More fun in CA

We've been at the Nowlands' house since Wednesday, and we've been having a great time.  Jeremy's brother Jared was here for a little while with his family and our kids were in cousin heaven.  Ben and Lucy are 8 and 7, and entertained our kids perfectly.  Eli was really sad to see them go this afternoon!  (As were we!)  Other than that, we've gone to the park twice, gone to church, helped do some projects around the house here, and played with lots of fun Christmas presents.  Oh, and Jeremy and I went to see Les Miserables on Thursday!  It was really good.  It was part of our Christmas present - along with the free babysitting.  It was a fantastic date!

Here are some fun pictures from the last few days:

Eli had fun helping Papa and Jeremy fix the truck.

 These boys sure love reading books.

 I forgot my camera the first day we went to the park, and the next time was pretty chilly.  Connor wanted a hat just like Papa.

 All bundled!

 It's been great to get out, even just for a few times, and get some exercise and fresh air!

 The boys got some play-dough for Christmas and everyone has been enjoying it. :)

 Uncle Jared with Connor and Lucy.

 Ben reading to Eli.  We sure love those older cousins!

 All dressed up for church.

Christmas!

We had another fabulous Christmas.  Christmas Eve was very low-key this year.  Steve got sick the night before and was violently throwing up all night, so he was still pretty out of it, so there was really just 7 of us.  After a crazy Christmas last year with every single one of our siblings on both sides, it was a fun change (not that last year wasn't AWESOME, 'cause it was).  We ate a delicious dinner, watched some Bible videos about the Birth of Christ, read the nativity, sang a few Christmas carols, and then put the boys to bed and set up stockings and then played some games.

 Reading Luke after dinner.

Every Christmas I feel so blessed and spoiled.  It also gets more and more fun each year with the boys getting older and more excited about Christmas.  Eli has been anticipating Christmas morning for a LONG time, so he was thrilled when it finally arrived.  

 Bright and early Christmas morning. :)

 Trains!

 I found these for an amazing deal on Craigslist (Thomas trains can be SO expensive!) so I was pretty proud.  The boys loved them, and they'll attach to some tracks we already have at home.  Perfect.

 Just a few presents.

 Nice headband, Eli.

Jeremy taking one of many loads up to our room.

Puzzles for everyone! :)  Love it.

 The rest of the day was very relaxing.  The boys watched a movie, everyone took naps, I did a puzzle (one of my favorite Christmas traditions), and then that night Steve and Yihua made us authentic Chinese food for dinner!  It was pretty spicy but it was delicious.  They made us three things that I can't pronounce, but the translations are something like "Big Pot of Chicken", "Grandma's Spicy Tofu", and a soup - "Tomato Potato Pork Rib Soup".  Yeah, the names sound way cooler in Mandarin.

Making homemade noodles.

 Tiny Yihua didn't like the tall counters.

 Yea!

Christmas Eve at the Park

The sun finally decided to make an appearance today.  Hooray!  We've gone to the park on Christmas Eve the last few years we've been in California, and I was soooo happy to carry on that tradition this year.  It felt so good to be outside and the boys were happy too!

 Thank you to Jeremy, the camera man.  Sorry I didn't get any pictures of you babe!