December 16, 2012 - December 25, 2012
Christmas was more than FIVE months ago and this pregnancy has completely robbed me of my memory! Ha! But that's okay because as you will see, I took enough pictures to basically tell the story of our Christmas in California without words ...
I found out I was pregnant on December 12th, just 4 days before we left for California (more on that later) and the morning we woke up to leave, was the first morning I felt the dreaded morning sickness! I questioned whether it was that or some kind of stomach bug since I was only about 4.5 weeks pregnant and I didn't feel sick at all during my pregnancy with Luke until I was about 8 weeks along. I would later discover the joys of "double the baby, double the hormones." Fortunately, the nausea was mild, and thanks to a giant blueberry muffin and an answer to prayer, I felt fine almost as soon as we boarded the plane and the morning sickness wasn't to be heard from again ... until a few days later, when apparently, it came to stay.
I decided to be nice and share my MASSIVE blueberry muffin.
Catching a few Zzzz's. It was an early flight!
Beautiful view from the plane.
Luke got kicked off of this machine. Apparently, 2-year-olds aren't allowed to gamble.
Luke was SOOO excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Lamb when they picked us up at the airport. They even came bearing gifts. Luke loved his new soft stuffed puppy!
Jeff helped Luke color the picture on the left for Grandma and Grandpa during the plane ride. I couldn't have them steal all the attention, so I colored one too. I might be able to stay in the lines a little better or whatever. No big deal.
It wasn't long before Grandma's nice clean, kid-free house was taken over by a 2-year-old! We managed to keep it from getting TOO out of hand throughout the week!
Jeff and Luke practiced their jumping skills in Grandma and Grandpa's front yard. I'm pretty sure this kid can already jump higher than I can! (I wish that was a joke!) Obviously he has his very springy dad to thank for that!
Aren't they cute!?
We made sure to visit Mamal and Papal, who only live a couple of blocks away, right away! Luke loves them! And the fun things they have at their house!
Papal took Luke outside to see the birds.
We went to Knott's Berry Farm (Mom, Dad, Me, Jeff, and Luke)! Luke was so excited to meet Woodstock and Snoopy when we walked into the park, even though he had no idea who they were! He was all smiles!
Playing with a "walking" toy duck while we waited in line to rent a stroller.
Luke spotted me from his first-requested ride: the one he is just barely tall enough to ride. This boy loves a thrill! I should specify though, it has to be a safe thrill. He loves roller coasters and high-jumping into the pool with his dad, but he would be a little hesitant to ride down our driveway sitting on a skateboard.
Train ride! Luke never gets bored of them!
Luke looked a little bored on most of the rides, but then when it was over, he would be sad to leave and talk about how fun it was! We even caught him trying to suppress a smile on some of the kiddie rides he rode by himself while we all watched from the sidelines! I don't know why he thinks he's has to hide how much fun he's having!
This bear trash can used to talk when you put trash into it: "Thank you for feeding me! That was so good!" or something to that effect. It's been there since I was a kid. So sad that it didn't work when Luke tried it!
This race car ride is SO fun! I was sad my pregnant self was prohibited from riding (like most of the rides that day), but look at how cute these two are!
The Log Ride was Luke's absolute FAVORITE ride of the day! I'm pretty sure he rode it at least 6 times, and would have ridden it more if he could have convinced someone to go with him! By the 3rd or 4th time, he just started trying to get out of the log at the end of the ride and get right back in line! This was his first time riding it, when he was still a little unsure how this giant drop was going to end.
My cute mom!
All wet!
Mom and Jeff off to ride the big roller coaster that the rest of us either couldn't or wouldn't ride. They both love roller coasters! Luke wanted to go with them. Apparently, the heights and straight up and down drops didn't scare him!
Such a fun ride! I was a little bummed to miss out again. But it was all worth it if I was going to get the baby (babies) we'd been waiting for for over a year out of the deal!
Can you find Jeff and Mom?
Haha! I think they had fun.
Walking to lunch at the "train" McDonald's with a sleepy boy.
Luke decided the trains were worth waking up for.
Back to the park with Grandpa.
