Finally... I Blogged!

Just in case you were starting to worry about us, rest assured, we did not fall off the face of the planet. We just had a crazy busy month! We got back home 2 weeks ago and have been enjoying lots of extra time as a family before Brandon started classes last night. Yay for the extra time, boo for starting classes!

This semester is going to be busier than all the others as Brandon will be gone late 3 nights a week for classes and is starting not one but two new jobs (assuming everything works out for the second one, we're hoping it does!) and won't be able to work from home any longer. So we've been enjoying every last second we had together before the semester started. The good news, though, is that he is OFFICIALLY HALF WAY DONE!!!!! 3 semesters down, 3 more to go! I can't believe we made it this far, and we're seeing more and more clearly every day that it's God who's bringing us through. We're counting on Him to get us through these next 16 months.

We had a wonderful holiday season visiting our families on the west coast. I love Christmas and it's really special to share it with the boys as they're getting older and starting to really get into it. Brandon took his last final at 10 pm on Friday the 17th and was on a flight to LA by 5 am the next morning. Poor guy, he was so exhausted! It was awesome to finally be all together again, though, the boys and I sure missed him! Here are the rest of the pictures from our time in California:

My gift-giving theme this year was homemade, seriously, I homemade everything! Cards, ornaments, apple butter, and much more. It was way more fun than buying presents and much more affordable. Here are some ornaments Rachel and I made for Brandon's parents and Scott and Ashlee. We used glue and glitter on some and stamps and an embosser on others. You'll see more pictures of my homemade gifts later on.

Of course, we had to visit Disneyland while we were there too. The boys are only free until they're 3 so I'm going to go as often as I can until then, we won't be able to afford it after that!

Jack on the carousel, the boys seriously love this ride!

Watching Dumbo, the line was way too long so this is as close as they got to those flying elephants.

We discovered a new area in California Adventure that's filled with kids rides and has *gasp* no lines!! It was amazing, we went on as many rides as we wanted over and over and almost never had to wait in line! If you have kids and want to enjoy your Disneyland experience, go to A Bug's Life area in California Adventure. Trust me, your kids won't know the difference and you'll save yourself from hours of waiting in line with cranky, impatient kids. You're welcome.

The boys were so cute, every time a ride ended they did their sign language for "more" and cried when I told them we had to get off and go through the line again (even though we got straight back on almost every time). At one point, Cullen was clinging to his seatbelt and sobbing as I tried to pull him out and reason with him that we would get right back on the ride in just a minute. There's just no reasoning with a 2 year old though...

The boys still adore their Uncle Jon, especially when he puts them on his shoulders and jumps up and down. Better than any Disneyland ride!

Renee and Jon

Rachel and Violet! That hat just kills me with its cuteness!

My mom doesn't have a Disneyland pass and Knott's Berry Farm was having a toy drive and giving free admission if you donated a toy so we went one day with her. It was right at the beginning of those record-breaking storms that California had so it was a bit wet that day but we all had lots of fun anyways. However, this ride was a kids-only ride and Jack didn't like it one bit! He screamed and held his arms out for me every time he passed by. Cullen, on the other hand, had a huge smile on his face the entire time. In fact, he went on the ride a few more times all by himself!

If that's not a mischievous look, then I don't know what is...

Knott's has lots of trains to ride on so naturally the boys were in heaven.

Opening presents!

My dad got them these shirts, it pretty much sums up their attitude about naps nowadays.

Violet loved the ribbon on her presents!

Poor Brandon, it poured rain the entire time he was in California. But we had lots of fun celebrating Christmas with each of my parents and we even squeezed in a date night and a fun bowling night with all my sisters and Jon. I miss you all already! Especially my sweet Violet!