Our "Little" Christmas Tree

So, every year we always get our tree at some point during the first full weekend of December. This year we picked Sunday, December 4th as The Day!!!!!

We went to church in the morning and then a little later that day, we set out to find, not just any tree, but THE tree!

Well, we've had great success in the past going to Lowe's and you can't beat their prices, plus they give us a military discount (so great of them)! Well, this year we showed up and there was literally one 6-7 foot Noble Fir (the only kind of tree we'll get) left. Alex grabbed the tree just before another couple came around the corner asking the salesman if there were anymore 6-7 food Noble Firs. He held it up! We admired it! We had one of the workers come over and hold it and spin it for us, so that we could officially decide if we like it. There was one little flaw, but it was the last one and still a pretty nice tree, so we said we'd take it.

The worker put the tree in a cart and we got in line, along with half of San Diego who also had the same idea that today was THE DAY to get their Christmas Tree. So, as we're waiting, I'm still scanning the other trees and I happened to spot a yellow tag (which meant 6-7 foot Noble Fir) amongst all of the 7-8 foot Noble Firs. I quietly pointed it out to Alex, who made a dash to go make sure our eyes weren't deceiving us and low and behold, another tree. So Alex pulls the tree out into the middle isle so we could quickly decide if we liked it better (even though we could tell it was much fuller...this will be important later). It was much fuller and felt as fresh as a tree could feel. So, we made a quick swaparoo and we had fount IT. OUR TREE.

Alex and Madison waited for the worker to cut and bag our tree, as well as to pay for it. I took Hudson and together we went and pulled our car around to the front so that we could tie our tree to the top. We definitely had to have help putting that massive tree up on top of the car since I am not the tallest kid on the block. Once we got the tree on top of the car, Alex, being the Marine that he is, is more than capable of tying our tree to the top of the car, but I LOVE the idea of a challenge, so he let me have a go at it first. AND, I must say that I think I did a pretty good job :)

So, now we were off to put our tree in our house and decorate it with the kids.

Once we arrived home, we had to figure out how to get our tree off the top of the car. (Man, was that a sight to see). We had put a towel under the tree before placing it on top of our car, so I got on one side of the car and Alex waited on the other. I stood up on the passenger side of the car and yanked the towel trying to roll the tree toward Alex. Ha Ha! After the third or fourth attempt, it finally worked and Alex was standing with a tree upon his head.

Whew...are you ready for the kicker! So we cut the wrapping off of the tree and Alex and I carry it inside and set it in the stand, except there was a slight problem! Once it was up, the top was touching the ceiling! Oh My!!!! So we immediately called our friend Bobby to see if he had a chain saw (he has pretty much every tool known to man). Thankfully he did and he came over to assist us.

So, we brought the tree back outside and after closer examination (away from all of the other trees that clouded our judgement) this tree had to be at least 8 feet before we made all of our adjustments.Thankfully, Bobby was able to cut about 6-8 inches off of the bottom of the trunk and I clipped about 4-6 inches off of the top of the tree.

Take Two:

Alex and I carried the tree back inside and set it up in the stand one more time and Voila! It was perfect! Now, it was still a little wide, since it was such a big tree to begin with (or rather full as we noticed at Lowes).

We turned on Christmas music!

Okay, now we were ready to put the lights on. It took all 5 strands of lights we own to cover this bad boy, due to it's width. Once the lights were on, we were ready to decorate the tree. Madison was even more into decorating the tree this year than last year! It was such a joy pulling out the ornaments and handing them to her and Alex and watching them decorate the tree together. I can't wait until Hudson is able to help next year :) Of course I had a few special ornaments that I hung myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching my loves hang the ornaments in "just the right spots."

To conclude the evening we had some sweet friends come over and together we all watched The Polar Express and ate popcorn!

What a great day!!!

I love our "little" tree. I love my husband. I love my kiddos. I love this time of year.

