Christmas miracles!

Two weeks ago Trey and Kaden got an early Christmas gift when Gram, Jeff's mom came for a visit!! We didn't tell Trey that she was coming and she happen to come in late at night so the next morning he woke up and we kept him in his room until she came up. When she opened the door he didn't even know what to do for a minute and then ran straight for a hug! 

A quick stop at the North Pole (the mall) to see the Polar Express and Santa.

Making reindeer cookies!

Both the boys were so excited to see a huge present in the living room. So huge that we had to open it early!! A wagon the boys love it. It actually doesn't matter that we opened it early because it is still in the living room because the boys love playing in it and it has been to wet and cold to use it outside yet. Thanks Gram and Grandpa!!

A new find for us Zachary's Pizza in Berkley. So yummy!!

Making gingerbread houses always brings out the child in you!! We had such a wonderful weekend and were so glad Gram was able to come to us since we can't go home for Christmas this year. Merry Christmas!!

Sad but true!

The time has finally come for Kaden's first haircut. Kaden's hair was so awesome and everyone loved it but I didn't love everyone saying, 'Oh SHE has beautiful hair' or 'SHE is so adorable'. Of course HE is adorable look at those curls!!

So Trey screamed the whole time he got his hair cut for the first time and Kaden could have cared less about anything else but his sucker. He sat there perfect the whole time. 

My little man...still very adorable. He looks so grown up now but is still so stinking cute.

My McDreamy!

For 2 years Jeff sat in the classroom learning all there is to learn about feet and now he is putting all that great knowledge to use. Over the last 3 months he has been in a clinical rotation working at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco where he is actually scrubbing in on surgeries and procedures. In case you can't tell Jeff is the one in blue...and the one in front actually doing the suturing (sewing)! 

I love hearing about all the fun things that Jeff gets to do each day although my stomach still can't handle actually watching procedures. This particular surgery they were working with a girl who had flat feet and they were trying to fix that. (Sorry honey that I don't remember all the technical terms!! :)

Last week I became the patient and went in to have part of my toe nail removed and one part they even had to "burn" with a smelly chemical so I would stop getting in-grown toenails. He refused to do the shot so I wouldn't associate him with pain however he did the whole procedure and he did great. I thought at first I would be so nervous to have him do it but truth be told I have never been more calm in a doctor's office than I was that day. Jeff has worked so hard and spent so many hours preparing for the work he does and I had complete confidence in him that he knew exactly what he was doing. 

Jeff is the one in the back left, they look so serious! I am very proud of him and all the hard work he does each day not only for himself but also for me and the boys. It has been a long road and although there is still much to be done seeing pictures like this makes the light at the end of the tunnel a little brighter! 

Negative=Positive!!

Today we found out that both of our boys tested negative for Celiacs disease (wheat/gluten intolerance)! YESSSSS! I am so happy, excited and most of all relived. It took me 6 months to build up the courage into taking them in to even be tested and over the last two weeks I stressed every day as I watched how much they eat that has wheat in it. Needless to say we are super happy and in the long run I know they will be too!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday! We had the wonderful opportunity to go visit with grandpa & grandma Chem, Jeff's grandparents, who live in Windsor,  AKA: "Wine Country". Jeff took a little drive up the road from their house where you can see the beautiful vineyards that are everywhere up there. So pretty! 

At the first of November Trey and I created a tree trunk and then each night at dinner we took a little time to write down what we are thankful for on different leaves. This is only a small portion of the many things we have to be thankful for, we are truly blessed. Trey gave thanks to, apples, heads, Thomas, Shrek, eggs, Jesus and Heavenly Father. Kaden gave thanks to, crackers & 'DO-DAH'.

One thing Trey & Kaden love about grandpa & grandma Chems is playing with the rocks and water in the back yard, even in the cold. It reminded Jeff of the good old days when he and his brother Jason would go out and paint the wooden fence with water. 

Kaden & Grandpa Chem

Trey finishing the night off right with a delicious piece of pie. 

Yes it's ladies night!

