Christmas Lists

Caleb and Amelia sat quietly in their rooms for awhile last night.  

I knew something was up.  

No screaming, fighting, crying, tattle-telling.

Finally, I went in to see what was going on.

They were looking through the Walmart and Target toy catalogs, writing out their Christmas lists.

I have no idea what some of these things are, but they must be popular if they made it to the magazines.  

I love how they included Wrigley in their letter, too!

 I love everything about these!  Shawn and I cracked up over the trademark symbols Caleb added and the fact that he wants a How To Make Balloon Animals kit and Amelia wants a Deluxe Screen Printing kit.  The toys wishes of kids are so cute!  Pretty soon they'll be asking for phones and non-toy items, so I am soaking up the Pom Pom Puppies and the Snuggle My Dream Puppy!

Thanksgiving

This years Thanksgiving was a little different for us.  

We didn't have any family here to spend the day with.

We didn't have close friends to share the day with either.

But, one of Shawn's coworkers invited us over to spend Thanksgiving with him and his family.

We had a great time and I'm so glad we accepted their offer.  We played three games after dinner, which were a lot of fun and we even got to share a few of our favorite dishes, that they devoured (like they had never had Mac-n-cheese or sweet potato casserole before).  

The day after Thanksgiving, we decorated our house for Christmas.  

As you can see, we are in shorts and t-shirts....it kind of takes away the holiday spirit.  We watched Home Alone and A Christmas Story and made it feel like Christmas even though it was warm.

Caleb's turn to put the angel on the top.

We also had frost over the weekend!!!  What?!?!  It wasn't on the car, but I'll take it on the grass and picnic table.

We also got a huge rainstorm the day before my birthday.  It poured and no one knew what to do here.  It was all over the news, stopping traffic, people were seeing hail...we though the world was ending!  

But, we got this beautiful rainbow in our backyard.....

...where there's rain at sea level, there's bound to be snow in the mountains.  And there was!!  I know you can't see it that great.  It was just a dusting, but we could see it really well with Caleb's telescope.  At least we know we only have to drive about an hour to get into the snow!

 Checking out the snow while watching the ND USC game...which we would have been freezing out butts off at, but the tickets were just too expensive.

The next day was my birthday and they surprised me with gifts and a rhubarb pie (from Marie Callender's, which is a restaurant here).  We went to church then out to eat at the Lazy Dog restaurant.

Sunday afternoon, I heard some sirens nearby, but thought nothing of it.  Then we heard a low flying helicopter pass over the house a couple of times, so we headed outside to check it out.  

At first I thought it was the hospital helicopter, but then Shawn pointed out that it was actually the Sheriff!  The neighbor next door was out too and told us there was a sheriff at the top of the hill, so I walked out into the driveway and sure enough, there was a policeman standing outside his SUV with his rifle in his hand!!

We decided to close all of the window and blinds since we had no idea what was going on.  The helicopter just kept circling our house and over the lemon grove for probably 30 minutes or more.  

 We headed back to church a little while later and saw a huge hole in the brick fence that separates our neighborhood from the main street.  After doing a little bit of internet teaching, low and behold, I found a local am radio stations Facebook page that gave us information. I guess a 20 something man lead police on a chase, where he skidded around a curve and slammed his car through the brick wall.  Then he jumped out and ran into the lemon grove.   As of 5:50 pm, they still hadn't found him and we still have no idea who the guy was or why he was running OR if they found him!

PreThanksgiving Weekend

Friday morning the kindergarteners put on a Thanksgiving play and had a feast.  

 Amelia's class.

 Our little turkey!

 Friday afternoon, the kids played outside even though it was cold....cold for us.  As you can see from the ladder under the tree, they were picking oranges, cutting a hole in the top and then drinking the juice.

 Saturday morning, we headed to Malibu to get our Christmas card photos done.  Why is it when you don't really care to go to the beach and you half heartedly mention it, they are over the moon excited to go?  But, when you say, let's go take some photos and then we'll hang out and play afterwarsds, it's met with fierce resistance, screaming, crying, and complaining (on Amelia's part)?

I don't know either!  But we got some good photos and then played afterward.  

 Doing a little rock climbing.

 Look at how beautiful that water is!

 The moon was still out!

Saturday night we met up with friends from North Carolina.  

We only knew them briefly and then we moved to WA.  They began working with CRU, or Campus Crusade for Christ, and moved to Irvine, CA.  They just happened to be about 30 minutes from us this weekend at a conference, so we met up with them for dinner.

Sunday was church and then we headed to Lowe's to pick up a new Christmas tree.  Had I realized they were on sale and we got our military discount, I would have gotten the bigger one! :o). Shawn's in Salt Lake City today and tomorrow, then we head into our Thanksgiving weekend.  The kids have off all week and today we are cleaning, trying to get it all done in one day...but it's slow going, with lots of grumbling, so it may take longer than expected:o).