We stopped to watch a weird Charlie Brown show in Camp Snoopy. The following picture pretty much sums up how we all felt about it:
He has this look on his face the WHOLE time! It was hilarious!
Next, Luke and Grandma rode the roller coaster in Camp Snoopy. I didn't get a good picture, but Luke LOVED it!
Just a little snack for me to enjoy while everyone else took turns going on the Log Ride with Luke a few more times. Don't worry, I shared!
Jeff is a GIANT!
Funnel cake softened the blow (and stopped the crying) when Luke found out that we were finally calling it quits on the Log Ride for the day.
Luke and Grandpa on the Calico Mine Train Ride. Luke was a fan. No surprise, considering it involved a train!
Cute face, Luke!
I just happened to notice this new ride at the back of the park from afar and I am SO glad I did! My first glance at the roller coaster as it went by had me laughing uncontrollably! I mean, just look at it:
How hilarious do all these people look cruising by on a herd of horses?? I immediately ran to tell Mom and Jeff that they just HAD to ride it, wishing so badly that I could come with them! I think Jeff would have gladly let me go in his place if I could, after seeing how silly everyone looked.
Waiting for Jeff and Grandma to ride by. I missed the memo on the silly faces.
So worth the wait!
Luke and Grandpa enjoying the view from the Sky Tower.
I was so (unjustifiably) confident aaaand I failed miserably.
These snowflakes were spinning around in circles and Luke laughed and laughed while ran around and around with them!
Luke was a big fan of this kid-size Supreme Scream!
Grandpa bought Luke a light-up sword on the way out of the park. Spoiled, spoiled boy!
I took a few pictures (on my phone) of a beautiful post-rain morning while I was out running ...
Working on the sewing portion of that crazy shirt from a couple of posts back. I do NOT know how to sew, but thankfully, Mamal is a great teacher!
Mamal has a dinosaur head on her living room wall. Yep, she's a fun and crazy great-grandma. Luke insisted it was a nice dinosaur and we needed to pet him nicely.
I (or maybe it was Grandpa) secretly bought this GIANT lollipop for Luke before we left Knott's. He was pretty excited when I gave it to him!
Finally an explanation for that crazy shirt: Jeff's and my gift to my parents (with a big assist from Patrick, Jared, and Ashley) was to recreate a couple of pictures of Patrick, Jared, and I as kids (wish we could have included Katrina, but alas she was off serving a mission. I guess that's a good enough reason to miss out). Jeff and I collected all of the materials and brought them with us from Texas, and one night we all headed over to Mamal and Papal's house to take the pictures. Patrick and Jared were such awesome, enthusiastic participants! Jared even grew a mustache for the first picture and they both tried to style their hair to match the old pictures before we headed over.
Halloween 1991. A ghost, a lumberjack, and Oscar the Grouch.
December 2012. We didn't put as much effort into making this recreation perfect as we did with the second picture, but we just had to include it because it's so funny! Jeff did rearrange the furniture to make the background pretty perfect while we were all getting dressed though! I was impressed! Poor Patrick looks like he's melting because Jeff and I are cheap and bought a shower curtain liner from the dollar store instead of a sheet. He kept freaking Ashley out by acting like he was suffocating!
We all laughed so hard at Papal's exaggerated concern and confusion about "what we were doing to his house!"
1990
We were not very professional models. We did a LOT of this! It was just way too hilarious trying to fit all of our adult bodies into the same positions our tiny kid selves had been in!
Especially because Jared had to sit on Patrick's lap! He did not fit comfortably AT ALL.
Jeff and Ashley had the difficult job of posing us and taking the pictures. I didn't realize how hard it was until I tried it with all the Fisher boys for Greg and Renita's gift a couple weeks later! The look Jared is giving Ashley in this picture cracks me up! He was so scrunched and uncomfortable!
The final picture with the comparison. Not bad, eh?
Patrick went with Jeff, Luke and I to meet Santa in East Lake. A cul de sac of neighbors were hosting the meeting, complete with free candy canes and warm apple cider, just because they're amazing people! It was wonderful!
Beautiful trees around East Lake.
Luke always has so much fun with his uncles!