The other day my friend Marie called and asked if I would be up for a ladies night out and of course like every other stay at home mom I was ready to go. I was curious what she had planned when she said, "this isn't a typical ladies night out so don't feel bad if you don't want to go". So it turns out her brother plays in the NBA for the MN, Timberwolves and they happen to be in town playing the Warriors and he had some tickets. Jeff was beside himself that I was going to an NBA game for a night out but we actually had a great time! Thanks for the invite Marie! 

Political Passion

Who would have thought that a three year old could be so passionate about politics especially since his parents are not so much. If you read my last post you would see that Trey has become a little obsessed with Obama & McCain so last night after Jeff got home we told Trey that we were going to vote. Although he didn't know what that meant he was so excited to go. We walked down the street to a church, voted, and started to walk back home. We were about half way home when Trey says, 'Where are we going now?', I replied, 'We are going home to get warm and go to bed'. Stopped dead in his tracks Trey's bottom lipped curled and tears welled up in his eyes as he started screaming, 'but I wanted to see John McCain.' It was the saddest little face I have ever seen. It was like we had taken him to the gates of Thomas Town, let him take a peek and then ripped him away. He cried the whole way home!! By the time we got home it was already announced that Obama was President, Trey's tears dried and he played his guitar with joy!!

May the best man win

Trey has taken a real interest in the elections over the last few months and we are not really sure why. A few weeks back we were getting ready for Jeff's softball game and Trey asked if Barak Obama was going to be there? How do you answer that one with a straight face? Over the weekend Trey was in rock star mode and was singing 'John McCain is so cute, John McCain is so nice', still looking for a straight face. The best was tonight as I was getting stuff ready for dinner and there was a political ad that came on and Trey says, 'Mom I want a Barak Obama toy for Christmas'. I finally laughed and said, 'I don't think they have toys like that' as he shrugged his shoulders and said, 'that's fine I'll have a John McCain toy instead'. HAPPY VOTING!!

Pumpkin patch photo shoot!

Every year I love taking the boys in their Halloween costumes to a pumpkin patch to get some cute pictures. As you can see it was a success!! We actually went to a little nursery so they had it all set up for picture taking. I always feel a little bad that I come to take pictures and never buy a pumpkin, I just can't bring myself to pay $25!!

So as you can see Trey picked to be Buzz Lightyear. I had asked him if he was excited to go trick-or-treating, I think you can tell that is a YES!!

Kaden is the cutest little dragon I have ever seen. It's so cute to watch him try and walk around. 

I love all the beautiful colors of fall and all the excitement of the holiday season. It's so fun to get the kids all dressed up! Happy Halloween to all of you!!

Good luck Peter!

Today Jeff's younger brother Peter will be entering the MTC to serve a mission in the Philippines. Although we could not be there to see him off we were lucky to have him out here for the weekend. The boy's had such a great time with him & will miss him very much! 

We made a quick stop at a pumpkin patch to get a picture and I got some cute ones of the boys as well.

It just so happened to be the Air Show in SF the same weekend so we spent a Saturday afternoon at the beach. The Blue Angel Jets were also there which is always cool to see a jet fly under the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Another great stop was at Golden Gate Park. They have a wonderful playground and it is right by Zona Rosa, our favorite little Mexican joint, so dinner was great. It was so nice to have a few days together and despite the rocky ending to the trip, which I will save for another post, it was wonderful. Peter we wish you all the best and know you will be a wonderful missionary. We love you & good luck! 

Visit to the Andersons

A few weeks ago the boys and I headed up to Washington to watch my sisters kids while they want on vacation. Everyone thought I was crazy to go watch 7 kids by myself for 10 days but as you can see we had a lot of fun. Here Trey and Jacob, AKA: Jimmy Hendrix and Taylor Hicks, were cruising in the Jeep. 

We also had a Halloween day with the boys and made haunted rice crispy treat houses. YUMMY!!

Here Kaden is playing peek-a-boo with their dog coco. It was the cutest thing ever!!

Kaden also went from taking a few steps to full on walking and even running while we were there. I guess getting him out of our cramped little apartment really helped.

My boys were in heaven and had so many fun things to do every day. Trey's favorite things to do were jump in the bounce house, drive the Jeep, pulling Kaden in the wagon and playing with his cousins. Forget Disneyland our next vacation will be to the Anderson's!

