Christmas Tree Chop!

There's a beautiful, virtually untouched area of land called Santiago Canyon that is just within the foothills beyond our city. We discovered it just after moving to the area and have enjoyed taking drives through the windy 2 lane roads. The tiny town of Silverado that sits hidden in those hills reminds both of us of Murdo, or some other small town where life slows down and people wave to each other. It's a cool place to visit when you want to drive 15 minutes and feel like you're completely away in a different part of the country. This year, we decided to go to a Christmas Tree Farm there where they advertise you can cut your own tree down. It was a beautiful evening and we were so happy it was actually cold enough for warm jackets!! I mean, it felt like Christmas for cryin out loud!! :) Here's Gavin looking out among the young trees and the canyon beyond.

We found our tree!! And we were surprised to learn that it was actually cheaper than buying a tree from Oregon brought down to one of our local stores.

It was dark and my flash wasn't working by the time we got to actually chop this guy down, but the boys all held the saw and in no time, Kyle was exclaiming, "Tiiimberrr!!"

We hit up Silverado Cafe to warm up with some hot chocolate and dinner.

Kyle was so happy and proud of our tree. :)

Back at home, one of the neighbors brought snow back from one of the local snowboarding events where a snowblower had been brought in to make snow. The neighborhood kids LOVED sledding down their little snowbank on sleds, shovels and snowboards.

Daddy pushed Kyle over and over and over again. :)

It was a fun night for these CA boys.

Voyagers Kinder Boy-Fest at the Martin Home!

One of my church friends had the brilliant idea of getting all our kinder boys together once a month for a fun playdate. We rotate houses/who's hosting as well as what the boys do. We all love and appreciate giving these boys more opportunities to get to know each other and hopefully develop strong relationships with one another over the many, many years to come. Sometimes this get-together is in the evening but this month, it seemed as though with all the busyness of the season, we'd do something during the day. And so December at the Martin's home was bring your favorite set of wheels and helmet and a wrapped book for a Christmas book exchange. The boys had a lot of fun going around the cul-de-sac and being a part of Kyle's world. 

We had pizza outside where Rudy surprised the kids with "Gummy Bear Pizza!!" They thought that was impossible but they don't know Rudy...and now the word is that Kyle has a very cool dad. :)

The book exchange was a hit. I hadn't realized until they got here that none of them knew what a book exchange was! I kept the stealing part out it! No need for drama when you're doing this alone with 8 boys. (Rudy was getting the pizza. :)

We decorated sugar cookies. Boy did we decorate! I chose inside vs outside simply because I thought the frosting would be easier to wipe up on tile than on concrete.

 Gavie was a champ through it all. Definitely wanting to be involved in what we did but understanding this was Kyle's special thing. He sure rocked his tricycle and rode faster than some of the bigger boys!!

After all the boys left, we cleaned up and laid down for a spell before going to cut our Christmas tree!

Mama's New Ride

Two weeks ago Rudy and I took the plunge and made our most expensive purchase yet...we bought a new car! With both of our cars in the >240,000 miles range and our desire to be able to accommodate more people, we decided to buy our crossover SUV at the tail end of Black Friday weekend/last days of November for the best 2015 deal. I have to say, I'm proud of Rudy for all the homework he did and how well I/we worked that price down! We were fortunate to find that when you're not in a hurry to buy and your dealership needs their inventory moved and sale figures up for their goal of earning the rank of Regional Top 3 Dealership, we were in a good position to negotiate. :) Don't get me wrong, it still hurt to spend the kind of money we did, but we feel really good about the investment we've made. Used Toyota Highlanders don't lose much of anything in their resale value and after looking at all the research, we feel we made a smart choice in car.

So, here she is...

She's got more bells and whistles than Ru or I know what to do with. It's fun and intimidating all at the same time. Good thing one of us has a smart phone to sync up with. :) Coming from a 2002 powerless Honda, I appreciate having power door locks so we can all get in with just a press of a button. Actually, it's been nice to not even have to do that! As long as my fob is on me, I just pull the door open and get it. Not having to fish for keys has been a perk and the key-less ignition button is so convenient. I could go on and on, but the convenience of a car with power is really appreciated. She can seat 8 when she wants to and we've got ourselves plenty of room for camping and transporting snowboards, kayaks, and fishing poles! :) 

The boys are especially excited about the sunroof and DVD player up top. We plan on using that convenient appliance only for long road trips so we've yet to see how it works. It came with 2 headphones that plug in to the bottom of their end of the center consult. This will be so handy compared to juggling the handheld versions we have been used to.

It still feels weird to sit in a new, amazingly delicious smelling car but we're quickly getting used to it! :) One thing I wasn't prepared for was just how much we blend in to our OC culture. I've always liked white crossovers with dark windows, but I didn't notice how many of these types of cars there are everywhere around us. It's like when you're pregnant or wanting to become pregnant and you all of a sudden notice everyone else is pregnant... well, I pull in to Kyle's school and become the 5th or 6th brand new white SUV/crossover SUV in the same pick up line. I've had mixed feelings about blending in so much. Lest anyone ever think we are stereotypical OC, they can just visit our lil mouse house and see we are not "them." :) I guess if you're not from here, some of this is lost in translation. Nevertheless, we are very happy with our family car that will accommodate many people, playdates, and vacations for (hopefully) years and years to come. :)