If I remember correctly, Luke told Santa he wanted "a purple one." A purple what? I don't know. haha He's such a sweet kid!
Cute neighbors all bundled up handing out cups of apple cider.
Luke was very interested in baby Jesus in the manger.
Jared's girlfriend at the time, Masha, got me these beautiful earrings and necklace for Christmas. So sweet of her!
Helicopter flying with Uncle Jared.
Luke could hardly stand to let the helicopter charge long enough before he used it again!
Luke had a cold and his breathing was
starting to get a little shallow like it has in the past, so we had his
doctor call in an inhaler for him (as I've mentioned before, he is prone
to respiratory problems and his colds easily become bronchitis with
difficulty breathing, but now that we know how to recognize it and catch
it early, it's been very controllable). The pharmacist at CVS rang it up for us and looked surprised, "That's a big co-pay!" Me: "We actually have a deductible." Pharmacist: "A deductible?? It's December!" Me: "Heh. Yeah.." Oh the joys of less-than-stellar medical insurance!
Possibly the only perk to needing to make a trip to the pharmacy, Luke loves checking his blood pressure while we wait. Of course, it never gets a reading on his tiny arms, but that doesn't bother him!
Mom grilled up some giant seasoned hamburger patties from the grocery store deli for lunch one day, especially for Jeff because she remembered he liked them when she bought them for Luke's 1st birthday party. So considerate!
Luke was SO excited when Ashley's friend came over with her two daughters and he finally had other kids to play with!
"Wheeeee!" On the way to Irvine Park. All of the giant hills in Yorba Linda are like a roller coaster! Texas is FLAT, so Luke thought that was so fun!
Riding the train at Irvine Park. Luke pretty much insists on doing this every time we visit California and I'm pretty sure, so far he's gotten his wish.
Check out these dog/polar bears that we saw while we were riding the train!
The peacocks hang out with the ducks and beg for food.
Christmas lights in the train tunnel = warp speed!
We came home to find Jared coloring with the coloring book and crayons Mom bought for Luke. I guess that big man is just a kid at heart.
No trip to California is complete without Golden Spoon!
Ashley and Luke played a duet.
I spent a couple of hours making some homemade gifts and homemade boxes to wrap them in.
Aunt Debi joined Luke for his second performance of the day. Luke has loved her playing and singing since he was born.
Cute boys laughing about something on Jeff's iPod.
I don't know who came up with this hilarious game, but Luke couldn't get enough of trying to hit Patrick with this little stuffed dog while Patrick tried to block him with an umbrella!
Patrick would threaten to get Luke back each time Luke hit him with the dog, so Luke would turn around and run and jump into Ashley's arms for protection!
I made some snowflake cupcakes, just cause I felt like it, and there were plenty of people around to share them with!
Luke cleaned up in nursery when we went to church at my parent's ward on Sunday!
We got to Skype with Katrina!! It was so great to see her and hear her voice!
Luke got a little bored of Skyping and found other ways to entertain himself.
Jared making us all laugh hoarding the cupcakes after dinner.
Bingo! This is a very popular tradition since my mom doesn't hold back on the prizes! Jared won the first prize and rubbed it in Luke's face on the way to the prize box. There's been some debate about whether or not it's really fair that Luke gets his own bingo card, but I'm pretty sure he's gotten one every year since he was born! Jeff makes sure of it! And I have no doubt all of my siblings will do the same when they have kids!
Jared got the first prize and was devastated to find that it was wrapped with glittery ribbon!
Trying to avoid being bedazzled by the glitter.
Jared knew what all the prizes were before they were wrapped because he helped my mom shop for them. And yet he still managed to choose the box of eyeball gumballs that have been in the cupboard since no one wanted them last Halloween!
Team Fisher's first couple of prizes. They light up and everything! Awesome! Jared was so jealous we got these! I'm pretty sure he picked them out for himself.
We always pick the "As Seen on TV" gag gift! Last year it was the Clapper! This one actually came in handy though! It found a home in the closet under our stairs where all of Luke's ride-on toys go.
Ashley was clearly stoked to have picked this creepy bear figurine.
