Cabo Christmas---Part I

This year for Christmas we decided that we would go on a family trip over Christmas and make memories instead of getting more "stuff".  It took months of savings and planning and it finally came time to go!  Austin was flying home from New York the night before our departure and as luck would have it his flight was delayed and his luggage didn't make it, so he arrived without any clothes or personal items...but he was here!  Luckily he had some old shorts and high school t-shirts he threw in a bag and he knew Santa would bring PJs and a swimsuit for Christmas, so we were good to go!

Our flights were pretty uneventful and quick.  Our flight was delayed from SL, but then also our flight from Phoenix was delayed, so we walked off  the first plane, went down 3 gates and walked on our connection to Cabo...smooth! 

 Once we arrived in Cabo there was supposed to be a driver there with a sign that had our name on it.  But, alas, there was no driver there.  Luckily I had printed out my confirmation and after flagging down a couple drivers who were standing around they agreed to take us to our hotel and figure out how to get paid later.  I guess they kind of all work together and as long as they had my confirmation number they would figure it out.  That was fine with me as we were ready to go!

Our transportation included a stop at Walmart where Ethan, Evan and I went in an started shopping for some groceries for the week.  We were planning on eating breakfast in our room and then some snacks and Sunday meals.  We didn't know the conversion rate to pesos, so we were just getting the things we needed and hoping it was a good deal.  We ended up with $100 worth of food and snack and sunscreen and off we went to our hotel!

The room and hotel was amazing.  We were right on Medano beach in Cabo San Lucas at the Pueblo Bonito Rose.  We had a great patio that walked right out to the pool.  The beach was warm and sunny and I knew this was going to be great!

Pearson Family Christmas Party

This was the first Pearson family Christmas party since Grandma Pearson passed away.  It was fun to get together and see some of the Pearson relatives and know that Grandma would be so happy that we continued on with the tradition.  It's always a fun night to catch up with relatives and see how kids have grown and people have (or have not!) changed.

The highlight of the evening for the kids is always the gifts that Santa drops off at the party.  It's usually the first gift for Christmas and the joy of a simple gift is always evident with the kids.

All my pictures are of the Smith family relatives since I'm kind of shy to take pictures of others...but it's great to see them all at least one night of the year.  We missed those who could not attend and hope that we will continue having the party each year so we can always catch up!

The tree is up!!

We got the tree up on Saturday this year.  It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas because I love seeing the ornaments that we have let the kids pick each year and the ornaments of places that we've been that year or gifts from friends of ours from all the places we've lived.  Our tree does not have a decorator's touch or follow the latest trend, but it is so beautiful to me because of the memories and love that is on that tree!

McKinley wanted to put the angel on the tree this year and Ethan was trying his best to help her get it up there.  They did this attempt 3 or 4 times before Ethan decided he would get the angel up straight  by using a chair.  It was funny.

I love having the tree up and sitting with the lights of the tree shining brightly.  It's a peaceful time and I feel the love of the season.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving

So we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our family this year.  It was also Marlee and Keegan's 10th birthday on the Sunday we celebrated with my side.  It was a delicious meal and a very fun evening hanging out together.  I can't believe these two are 10!!

This was the first Thanksgiving in 5 years that we were home.  We missed seeing our friends in California and spending time with soccer family, but it was really nice to be home with Dave's family.  There were 53 of us this year and it was a wonderful day.  We were all able to eat together in the basement and spend the day enjoying each other's company, watching some football, and making some graham cracker candy houses.  It was a great holiday weekend with a lot of the kids home from college and married grandkids stopping by.  The family is really growing up, but we had almost everyone there this year!

Maylene also brought a game of Bean Boozled that some of the brave people played.  You had to answer a question about Thanksgiving and if you got it wrong you had to spin the wheel and take your 50/50 chance of getting a good or nasty tasting jelly bean.  Some of the bad ones were stinky socks, skunk spray, and vomit.  Boy...those were gross!

There were some pretty fancy graham cracker house architects, but they all turned out yummy!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was super fun.  It was a warm night and it was fun to walk around the neighborhood with McKinley and her cousin Emma.  It's so fun to see all the kids dressed up and enjoying themselves.  There are some really fun houses in our neighborhood to go to.  A couple houses go all out with decorations and music and of course we love getting our hot dogs from Bishop Mel and a soda from Nana and Grandad!  We end up at Mike Mischele's house and enjoyed some yummy wassle there too!

Evan went off with some friends this year and was responsible for hauling in 27 pounds of candy!  We're all helping him through it and a lot of it will be saved in storage or some how end up in the garbage!  While I love the Halloween fun, I'm not a huge fan of the candy or having it around the house for very long!

Fall Friday Fun!

There was no school on Friday and it was such a beautiful day that Mischele and I decided to take the girls to the zoo!  It was perfect!  The girls are such a fun age and the zoo is quite enjoyable when you can just wander around and see the exhibits and not chase little ones everywhere.  We enjoyed the new exhibits at the zoo and learned a little bit about elephants and giraffes and more!

We enjoyed the 5 minute train ride that takes you behind the animal enclosures and to the mining town exhibit.  Cute times!

The two ladies have a lot of crazy fun in them!

Swearing In

On Tuesday, Ethan was sworn in to the Draper Mayors Youth Council.  He will be working with a group of youth and the city of Draper to put on a bunch of activities and services in the city of Draper.  He is excited to learn more about the mayor's office and how things work in the city of Draper as well as help out with community events.  It will be a fun experience for him!

 We thought we were taking pictures and it was a video, so these are all we got.  Blurry, but proves that he was there.