Disneyland!

One of our favorite places to go is Disneyland! We haven't been in two years so when we got tickets for Christmas the kids were VERY excited! (almost as excited as Mom!) We stayed 3 nights in our motorhome at a park a couple blocks away from Disneyland and took a shuttle back and forth. It was a great couple days!!

The Happiest Place on Earth!


Nana & Papa were able to join us our first day there. That was a special treat! They always spoil the kids.







"A" is for Allison!

Merry Christmas!

It was great to have Daddy home for both Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day this year. That is rare and we really made the most of it.
Christmas morning began with Darren waking at 6:30am and stating that "even though my lip may be half off, I'm still a kid and I'm going down to see what Santa brought!" I'm glad he was feeling good after the prior night's ordeal. Luckily the other kids didn't wake us again until 7:30am when Jason & I finally relented and got up. We tried to get Alli to wait for us to get up but she raced us down the stairs! I could barely grab the camera in time. Santa brought her the baby bunk bed she asked for! She was so excited, even though the photo doesn't really show it!


Santa also puts a new ornament in each child's stocking. This year I got the idea from a friend to take a picture of each ornament. I write name/year on the ornaments to help us remember too.


Santa again was gracious in giving the desired gifts to the other kids.
Blake: favorite Star Wars Lego set


Ryan: Birdhouse skateboard which to his surprise came with a backpack


Darren: the airsoft pistol he desperately wanted, although this picture is BEFORE he opened it.


After opening the plethora of gifts Mommy made the traditional Christmas morning breakfast of waffles, bacon, eggs, OJ, etc. Then we enjoyed our day playing with new toys and activities, and just enjoying our family time together!

Christmas Eve

First stop on Christmas Eve was Nana & Papa's house. Emily & Ty were there with cousins Daylen & Gwen. The kids had a great time having lunch with everyone and then playing with their cousins. Papa had a new train for the tree this year... a Mickey Mouse one! That was a big hit with all the kids! We enjoyed the afternoon there, exchanging gifts and enjoying the company. Thanks Mom & Dad!



Second stop: Grandpa Steve & Nana Deb's house. Here we had a different experience. All the family was there for dinner and gift exchange. Grandpa, Nana, Samantha, Taylor, Leah, Mike & Tammy w/ Jayden & Gavin, Rick w/ Reily & Hannah, Rob, Aunt Debbie. Another fun Price family get-together waiting to happen! We were there all of 5 minutes when Sam's new dog bit Darren in the lip. (scroll down for picture) Grandpa took Jason & Darren to the ER, then came back and took me to join them a short time later. Meanwhile, our kids had Christmas Eve celebrations with the rest of our family while we were at the hospital waiting for the plastic surgeon to come give Darren 12 stitches in his lip. Yikes! This is one Christmas to remember but hopefully never repeat! Here is some of the fun the other kids had. Sorry Darren missed out!


Third stop: Emergency room

This photo was taken right after the stitches were done. It was worse looking in person, I guarantee you!

Gone Riding!

The couple days before Christmas we made a last minute decision to head out to the desert for some riding fun! We had a lot of fun, mixed in with a little drama. The first night was freezing cold, about 20 degrees outside, and we realized at bedtime that the converter box was broken, which is necessary to run the heater in the motorhome. Brrrr!!! At 2am, the Carbon Monoxide alarm went off because of our alternate forms of trying to heat up the motorhome. The next morning Alli's thumb got smashed in the door (the hinge side) and looks like the nail will fall off, and I'm still hoping it's not broken. Despite the cold and drama, the trip was worth it.

We left the desert Christmas Eve morning to head off to our family's homes in Riverside to enjoy Christmas with them. That's a different post. Here is some of our fun in the desert:


Darren catches air:


The girls:


Alli's protectors:


Daddy's girl:


Princess:


A place all to ourselves:

Naughty or Nice?

 

The answer to that question changes from minute to minute around our house!
It's extremely fun to enjoy this Christmas through the eyes of our children, especially with Allison so enamoured with Santa and the whole holiday season! She jumped right up on his lap and without pause said, "Santa.. for Christmas I want a baby bunk bed for my dolls." No fear. Total faith. Such joy! The boys were there too, but evaded the photo. Do they really have to grow up so fast?
We are grateful at this Christmas season for our abundance of blessings, especially our Savior Jesus Christ. We make many efforts to remember and celebrate Him this season. We are thankful for our dear friends and family and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love to you all!

Christmas Sunday

 

Just a sweet picture of my family after church.

Card Tower

Ryan saw a picture on his cousin's blog, where he built a card tower. He thought was pretty cool and was inspired to try himself. He spent the ENTIRE day trying this over and over again. It think we need to call his cousin to see if there are any secret tips he can give him. This is as far as he got, but he was soooo proud!!

Ice Skating

For scouts this week, Blake & Ryan's pack went ice skating. None of my boys have ever been before. I thought it would be tough to have them all there, needing me to hold them up but boy was I wrong! Shame on me for having no faith! Once they hit the ice they took off!! I was so impressed. They had a blast and I had fun watching them. I also got to skate a little and try to remember some of my old moves from lessons I took about 28 years ago. (wow.. I'm getting old!)

 

Skate Park

Our little city of Moorpark just built an AMAZING outdoor skate park. They expanded on a city park, and added a basketball court, big kid play set, and skate park, complete with empty swimming pool for the skaters! We went to the grand opening ceremonies and were among the first to try it out. Ryan loved it. (I'm still trying to figure out where $2 million came from for this project when we had to lay off school teachers this year and the kids teachers are asking me to bring in pencils and copy paper). Anyway, I guess we'll use it since it's there. It really is pretty cool.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving Day, my entire family came to our house for dinner. It was so fun for me to host and prepare the meal. My family has never come for the holidays before. I enjoyed having them all there. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

As a family tradition, we always take a group photo of all the girls and all the boys in attendance at that years' feast. Here's the shot for 2009:




And the guys:


Cousins having fun:




The day after Thanksgiving, we headed out to the desert for some riding fun, along with a family from Jason's work, and a family from Blake & Ryan's school.
We had a great spot to ride and ride! The kids all had a blast!


Ryan, Conner & Blake:




Mom & Alli: this was fun because the dog would just follow us all over the place. She sure got her exercise this weekend!!


Conner, Blake & Ryan:


Darren:


Alli keeping Holly company while it rained outside:


Playing board games in the evening before bed. When the sun went down, it sure got COLD!! We bunkered down til the morning sun came out. Even the dog wouldn't go outside. Yikes!


Jason found an old mine shaft, so we all rode over to check it out. We didn't go in very far. It was a big freaky, but also pretty cool.


Yikes!