San Diego

After Christmas my parents planned a trip for us to go down to San Diego for a few days. Our first stop was Legoland. Eric forced Ethan to go on this ride once again...memories of the past/first time on this ride came flooding back and Ethan was not pleased. I don't know what it is about him compared to Cohen but Cohen truly has no fear. Poor Ethan.

       

We also toured the SS Midway - Cohen again loved this, Ethan not so much.  Apparently Ethan is afraid of tight spaces and the entire tour thought the steel doors were going to shut and lock him in.  Where does he get this?  He wanted out of there.  A navy man he is NOT!

Handprints

While in town for Christmas Diane made handprints of the boys for her garden.  Now, each time we visit RSM they track the growth of their hands - they love it!

Christmas 2011

Christmas Sunday!  I never really appreciated having Christmas on a Sunday but this year it worked out quite well.  The boys woke up and checked out their Santa gifts and their stockings before having breakfast and getting ready for church.  Once we were back the ripping and tearing began.

Crazy face boys!  Christmas Sunday

Ethan got a motorized scooter from Santa that he loves.  He's able to get down to Sammy's house much faster which he appreciates.  Cohen made me this frame at school!

Save the date!  We planned to tell all our family members on Christmas Day about baby #3 due July 13th.  We tried to play it off that we had planned a family trip and that we wanted the grandparents to be there for it... I have to say the Brown's caught on a lot faster than my family.  My parents kept asking so where are we going?  Once the news was out chaos ensued.  I think everyone was sincerely shocked.  Funny cause it still hasn't set in for me either!  

Grandpa's reaction to Ethan opening a massive Lego set.  He knows he's in for it.  Hours spent helping are on the way!

Family outing in Monterey to pick out a tree for our house.  Because the boys get out of school so close to Christmas here we were able to enjoy our decorations for quite a while.  It was weird going through all of my decorations since I hadn't seen them in over 3 years.  

With the baby announcement and the fact that my Acura had 115,000 miles on it we decided to get a new car for Christmas!  What a fun new toy.  It was between the LR4 and a new MDX but of course Eric won out.  Funny how that keeps happening.  I do absolutely love it so I can't complain!

Christmas Concerts

Ethan and Cohen were involved in a few school concerts this year.  The first one was for Ethan - it was a combined age group concert at the PG Tree Lighting ceremony.  Cohen didn't sign up for this one but I think Ethan had a good time doing it.


Then came the school concert - each grade sang a few songs.  Sometimes I wish my kids were short so they would be placed in the front row.  I guess I suffered through the same dilemma.  It's always tough getting good pictures when they are in the back row.


     

Thanksgiving 2011

This year's Thanksgiving was held in St. George.  We had never made the drive from Monterey to St. George before - it was roughly 10 hours... kind of a long drive for a short weekend but it was worth it.  Grandpa Christensen set us all up in a hotel so my entire extended family was together.

Of course our activities included the usually family football game, craft time, pool time, catered dinners and of course a great family program for Thanksgiving.  I woke up early to try and score some deals on black friday.  I didn't find much at all.  The stores were mobbed though.

I was getting ragged on the entire trip by my entire family and extended family about having another baby.  Little did they know I already was!

Halloween

Halloween this year seemed like it lasted for weeks. Cohen's friend had a Halloween party, then there was the school Halloween parade. Add that to Trunk or Treat at church and Trick or Treating on the 31st and my boys were in their costumes half a dozen times. Thankfully, they chose costumes that were easy to get in and out of and not too conforming.

Jello Brain

Brain-eaters. They didn't like it. Who doesn't like Jello? They are pretending for the camera.