5 Days, and Counting...

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year--not because of presents and matching clothes for the kids, but because I feel like the whole month of December is so magical. Everyone is happier, homes and stores are decorated cuter than ever, and there is just such a great feeling of anticipation and love. Of course, one of the best parts of the season is getting to see family more often. My family was so awesome to drive up to Santa Barbara for the evening last night. We had dinner at our house (and I cooked my first turkey, ever!), then we went to my ward Christmas fireside and caroled. I think that our caroling has been my favorite tradition. My family has been doing it since before I was born--my mom started it with her family before she was even married. Yay for wonderful traditions, holiday cheer, and family love. Merry Christmas to all!!!

Santa Coming!

Steven is so excited that it is Christmas time. He comes up to me several times a day saying,Santa coming! Santa coming!!! We have gotten to visit Santa a couple of times this year, and it has been so fun! Steven is in a super shy phase, but he still always talks to Santa and gives him hugs. Maybe it has something to do with the candy canes he looks forward to and loves so much.

Gratitude

I really loved how President Monson encouraged us in the last conference to be grateful for what we have, not recognize what we do not have. I truly do have so much to be thankful for. Here are some pictures that represent just a few things for which I am truly grateful.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

I failed to get Thanksgiving pictures this year, but we really did have a great time with both our Hall and King families. Now we are enjoying getting our home ready for Christmas, listening to Christmas music, and drinking hot chocolate! The best season of all is finally here!!!

By the way, I just LOVE how much my kids love each other, so here is a darling picture of two little cuties I am particularly grateful for!

Happy Birthday to Our Curly-Haired Angel Princess!

Yesterday was Rebecca's first birthday! Our King family drove a total of 3 hours to come celebrate with us--how nice! We loved showing off our new house, eating great food, and being together. Steven and Rebecca were thrilled to have some cousins come over. Our cute little girl received many thoughtful and generous gifts--a pretty pink tutu, new shoes and cups, a baby dressed as a bumblebee (which she now sleeps with), books, a new tent with a tunnel, toys, and a rocking/bouncing horse! What a lucky girl!!!Rebecca is already seriously keeping us on our toes. She is super smart, gets into everything, and loves discovering new ways to have fun. Some things she has learned to do lately are drinking out of a straw, taking 5-6 steps at a time, and even saying Jesus! She is also very much into all things sparkly. Every time I put on a necklace she reaches us to me expectantly, as if to say, Hello, you know that is for me! We are absolutely in love with our perfect little delicate girlie.

Happy Birthday Xs 3!!!

Rebecca, my baby girl, will be a year old in a few short hours. Tomorrow our King family will come up to celebrate with us. Last night we went to celebrate with our Hall family--and it was for three first birthdays! Last year the Halls were blessed with four new babies. Brooklynn came first, and we missed her cute smile at the birthday bash, but she is living it up in Texas (jealous!). Then came Ben, a small kid with a HUGE personality. Rebecca arrived very late (now I am glad she is that much younger), and was followed by Will--very soft spoken and VERY adorably handsome--just a week later. We love getting together and watching all the kids play and grow (although the growing happens WAYYY too fast)!

Happy Haunting!

Last weekend we cast aside our regular selves and got to become who-or-what-ever we wanted. Steven was one of his greatest loves: pizza. Rebecca was a precious little baby chick. I had planned on sticking with our traditional hot dog and ketchup ensemble, but Adam came up with the plan to be a bee and bee keeper. It was a really great idea.Friday night we had fun crashing the Stevenson Ranch ward trunk-or-treat. Nathan had helped with a great spook alley. Saturday night we went to our stake trunk-or-treat, and it was so much fun. On Sunday we stayed home and passed out candy. Steven kept saying, I want kids! I want kids!!! He LOVED giving out candy, and I am sure the trick-or-treaters were glad it was him dishing out the goods--some kids got 5 or 6 pieces. We had a great time!

Our Little Cowboy

We went to the Goleta Lemon Festival on Saturday. They had a ton of firetrucks, police cars and motorcycles, horses, rides, and on, and on. At first we thought we were lucky for Steven to get to touch a sheriff's horse, but then he was able to ride a pony for the first time, ever! He was totally having the time of his life! (It was very hard to get a smile, though. Apparently, riding a horse is very serious business.)

L. A. County Fair

Mom Hall treated us to the fair a couple of weeks ago, and we had such a great time! We ate all kinds of great food, drank about a gallon of lemonade each, and did LOTS of walking. The kids LOVED getting to feed and pet some farm animals--Rebecca especially got into it.For Steven, the best activity of the day was probably visiting the dinosaur exhibit. He still mentions dinosaurs every day. Grammy bought Steven an especially wonderful souvenir--tennis shoes with dinosaurs that have flashing lights for eyes!!! He is in love! Thank you, Mom, for such a wonderful day! It was really a special treat for all of us!!!

What I Was Doing When Adam and I Were Engaged...

Bring in the Fall!

I love autumn time!!! The beautiful and vibrant colors, harvest vegetables, fun holidays--so many great things! Today we had our first real fall-feeling activity. Cheralyn invited us to go with her to Eliza's school field trip to the Falkner Farms Pumpkin Patch. They had tracker rides; a hay bail maze (so the kids could see over it--genius); a petting zoo; and ,of course, lots and lots of pumpkins. We had a great time seeing family and welcoming in this wonderful season!

We Are Family!!!

I feel like everything I write is about our kids, so I decided to put up some pictures of the adults. These are from our wedding, which was almost 4 years ago, but I love them!!! Hooray for the people who started it all! :)

Kruger Visit

We were so lucky to get to see the Kruger family 2 times in less than 2 months!!! It was especially awesome because Steven was just getting to know and love Baby Alison on the cruise, so seeing them again only made him love and remember her more. They were super amazing and did a HUGE drive--from Austin, TX to Provo, UT, then to Valencia, CA, and then back home to Austin, TX. Can you believe it??? All that with their 3 little girls and our other cousin Jared. (In the above picture, the girls and Steven are being observant of the Sabbath and not swimming. Lydia got a little too close, though, and fell in. She was terrified, but Karlie and Naomi were so jealous that she had been able to be in the tempting water for a few seconds!)
Grandma King bought 3 fun cars--one for each toddler to play with at her house. Of course, Steven commandeered all 3, hoarding them for himself whenever he had the chance.
We had lots of fun swimming, playing games, and just being together. We even got to do a beach bbq for FHE, and Rebecca got her first taste of a smore. I think she quite enjoyed it! Thanks for making such a humongous effort to see us! We loved every minute of it!!!
Here are a few more pictures that show how much our kids love to be with their cousins. :)

Best Friends

It is so great when you find the perfect fit for your kids. The Crockett family moved into our ward a few months ago, and we became close friends really fast. We get together for play dates almost every day, and it is so much fun! It works out perfectly because they are in the same situation as us in pretty much every way. Plus, our boys and girls are just months apart.
Steven LOVES playing with Talmage--he teaches Steven fun things like wrestling and how to find the coolest, biggest sticks. Rebecca and Cafell are much more calm than the boys, and they love having each other. Thank goodness for amazing friends!!! We love you guys!