Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes for my birthday. It was really fun! I'm glad that my last birthday ever was so nice... I shall now eternally remain 29!

Where else than in Southern California could we buy a Christmas tree in the morning and then spend the afternoon at the beach collecting seashells? We found some great shells - we always do in the winter months since the beaches are MUCH less crowded. This trip we also found a sand-dollar (which the girls were very amused with). It wasn't the nice white pretty kind either. It still has the grey fuzz all over... I'm hoping after a couple of weeks outside in the backyard that the fuzz goes away and leaves just the sand-dollar. Is it still alive? Am I murdering a sand-dollar creature? Maybe it's still alive after spending this week in the cold rain...

Going Bowling...

Jeff & I are heading for the Las Vegas Bowl this weekend to cheer on BYU...

We've never gone anywhere overnight without the kids, so this should be different. I hope the girls do well for Grandma & Grandpa (and their aunts).

Besides the game, the part of the trip Jeff's most looking forward to is the BBQ tailgate we're going to before the game. Jeff LOVES BBQ food. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post when we get back.

Until then, hopefully everyone's keeping warm!!! Who needs a heater in Southern California?

Thanksgiving

We had a great time visiting family in Utah! It was hard to be motivated enough to come back to reality (work & school), especially with that traffic we hit outside of Las Vegas all the way home... 16 hours in the car was NOT fun. But still, we can't wait until our next trip up there.... the girls love reconnecting with their cousins. Here are some pictures while we were up there:

Kara, Grandma Stevens, Brooke:
















Brooke & Grandpa Stevens:
















Kara, Great Grandpa Edwards, Brooke:

















Grandma Stevens & her dad (who was already very festively dressed for Christmas):

















The girls and some cousins (Brayden, Ethan, & Chelsea):

















The girls and more cousins (Hayden & Connor):
















Kara & Brayden:

Brooke & Brayden:

Jeff's brother John, his wife Christal, and their oldest Chelsea:

Grandpa & Grandma's new chair (don't know where it came from or why it's there, but the girls both fought over who got to sit in it):

Not a picture from Thanksgiving, but cute anyway.... Brooke saw a small boy decorating his face at a nearby booth at In-n-Out which meant that Brooke had to decorate her face with stickers. Silly kid.