October Fun

Despite my blogging absence for the month of october, we had a great month.

We were very happy to be together for Halloween this year, especially considering last year Jared missed most all of the holiday and we were in a temporary living situation.  I am constantly grateful that we are here now and can be settled (at least for a little while).

Last year we didn't carve pumpkins, so we were happy to do that this year.  The boys loved it until they reached the gross "pumpkin guts", and Dad had to take over.

We were so happy to do Trunk-or-Treat at the church the weekend before the holiday, and hang out with some friends.

The boys were Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (big surprise) and loved their costumes.  We went around a beautiful neighborhood with friends and loved their super creepy and awesome house.

Holiday Tidbits

These were some of our highlights from the fabulous Christmas we had.

Nicholas' note to Santa

Loving the morning with presents and jammies

Ryker's new sleeping bag was an instant hit

New Year's Eve party survivor game, lipstick challenge was hilarious.

Being with the people we love, loving our kids too :)

Silly string fight!

Nicholas' first big boy New Year, staying up all night and loving every second.

 I love these handsome boys!

Feeling Grateful for Goofy

This year for Thanksgiving we tried something new- not doing the typical Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, it was awesome! No slaving for hours in the kitchen (while the men watch TV) just for a meal that lasts 30 minutes! I fully agree the holiday should revolve around family time, togetherness and feeling grateful for all we have. What a better place for all of those things than Disneyland?

One might wonder why we would chose somewhere we've been a hundred times, and its exactly because we have been there so much.  We knew exactly what we wanted to do, where we wanted to eat, and how to get around.  Despite having a big group, the whole Cordon clan, we had a relatively easy time getting out and about each day.  

We spent three days at the park, the last being Thanksgiving.  The boys loved being back in our favorite spot, and were also good sports about waiting while we rode some of the bigger rides.

The big boys and the little boys

Minnie loves Nicholas

Keke being a daddy's boy

We watched the Christmas parade one night, World of Color another, and the Fireworks the last night.

Two mornings I had some quiet time with just the two little guys!

Keke loved driving the bumper cars, despite barely seeing over the steering wheel

A cute spot in New Orleans- I have a great shot in the exact spot of my brother and I from years ago

On the third day he became Nemo- he was a celebrity, with kids and parents everywhere saying hi to him.

Our Thanksgiving dinner at Goofy's kitchen

We ate all together. (And no, I'm not pregnant, just looking it!)

Nicholas loved being with his little cousin, Everett.

During the dinner different characters would come up and say hello.

The last morning we woke up, the girls went shopping, then we exchanged our Christmas gifts.

 We had so much fun!  Now I have to figure out if I want to renew my Disney pass.... 

Holiday IN Arizona

Right after our fun Christmas in Danville we went to Arizona to see my family. I went by myself with the boys and was happily surprised when Ryker slept through the flight.
The Arizona trip is always a highly anticipated party-packed event full of much eating out, movie viewing, and lots of games. This year did not disappoint, but I was definitely running on empty after being away from home for over a week and not to mention without my better half. I wasn't exactly the life of the party, but I enjoyed being a part of the festivities.
Our trip wouldn't have been complete without a girl's Cheesecake Factory lunch, and shopping after. Mom was sweet enough to buy all 3 of her girls a cute dress from Anthropologie, the group fave.


As luck would have it, a Brimhall family reunion was going on that week, and we were shocked and amazed to find it so entertaining! It was my Nelson Grandma's siblings and their kids, grandkids, and, (in my case) great-grandkids. I was mostly thrilled just to see my own cousins I don't get to see very often. They are all pretty much 5-15 but they were so sweet with my kids and super cute.

The park we went to was called Pioneer Park and it was dedicated to the founders of Mesa, one of which was my great x's 3 Grandpa, Noah Brimhall.

The highlight of the trip, for Nicholas I'm sure, was the Train Park. If we had lived in Az I'm sure it would be a regular stop for us. It is free admission, and has amazing trains of all sizes. The boys were in awe the first couple minutes, trying to take it all in.
They had a cute station/ticket office in which we enjoyed escaping the rain.

Nicholas was loving the cut-outs, and even commissioned his own private shots, such as the lower photo.


We rounded out the trip with a tour of a real train, the steam engine FDR used during his presidential campaign. Nicholas looked on with his mouth wide open the whole tour.

We had a great holiday for two weeks and were ready to come home, do a week of double duty for our AC job (pretty much horrible), and get back in for our last 6 months!

Christmas 2010 in CA

The first part of our Christmas traveling was just up north to the Cordon side.
Our first day there we were happy to have a visit from Brad, Emily, and the kids. They had tons of fun playing together and we loved catching up.
The next day was our boy's 3rd birthday, as if we needed another day with presents and treats! Nicholas loved his Thomas cake and Toy Story balloons. He also enjoyed getting gifts from his Grandma, Grandpa, and cousin Dax.



The next day we got into some Christmas activities, especially gingerbread houses.

One highlight of the trip was going on BART, the train. Nicholas had been talking about it for weeks beforehand and the trip definitely didn't disappoint. We rode into SF and enjoyed a fun outing there before a fun train ride back.

We also loved eating out. Chevy's, the family favorite, gave us all the black beans our toddlers could eat, or smear on their faces.





And of course we loved seeing our friends, Dyan, Logan, and new baby Easton. I was so excited to meet that cute baby for the first time! I wondered how Nicholas and Logan would do, if they would remember each other or play. At first they sort of looked at each other, but by the time we were heading out they were bff again and having a blast.

Logan is so much bigger, but I promise Nicholas is slouching a bit behind him :) (they're just days apart, can you believe it?)

One of my favorite parts of the week was my Christmas present from Jared, tickets to the Nutcracker. It was so much fun to have a date and dress up.


Finally it was Christmas. They boys looked so cuddly in their pajamas. We had a great Christmas Eve and even better Christmas day opening gifts and playing happily all day. The boys had a great time together all week.

Family!
We all had a fun time and before we knew it, it was time to head to Arizona.