Christmas Pt. 2

After a wonderful week in Los Angeles for Christmas Jeffrey and I drove up the coast to spend the following week in Danville with my parents. It is really nice to be able to spend a quick 5 hours in the car and see both families in one day. We stopped on the way up at my grandparent's to see them for a little and then headed up to Danville.

We spent the week going to the Ranch, exploring Palo Alto/Stanford, San Francisico,  pheasant hunting, having a fun post-Christmas night with my parents, seeing James Bond, eating at my all-time favorite sandwich shop Domenicos, and even went on a hike up by my parent's house. It was a lot of fun to spend a week of homework/work-free time in Northern California.

Going on a hike by my house. Love seeing Mt. Diablo off in the distance!

Taking the trolly around San Francisco! Even though Jeffrey has to wear horse blinders to block SF Giant's memorabilia I think he's starting to love that city like I do. 

After seeing James Bond with my parents my dad showed us how he had the same gun from the movie, which we then needed to shoot at the ranch.

What a great 2 weeks! We did so much and spent so much time with our families. We were sad to have to return back to real life of school and job hunting but we're so glad we were able to spend so much time hanging out with people we love!

Christmas Pt. 1

The first week of our two week break was spent with Jeffrey's family. On Christmas Eve we went to a family friend's party, followed by the Bentz's annual Christmas singalong party. We were given a booklet of scriptures verses from which we all took turns reading and sang songs in between. It was a great way to remember Christ during the busy holidays.

                                 

                                 

                                 

Jeffrey's aunt Jeanine is as obsessed with Christmas as I am. She had tons of decorations, food, and put the booklets together. She even found different versions of classic Christmas songs which made it even more fun. Will entertained us all by dancing around to the music (and making his grandma a little nervous).

                                  

We spent our second married Christmas with Jeffrey's entire family at his grandparent's house in Santa Monica. It was so fun having so many people there talking, laughing, eating, and opening presents. It was cool to see the similarities between his family traditions and mine, and it really made Christmas feel special. With Jeffrey's grandparents, their 4 children and 4 spouses, 16 grandchildren (missing a couple who are on missions), 3 grandchildren-in-law and 2 great grandchildren, it was a full house! 

Watching the Laker game, of course. And we were all so excited when they won (Jeffrey especially so).

Amanda's birthday was that week as well so we went to Manhattan Beach, ate some delicious pizza, and walked out on the pier.

We had an amazing Christmas this year!

The Spears Come to LA

A couple days after Randi's baby shower she and Chad came down to LA to see our stomping grounds! They were able to come for a couple days in between visiting the Johnsons and the Spears in the Bay Area to come hang out with us. It was so fun to see them (and her adorable tummy. Have I mentioned how much I love her growing belly?) and to spend some time with those East Coasters. Though it was a short trip, it was still so fun to be able to begin the brainwashing process of getting them out of DC. (Ulterior motives? Perhaps, but with best intentions.)

Once again, I am lamenting my lack of photos from the trip and, again, I have stolen some photos from Randi's blog. But it gives a little preview of the fun we had while they were here.

Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Bagel Nosh, Compos Burritos, LA Temple, driving around, La Canada, Pasadena, Los Gingros. So much fun.

Showering Baby Spears

It has been a crazy break! Now that we are back in LA I feel like I can finally sit down and sift through the pictures we took from our break. (I didn't get as many as I'd wanted, mainly because my phone is literally packed to the very brim with pictures/music/apps. Regrettably, I bought the smaller of the two Iphones. A twinge of anger hits me every time I pull up the camera on my phone and a little message reminds me that I was too poor to buy the phone with more storage my phone is full. But how do I decide between deleting songs I listen to every day or pictures that I'll cherish for life? It's my own Sophie's Choice.)

I flew to Danville for a day during Jeffrey's finals to throw Randi a baby shower. The shower turned out perfectly! We had friends, old and new, and lots of family from our side and Chad's side there to support Randi and her cute little baby boy. I loved being able to be there for her and see her cute tummy grow.

The diaper cake

Loving seeing that cute tummy of hers grow!

Family friends in the middle, with Randi's mother in law and two sisters in law on the side!

Loved seeing friends and family, even if it was for only 24 hours. We are so excited for Randi and Chad to have a little baby boy in March!

P.S. Some of these pictures were stolen from Randi's blog, so thank you for posting them so I could take them too!