fun! There were almost 30 adults and 7 kids, the most ever. I was busy helping with the food, etc that I didn't take very many pictures but here are a few.

Father & Son












Just a few of the appetizers. Gotta love deviled eggs!

















Addison

















Eric's theme for his birthday and Christmas - anything that related to his car fetish.

















Ethan in his new pjs. (cohen wasn't cooperating)

















Santa's treats - kind of forgot the carrots, but I'm told reindeer LOVE cucumbers.

"Sisters, sisters, never were there more devoted sisters"

Anyone remember this post? CLICK if not.























I know all my sisters are jealous right now because Martha drew my name for our homemade Christmas exchange this year.

BOO to the YAH.















And all I made her was a homemade Snuggie. Sad.

Thank you R2D2

He didn't even mention the crystal.

Photo 101

Last night was the annual FHE trip to Barnes & Noble where my parents let all of us run wild and pick out a book of our choosing. The choices were all so different... best selling novels, architecture, design, accounting, crafting, and of course my choice seen here, photography. For anyone out there wanting to take a Photo class, this is Photo 101 in paperback. It's a great book and only $18 right now at B&N. It was a good refresher from a class I took this past summer, but even more in depth. The author sells multiple books on the topic and hopefully I can add to my collection soon.

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

Beachfront, 60 degrees, 5 days before Christmas.... I will quit my complaining just this once.







Maybe not.... I am still dreaming of a white Christmas.

Santa's lap

This year's Santa visit at our ward Christmas party was a little different; 1. Ed was not in costume, 2. neither boy freaked out, and 3. both boys could actually articulate what they wanted. Unfortunately, Addison's experience was a little more traumatic.

Torture, without actual "torture".

Ethan is a class A snoop. Serious. The kid is way worse than I was as a kid and I was pretty bad. He is obsessed with getting the mail and intercepting UPS packages in which he has to know who it is addressed to and what the return address says. He has recently been caught in Diane's closet looking through her bags. So, needless to say Christmas is not an easy time for him. He can't handle seeing wrapped presents and not knowing what's inside. Earlier today I had finished wrapping a few presents and he came in and started searching for the ones with his name on it.

E: picking up a gift - Oh, this ones for me!
J: Yep, who's it from?
E: Um, it says R2D2. What does that mean?
J: You mean that guy from Star Wars?
E: Oh, that guy is my favorite.
J: (he has apparently forgotten that he just walked in and saw me wrapping gifts) Well, I guess R2D2 sent you a present. That's cool!
E: Huh? How did he send me a present? He's a robot...
J: I don't know, but it says it's from him.
E: What if R2D2 sent me something from where he lives, like a crystal?
J: Hmmm, I didn't know he lived with crystals but I guess it's possible.
E: Wow. Can I open it?
J: NO.

Boy is he going to be disappointed when it's not a crystal, just a lego star wars shirt.

Decorating

Thanksgiving 2009

This year's Thanksgiving was spent with my entire Christensen side of the family. My uncle Peter is the mission president in Las Vegas (and can't leave) so we decided to pay a little visit to sin city for the big feast. We took over Lake Las Vegas - it's easy to do when the place is deserted. We had the annual turkey bowl, fashioned after the Holy War and unfortunately the wrong team won both games. Brutality. We ate a ton, shopped, played tennis, saw movies, and even had time for a Christensen program or two or three... Good times at another family reunion.

Breakfast of Champions

So, although I started this morning off poorly (I slept in, Ethan was 20 min late) it sure turned around when I came downstairs. Ed & Diane got back late from NYC last night and were so kind to bring back me and Eric's favorite cookies. YUM!

P.S. It's stormy in S. Cal. How sweet is that!