Caleb Turns 8

Eight.

It's hard to believe he is actually eight years old.  Last night as I was tucking him in, I told him that this time eight years ago, we were about to hold him for the first time, but we didn't know it.  That we already knew his name before we went to the hospital.  

He said, And you looked in the Bible to see who Caleb was to find my name.  I said, yep. It said that 'Caleb showed unwavering faith' and completely trusted God.  That's what we were doing with you.  We had to completely trust God that you were going to be born healthy and strong, especially while dad was gone.  

 Then he asked where dad was when he was born and I told him Iraq.  He said, that's by Washington DC?  I told him that it was much farther than that, which lead him to getting out of bed and asking dad to show him on a map where he was.  

The journey that took us to that morning, was a hard one.  

We are so, beyond blessed, to have Caleb in our lives.  

 He is smart and loving.  He is sweet and caring.  He loves his alone time, board games, reading, rock climbing, being outside, camping, fishing.  He's inquisitive and is a great big brother.

 He has a serious temper, which drives us crazy.

But those eyes and that silly smile. 

With his two front teeth slowly, but surely, coming in.

 And those freckles that are starting to pop out.

We love you so much Caleb!

You bring joy and laughter to our lives and we couldn't possibly imagine our lives without you in it.  I say it every year and it's still true...we can't wait to see what this next year brings for you and we are excited to see you growing into a great young boy!

Birthday/LA Weekend

Friday was Caleb's birthday day!  Shawn will be out of town all next week, so we decided to celebrate Caleb's early.

We let him choose what we would do for the day.

We started out by going to see Trolls.

I really liked this movie, then again, I love to sing and dance and it was just a fun movie.

 He wanted to go to Jimmy John's for lunch and we stopped by REI and bought him a new helmet.

 Then we headed to Sky High!

He has been wanting to go here for awhile and we all can say that it was super fun!!

We had a great day!!

Until.....

Friday night, after Shawn got home from his soccer game (we didn't go), Amelia gets a nose bleed.  No big deal, it happens a lot.  Only it hasn't happened in awhile - has she had one since we've been here?  We can't remember.  So, anyway, her nose starts bleeding and Shawn lays her in the floor and gets some paper towels.  (Shawn's the expert nose bleed person since he had a lot while growing up).  Only this time, her's doesn't stop and instead of slowing down, it just keeps coming out.  As in, she's laying down looking up at the ceiling and it's still running out of her nose.  Nonstop.  Gravity shouldn't let it run out of your nose while looking up at the sky. 

I begin trying to find a 24 hour nurse line, but get nowhere.  Why can't smartphones know exactly what you're looking for?!

Then I try to find the number to the urgent care that I know is down the street, but again, the phone doesn't show the one on Las Posas Ave.  By this time, Shawn's getting a little freaked out because it won't stop coming out, which freaks me out a little bit, which then leads him to having me call 911.

That's right, folks.  We called 911 for a nose bleed.

We got a firetruck and full ambulance at the house, with them bringing in the gurney, because they were told there was a laceration.  

She's fine, but I think it scared her a little bit.  And obviously us, because we called 911.  I guess we needed a little more excitement for the day.

Saturday, we headed to.....

I've been wanting to do the "tourist" thing for awhile and I think we are all glad we did.  There is so much to do in LA and honestly, a day is not even close to being enough time to see and do it all.

We wanted to see the Hollywood and were told to go to the Griffith Observatory for one of the best views.

Not only was it a great view of the Hollywood sign, but it gave us a fantastic view of the entire city!  

The grounds of the observatory were amazing and hiking trails surround the entire place.  I would love to go back just to hike some of these trails.

While I'm not a huge fan of the Art Deco style, I do like it.  This building had small touches of it, which I loved.

Inside the observatory, we walked all of the exhibits.

Checking out the periodic table.

Then we saw Water Is Life in their planetarium.  It was pretty awesome and the kids loved it!

After spending a couple of hours at the observatory, we headed down into the city.  The Greek Theatre is famous for it's amazing concerts.  We will definitely be going to see one here before we move!

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Center International.  "It is open to the public, but intended mostly for artists, politicians, leaders of industry, sports figures and anyone with the power and vision to create a better world." (quoted from wikipedia)

We're not sure what Stage 15 is, but it looks cool.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Random filming, makeup, bathroom trucks on a side street.

Kat Von D's shop was right below this sign.

The Beverly Hills Hotel - which I would love to go back and actually walk through.

I'm sure there is a better, grander, Beverly Hills sign, this is the only one we could find.....right next to a gas station.

The Spadena House, or The Witch's House, is a Storybook Architecture house in Beverly Hills.  I have never heard of storybook architecture, but it was pretty awesome!

