Naomi got an early Christmas present this year--a new bed! You see, she has been sleeping in her crib the past FIVE years! Well, we took the side off for her, but it was getting a bit small.
 We found a bed on craigslist for a good price, and it came with the frame, pillowtop mattress, two sets of sheets, and a comforter.
 The girls both love Naomi's new bed and Naomi is excited to finally be out of her crib!

 These pictures are a few weeks late, but I wanted to chronicle the Christmas activities we attended. My apologies for the poor picture quality.
 On December 3rd, we attended our city's tree lighting ceremony. Admittedly, it was a bit anti-climactic, but they had free cookies and hot chocolate, and Naomi declared it the best day ever.

 Then 3 days later, we went to the university's Christmas party. They brought in real snow, and the girls were very excited to play in it. They also met Santa and rode in a carriage ride.

 On the 8th, our ward had its annual Christmas party. The girls met Santa again, and he gave them candy canes. They were very excited about the candy.
Emma was wary of the first Santa she met, but somehow having candy helped her warm up to the jolly old man at the Christmas party

I have received so many wonderful Christmas cards in the mail, and I wish I had sent some out! I didn't have a good picture to put on one, though, until today. Thank you, Denise, for the picture! Maybe next year I'll get on the ball in time to actually mail some out! :)

 We are making good use of our Disneyland passes! We went again last Friday after promising Naomi that if she hurried to get ready for school in the morning all week, we could go Friday. It's too bad I won't always have that incentive!





 I let Naomi and Emma take turns picking rides, although Naomi ended up picking most of them. Close to 5 pm, Naomi insisted that we go on Small World. When we got there, there were a lot of people, but she insisted we wait in the line. Turns out at 5:15 they turn on the Christmas lights for the attraction. And Naomi picked the perfect timing to go. We were close to the front of the line and and had front row seats when the lights turned on.
 They make the inside of the ride Christmasy too.

 We were lucky and got Thanksgiving week off this year, so we flew to Washington to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. We hadn't been to Washington for 7 years, so it was nice to be back! Well, sort of back, anyway. My parents have moved a few times since I graduated from High School, and I really don't claim a particular home town, but they're in an area I've lived before, so I felt nostalgic. :)
 My parents actually live with my brother,  so my kids had fun playing with my brother's kids, as well as their toys!
 Many of my siblings came for Thanksgiving, but we got there a few days before everyone else, so before everyone else got there, we went with my parents to ride the ferry to Whidbey Island, where I lived for a year in elementary school.


On Whidbey Island, we visited Fort Casey.

 Above, the Fort is showing behind Emma, and below, Naomi stands in front of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

 This is the house we lived in on Whidbey Island when I was 7. It's smaller than I remember. :) My memories in this house include having a power outage during Christmas break for 3 days. We had a wood furnace we cooked our food on and kept warm by. I stood in front of the wood furnace one day to keep warm and I was pushed toward the stove. To stop my fall, I put my arms out and caught myself right on the piping hot stove. Everyone says they've never seen Dad run so fast in their lives. He picked me up and ran me to the bathroom to put cold water on my hands. My hands were saved from a major burn, but he didn't realize I got my arm too, so I had to have a bandage on my arm for a while. I have a scar to this day, but don't ask me to show you, because I'm apparently the only one who can see it. ;)
During that same power outage, my sisters Janine, Amber and I played a game of "guess the jolly rancher flavor". We would pop a jolly rancher in our mouth, then guess what flavor it was. After we guessed, we turned on the flashlight to see the wrapper. When it was my turn, upon putting the candy in my mouth, I knew instantly what flavor it was. I said, "definitely grape!" Turns out it was watermelon. My family has never let me live it down. :)

 One last look at the island while leaving from the ferry dock.
 Emma loved being around Grandma and Grandpa.

 We tried to take some family pictures on board, but it was very windy.



 When the rest of my family got here, it was party time! We watched movies, played games, and had a fabulous Thanksgiving feast, courtesy of my mom. She totally spoiled us.

 My family wanted to see the ocean, so we stopped by a park close to the ferry dock. It was windy there as well.



 Spencer the photographer. :)

 We watched a ferry depart while we were there.
 Cousins!

Isn't the Puget Sound beautiful? We had a great time visiting family in Washington, and hope we can get back in less than 7 years next time!