May you remember that while, trees and stockings are fun, Jesus is the TRUE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Santa

Every year we go to my parents house and go see Santa with the kids. The last two years it has happened to be the day after Thanksgiving. Here are the pictures this year :)

Marine Corps Birthday

Alex and I had a wonderful time at the H & HS Marine Corps Birthday Ball this year! It was held at the Hyatt Hotel in San Diego!

We had a lot of fun and enjoyed a night out without kiddos! Here are a few pictures we snapped while there:

Wisconsin

I have been a terrible blogger/memory recorder this month. I don't have a lot of time right now, but here are some of the pictures from our Wisconsin trip...we had so much fun and made so many memories!

The Marine Corps Marathon

Alright friends, I have been asked by a few people when I was going to post our trip back east...well, truthfully, I am overwhelmed by how much I have to post, BUT it will happen. Just slower than I had hoped.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Alex after he finished the Marine Corps Marathon in 4 hours and 5 minutes!!! Wooo Hoo!!!!!

Hudson's Dedication

On Sunday, October 9th, we dedicated Hudson at our church. It was such a special morning. Pastor Robert, who is also a good friend of ours, was the one who dedicated Hudson.

We were called up to the front, as a family to do the dedication. Pastor Robert asked Madison (impromptu...she had no idea it was coming) why we were dedicating Hudson and she (to my surprise) actually put her mouth up to the microphone and answered! She told everyone at the 9:00 service that we were promising to teach Hudson about Jesus. I'm not going to lie...it was a proud moment. She answered completely from her own accord because we literally had no idea she was going to be "interviewed" so we hadn't practiced anything. I was so proud of her for being bold and not being shy in front of all of those people.

Hudson had a blast. He was seeing things from a whole new vantage point (since Pastor Robert is taller than us all, Hudson was up higher than he's probably ever been). Hudson was grabbing Pastor Robert's face and trying to grab the microphone and be apart of the conversation.

Pastor Robert gave Hudson his first bible and wrote him a beautiful message inside with some sweet verses. So sweet! Then, Pastor Robert prayed over Hudson and the dedication was finished.

It was a wonderful morning! We followed it up by a great afternoon at the San Diego Zoo with some of our dear friends from Orange County.

Disney On Ice: Treasure Trove

Last Saturday we decided to go to Disney On Ice: Treasure Trove! We had so much fun. I don't have many pictures b/c with the way the lighting was our camera didn't capture very many good shots.

Madison had a blast though! She told us that her favorite part of the show was when Peter Pan and Captain Hook were on the Ice.

She loved seeing all of the "flying" components of the show as well. There was Tinkbell, Peter Pan, the Magic Carpet from Aladdin, and the floating lanterns from Tangled. She was enamored with it all.

We had great seats and really enjoyed ourselves. Madison's eyes were glued to every second of the action packed show and we are still hearing about bits and pieces of it, as she relives different moments of the show each day.

My favorite part of the whole show was the skit from Tangled. I LOVED how they did the floating lanterns. It was really magical and a sight to see. I think we'll make this a tradition now in our family and we all can't wait to go back next year! :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday! I have always been a daddy's girl and still am. I know it's been years since having my dad as my volleyball coach, but I am not going to lie; I really miss playing volleyball with him everyday. I will always cherish those special days.

Dad, I know that you will always be there for me and that you will always support me. You have always been such a constant in my life and I so appreciate that about you! I wish we lived closer so that we could see each other more often and so that I could pop into your practices every once in awhile.

I hope that you have a day that is as special as you are! I love you so much dad!

Happy Boy

A Fun Day with the Brewsters

Diana and the boys came out the San Diego so that her boys could see the Blue Angels (they are somewhat obsessed and have been talking about seeing the Blue Angels for some time now). Anyway, We had such a fun day!

We started our day at Fashion Valley Mall. We ate lunch and did a little bit of shopping. We then went to a hillside near our house and watching Fat Albert and the Blue Angels perform. There were some other little kids there too, so all of our kiddos had fun playing and watching the action. We had fun, but it was pretty hot...when we got back in the car is said 103....whew!