It was completed in 1921, renovated, abandoned, purchased again, and renovated again in 2006.  The house is 3,500 sq. ft.

The moat.

And just across the Main Street from the Spadena House was...

Rodeo Drive, baby.

If you didn't know that quote from Pretty Woman, well you should!  I couldn't help but say may of the lines from the movie while we were there.  

I really, really, wanted to get out and walk around, but the traffic, lack of parking, thought of doing that (and enjoying it) with 2 kids, just didn't seem worth it.  I will make this a girls trip and then I will be able to enjoy it like I truly want to :o)! 

Who wants to join me?!?!?

We see pretty high dollar cars where we live....but this was a whole new level of high dollar cars.  I like cars!  Thanks, dad!  And these cars were beyond bad ---, if you know what I mean.  

I'm pretty sure this was a rapper (or maybe I'm just being stereotypical - I'm sorry) in front of us with a pretty sweet black Porshe 911.

A Bugatti.

For some reason, I knew what a Bugatti was, but didn't know much about it. When I got home, I looked up it's stats.  I'm pretty sure this a is a Bugatti Veyron.  

It has an asking price between $1.7-$2.7 million dollars. 

Parked.on.the.street!

Not just that, the standard oil change is $21,000.  Tires cost $40,000.  Expect to pay $30-50,000 to keep it ensured a year.  

I would be scared to drive this thing 2 inches out of my garage!

But, man is is sweet!

We think this is a Bentley.  Besides this one, we saw a handful of Bentley Contintentals, which run about $220,000.

Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Or as she says in Pretty Woman, Reg-Bev-Wil.

BMW i8, which only runs around $148,000.

After a quick drive on Rodeo Drive, we headed to the Greystone Mansion, which has been in a ton of movies.

Here's a short list of just the ones I know...

TMNT 2014, The Muppets, The Social Network, Spiderman 1, 2, 3, The Holiday, Austin Powers, America's Sweethearts, X-Men, Rules of Engagement, What Women Want, Rush Hour, The Big Lebowski, Air Force One, Nixon, Richie Rich, Indecent Proposal, Ghostbusters 1&2, Jumping Jack Flash, Stripes and a ton of other ones.  

View from the mansion.

Amazing masonry work.  

A mansion that you could see from the parking lot.  If you google map the Greystone Mansion, there is an even bigger, white, mansion, just to the left of it.  

We left there and headed down Sunset Blvd. towards the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sign.  That's an expensive I'm sorry card.

The Comedy Store.  It was a former Hollywood nightclub where The Byrd's were discovered.  In 1972 it became a comedy venue where Johnny Carson was one of the first comics to perform.  The list of names of comedians who've performed here is pretty impressive.  

Coming in behind Hollywood Blvd.

The Walk of Fame spans 15 blocks and comprises 2,500 stars.

Then we came upon the TCL Chines Theatre, originally known as Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  

We were excited to see all of the handprints and footprints of famous stars we love.

I loved that Amelia's hands were as big as Shirley Temple's.

This stretch of street is jammed packed with people!  We were forewarned to not be disappointed at this famous place, because it's actually pretty run down and shady.  

Across the street from the theatre.

A photo opp for the new movie about to come out, Moana.

We were about to head home, but decided to check out the Maddam Tussaud's Wax Museum.  We found out that Shawn and I were free and the kids were half price, because of their military discount.

This one's for Jennifer :o)

Laughing it up with Jack Nicholson.

Justin Timberlake

This one's for Papaw!

Taylor Swift

Will Smith

Brad Pitt and Jimmy Fallon

Following the yellow brick road with Judy Garland.

Howard Hughes

Parting the sea with Moses, aka, Charlton Heston.

Marilyn Monroe

Teacher says, everytime a bell rings, and angel gets his wings.

I love this picture of Caleb.

Drinking some tea with Audrey Hepburn

Discussing things that cannot leave the room with Don Corleone

Trying out some of Forrest Gump's chocolates.

A little Dirty Dancing.

Commanding the ship with William Shatner.

Boxing with Rocky.

Having a good time with Jim Carrey.

Directing with Steven Speilberg.

Making sure ET gets home on time.

Robin Williams and...

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Michael Jackson was the only one that looked fake to me.  Then again, he was looking pretty fake for the last few years of his life anyway.

Skating the half pipe with Tony Hawk.

Talking about our President-elect with President Obama.

Watch out world, Caleb's hanging with Wolverine.

Amelia said that she was the Girl Thor.

We had a really great day, and if anything, it made me want to go back and see more! By the time we left it was dark and the road home gave us one last look at the city.

A nighttime view of the Griffith Observatory. 

I don't think I could live in LA, but I do love the city.  I love different cultures, a plethora of great restaurants, tons of great museums and activities.  I am excited that we are only an hour away from the city and I hope that we are able to go enough to where are aren't considered tourists anymore.