Merry Christmas to All!

Our family had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas together! It began Christmas Eve when we all walked around Balboa Island looking at Christmas lights (taken very seriously by some of the residents). On Christmas day we met for Mass in the morning, then return to my condo for brunch, presents, and games. I'm so lucky to have such a loving family :-)!

Keep on swimming, keep on swimming!

Yesterday, Dad and I visited the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific because he had a Boeing employee coupon to get in free with a friend. I'm so glad he picked me to be his guest! We saw so many amazing creatures including jellyfish, otters, seals, urchins, lobsters, etc. Thanks for a great day, Dad :-)!

Lessons Learned Today...

...don't lose your car in the Target parking lot during a rain storm. Enough said.

...when testing quiche recipes, make sure someone else is there to help you taste them. I'm so sick of eggs!

Deck the Halls!

Well yesterday's outing certainly put me in the mood for the holidays! Thanks to help from Mom and Dad, I was able to put up my Christmas tree and lights yesterday, and today I pretty much finished up by adding the embellishments. The warm fuzzies have definitely kicked in, and so far the first Christmas in my condo is off to a fantastic start!

Autum Fruit, Winter Weather

Today our family went on another adventure, this time in search of warm fuzzies to kick-start the holiday season. Visiting Oak Glen, CA, specifically the Apple Butter Festival at Los Rios Rancho, we sure found what we were looking for. In fact, we got more winter than we bargained for when we found snow on the ground and hail falling from the sky! As you can see from the pictures below, we frolicked in the winter weather, toured an apple packing house, testing our archery skills, and soaked up the beautiful scenery in which Autumn delicately passed the torch to Jack Frost. Overall, we had a fantastic day!

Up Up and Away!

What an adventure our family experienced this weekend! We went to the Great Park in Irvine and floated up in its featured hot air balloon! I really wanted to wear a pair of ruby red slippers, but I don't think my family would have agreed to come along in that case :-). We also explored a wonderful exhibit detailing how to grow herbs at home. I was inspired, and there is now a baby bell pepper plant and a baby rosemary plant on my plant stand outside. The park is still in production, but it looks like it's going to be a gem of the area. In January they are going to have ice skating and my sister and I can't wait! Anyway...if you have the chance, be sure to check out the Great Park and all it has to offer. Enjoy!

"So nice to meet you, Caleb!"

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting Caleb Lincoln Giles, son of my good friends Dave and Kimmy Giles, for the first time. What a treat! We went for a walk and he slept while I was wearing the sling for over 2 hours! So cute and warm -- it was like having a huggable little heater strapped to my chest :-). I am so excited to watch you grow Caleb...see you again soon!