Jeff egged on Luke's competitiveness and made him "run, run, run!" to get to the prizes before Patrick and Jared could. He pushed his way in there and grabbed a prize as fast as he could!
Poor Jared ended up with every single giant candy prize and a Justin Bieber DVD. He wound up sharing or giving away most of the candy in the next few days.
Team Fisher's haul. Seriously?? We have all the luck!
This mustache key chain is one of the prizes we won. It says, "Why hello there" in a seductive man's voice. Hilarious!
Family picture at Mamal's house on Christmas Eve.
Ashley with her creation.
Jared bit off a little more than he could chew with his awesome stadium concert idea! He just couldn't finish it in within the time limit.
Jeff made a football stadium! I knew right away he'd have my dad's vote! But you've got to admit, it's pretty amazing, football fan or not!
Ashley's nativity.
My nativity
Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in my nativity.
All four entries, with the winner, chosen by anonymous votes from all non-competitors in the house: Jeff's football stadium.
Getting ready to exchange gifts.
Jeff and I went to The British Grocer to get Papal some Flakes candies since he loves them so.
I think he approved.
And for Mamal (and Papal), I made some farm animal magnets. Mamal has lots of farm animals around her kitchen (there used to be even more when I was a kid), so I thought they would fit well. I also made sure to find a Cisco (their chihuahua mix) look-alike to include.
Jared's gift to to Aunt Debi was pretty great. Those muscles come in handy when she needs some heavy lifting done around her house.
I made magnets for Aunt Debi too, but for her, I made a variety of dachshund ones. She has two: Bubby and Daisy and she LOVES them!
We pretty much destroyed this ridiculously delicious cake by the end of the night! It was just one part of a scrumptious spread of dinner and desserts.
Back at home, Ashley, the talented chiropractor of the family did a little work on Jeff and I. It's really amazing what she can do! Too bad we don't have her around all the time!
Why do I look so much like a mannequin??
I'm always a little nervous about the neck cracking part, but Ashley never disappoints!
Patrick showed Luke a new app called Talking Ginger, complete with tooting noises! Luke about passed out from laughing so hard! Why do kids this young already think potty humor is so funny??
Chirstmas morning!
Luke woke up early, so the three of us headed downstairs to open Luke's stocking (that's the rule at our my parents' house - if you wake up early, you can open your stocking while you wait for everyone else).
Luke was a little wary of this dancing cow. It kept suddenly dropping into the splits and that didn't sit well with Luke so he asked us to put it away. He warmed up to it a little more later when he was more awake.
Luke insisted on organizing and lining up all of his candies as he pulled them out of the stocking.
Jeff's stocking haul. He was pretty pleased with it.
Hot chocolate with breakfast.
I decided at the last minute to try throwing together some cinnamon rolls using Bisquik. I'd never tried that before, so it was a relief when they turned out pretty tasty.
My stocking was full of all kinds of awesome goodies!
We all took turns opening presents. Luke caught on right away! He could hardly wait for Jeff to help him open each gift!
All the boys got Nerf gun and, naturally, started a war immediately.
Luke didn't mess around. He went for the face!
Reload! Reload!
Ashley just hid.
Luke could dish it out ...
... but he couldn't take it.
Patrick and Jared practiced thier marksmanship.
Luke got his very own camera!
Something sparkly for Ashley. No surprise there!
Mom and Dad opening our recreation pictures. They were amused.
Jeff's "oh, I see how it is" face after Luke ripped his new tow truck out of Jeff's hands.
Ashley regifted the creepy bear to Jeff.
There it is in all it's glory.
Ashley opening the England-themed magnets I made for her. I just couldn't resist! Ashley has dual-citizenship there and she's obsessed! Patrick just rolled his eyes.
We flew home Christmas afternoon and Luke insisted on wheeling around our carry-on suitcase all by himself. I thought he would get tired, since it was pretty heavy, but no! He never asked for a break!
My little photographer.
Playing hang man on Jeff's iPod.
We arrived in Texas sometime around midnight and Luke still rolled that suitcase all the way through the airport and onto the shuttle without complaint! He got a LOT of stares, laughs, and comments.
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