We then came back to our house to enjoy some nice air-conditioning and to have dinner. I made Homemade Organic Chicken Fingers, Organic Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, and an Organic Autumn Salad (Romaine Lettuce, Feta, Pears, Green Onion, Dried Cranberries, Red Bell Pepper, Pecans, Cucumber and Avocado) with a Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing.

Here is a silly series of trying to capture Madison and Levi:

Di, we love you and your boys...can't wait until we go to Sea World in December with your WHOLE family! Praying the rest of your deployment goes by quickly! Hugs!

Our Little Foodie!

Hudson has been eyeing our food for quite some time now, but for many reasons, we held off on starting Hudson on solids until just recently. This past Thursday, we gave Hudson organic rice cereal for the first time and he LOVED it!

We also let him try Mums and he loved those too!

Then, on Sunday, we gave him Organic Peas and he ate them all! Since then he has tried Artichoke Hearts and Pumpkin. So far, he LOVES everything we give him and eats every last drop. He is our little Foodie!

Air Show Day 1

We decided to go visit Alex at work and to watch a little of the Air Show that's in town. We already have plans to watch part of the Air Show tomorrow with our dear friends that are driving into town as I type, but we thought we'd take Madison up close and personal with the flight line and let her see everything. She had so much fun. Here are some pictures from our time there:

Bedtime

Happy 7 Months Monkey

My little monkey turned 7 months old yesterday! My poor sweet boy has been sick for the last week, but he's starting to feel better! Love him to pieces and feel so blessed that God gave him to me. I also feel so blessed to watch Madison and Hudson interact...what a joy that overflows my heart every day as I watch those two make each other crack up!

These are the Days...

I couldn't resist taking this picture the other night during bed time.

Alex was reading a story to the kids and they were both so enthralled with the story. I know it's moments like these that we are going to look back on with fondness. They are just so tender and sweet.

Great Mamaw and Great Aunt Kathy

Last weekend we made the drive to Arizona so that Hudson could meet his Great Mamaw and his Great Aunt Kathy and so that Madison could see them both again. Now, obviously Alex and I were super excited to go see them as well, but let's get real here: ever since grandkids entered the picture, Alex and I are chop liver ;) Well, not really, but we know who steals the show, as it should be!

The kids did great on the way to and from Arizona. We loaded up the car on Friday, had plenty of movies and snacks and were prepared for the trip to take as long as it needed to with potty breaks, meal stops, gas stops, and any other possible delays. In total our trip to Arizona (which included driving to Orange County to pick up my mother-in-law), took us about ten hours from door to door and the kids did wonderful.

We also had the privilege of seeing Dana, our cousin (from Alex's side of the family) on Saturday. Hudson was also meeting Dana for the first time as well. We all had so much fun! There was some scrabble playing, German Food at an authentic German Restaurant (Lynx Lake Cafe), and just fun hanging out and catching up.

We visited with Mamaw and Kathy on Saturday, while we were waiting for Dana to arrive. Then, once she made it out to Prescott, we left Kathy's house and took Mamaw out to eat at the German Restaurant. It was my Mother-in-Law's birthday, so we had fun celebrating as we listened to the accordion and hung out as a family.

We also had the chance to visit with Mamaw and Kathy on Sunday...this was a much longer visit, thankfully. They both came over to the house in Prescott for the afternoon, into the early evening. We had a cook out and had grilled ribs (my mother-in-law makes some pretty killer ribs), potato salad, caesar salad, warm crusty bread, bean salad, and mashed potatoes. It was all very tasty. After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to Hilda and had an ice cream cake (from Baskin Robbins) for dessert!

We had a wonderful trip. It was nice to see the smiles on Mamaw and Kathy's faces as they loved on our children and threatened to keep them ;) We look forward to our next visit.