Trey's favorite day was when aunt Kim took him to 2 train museums. He was so excited and can't wait to go back. Thanks aunt Kim!!

Kaden's favorite thing was watching the washer and dryer. He would walk in there and point up at them and walk out and just say 'WOW' and walk right back in. We had such a great time visiting with everyone although I wish I would have had more time with Kim and Brad but I am glad they had a great trip!

"If you're going to San Francisco..."

We won't be there! That's right we're moving!! Jeff recently found out that he was accepted to complete his 4th year of school at a hospital in Albuquerque, NM. This means that after Jeff completes his last round of finals at the end of May, we'll be packing a moving truck and heading to the desert. While we're excited for this new opportunity I have to admit that the physical effort of moving is not something either Jeff or myself are really looking forward to. So, please consider this an open invitation if you would like to come for a visit in the next 8 months! The decision to move was bitter sweet as California has been a joy to live in with friends that we LOVE, a ward we feel blessed to be members of, and weather that can't be beat! With that said, we look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that will be ours once we move on. Just in case you're wondering...here's some useless trivia regarding our new town:

-Population: 835,120

-The Sandia Mountains are the predominant geographic feature visible in Albuquerque.

-Sandia is spanish for "watermelon" and is believed to be a reference to the coloration of the mountains at sunset: bright pink and green (I said it was useless trivia).

-Home of the Isotopes, the AAA affiliate of the LA Dodgers.

-2 hours south of Los Alamos; one of three sites involved in the creation of the atomic bomb.

-Host of the largest hot air balloon gathering in the world known as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta; the most photographed event in the world! (Really?)

-Home to Sandia Peak Tramway, the worlds longest passenger aerial tramway.

"Let's live here...we'll rent to start"

This summer ended on a busy note for us so although we are behind on blogging we have been having a lot of fun so I can't complain. Back in August we decided, kind of last minute, to run down to Monterey for a few days. We had heard that it was a great place and after being there for only 2 days Jeff and I were ready to a buy a house. Okay not really since the townhouses start in the low millions but we could always rent to start!

We stopped at Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove to watch the sunset that was really pretty. This lighthouse sits on a golf course and is actually the oldest lighthouse on the west coast that is still in use. I love this picture of Kaden's fat little finger pointing the way! 

Carmel beach was another great stop. Our boys love the beach and the sand was so clean and the waves were huge. At one point we were wading our feet and this huge wave came in. I was holding Kaden and before I knew it the water was up to Trey's chest and covering our blanket at the same time. I was so worried that Trey would be scared after that and he just laughed and thought it was a great time.

We also took a ride down 17-mile drive which is a beautiful road along the coast. It was not the best drive for kids who get easily car sick!! This is the house that we stopped at for Trey to throw up; we call it, 'Castle de la Puke'!

Cannery Row is a cute little shopping area. It used to be a whole bunch of sardine canning companies until they over fished and were forced to move. We didn't have too much time here so it will be our first stop next time.

View looking back at Cypress Country Club along 17 mile drive.

Trey's favorite stop was Dennis The Menace park where they had an old steam train that they kids could climb up on. It was such a great park and Trey would have stayed all day if we would have let him. They also had some really fun slides and playgrounds that we tried to make Trey go on but he didn't seem to care about anything but the train...big surprise!!

The Lone Cypress Tree, AKA: The Pebble Beach Logo was another great stop off 17-mile drive. Like Father like son's I watched as my three boys looked out over the ocean wondering what the three of them might have been thinking. 

And last but far from the least Jeff's dreams came true as he stepped out on the greens of Pebble Beach Golf Links, but not for a round of golf. The course is seen in the distance behind Jeff and Kaden above Carmel Beach. I swear for a moment I saw tears well up in his eyes but he said it was just some sand in his eye!! Although I don't understand why in the world people would actually pay $500 to play a round of golf it was VERY beautiful. There were so many things we didn't get to do in the short time we were there so I am hoping we will make it back there soon!

#17 teeing off in to the view of the Pacific.