Christmas 2014

Finally... all our stockings together!

Helping trim the tree!

Testing out the new hula hoop.

Opening stockings at Po-po and Gung-gung's.

Testing out her new scooter

Chewing on more presents.

Christmas has come and gone! It went by so fast, but we pretty much had a month long celebration. Here are some pics over the past week or so. This month was filled with traditions, family, friends, food, giving and receiving of many gifts, and most importantly remembering the birth of Jesus. Leah really got into Christmas this year, and I'm pretty sure she'll be really sad to see it go. Ava just tried to eat all her presents. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday celebration with your loved ones!

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2014!! We've been quiet on the blog lately since Matt's been off from work the past 2.5 weeks. We've been enjoying a lot of family time, date days, and just relaxing. It's definitely a little strange having him go back to work today. Here's a glimpse of what we were up to the last couple weeks:

First time riding ponies at Griffith Park

Christmas Eve 

Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa

Loving her Christmas gift

Kidspace Museum in Pasadena

Playing with snow at Kidspace Museum

New Years Eve party (Photo by Bob Cho)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready to get started with 2014! 

Merry Christmas!

We've had a jammed packed couple of days full of family, fun, and celebrating the birth of our Savior. I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday!

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones.  Ours was amazing, and it has been so much fun to experience the magic of Christmas through the eyes of Leah.

On the 24th, we celebrated with my family in Orange County. The minute Leah saw her cousins, she was pretty much in heaven. She kept giving them hugs and kisses and followed them all around the house. The older cousins are so good with her. 

After everyone arrived, we ate dinner which always stars my dad's famous prime rib. I'm craving left overs as I type this. Then we had a grab bag/white elephant gift distribution which looks like the start of a new tradition. My uncle always brings a TON of assorted items from work {a sporting goods retailer} such as golf items, sunglasses, swim gear, exercise equipment, flash lights, and other knick knacks. Each family has a number, and we just go down family by family and choose an item. The little ones really get into this. I'm also realizing I need to do a better job of taking photos of these events.  

Leah was starting to get super tired by this point, so we quickly took some family photos and started to open gifts.  Once I get a hold of the big group shot, I'll post it. We knew it would take forever to go through all the gifts, so I let her open one gift, then let her explore all the other toys people got. She didn't really get the idea of opening presents, but she definitely gets the idea of new toys.  She pointed, shook, and dragged around any toy around her. We left shortly after opening gifts, and stayed over at my parents' house that night since we were headed to San Diego Christmas day. 

This morning, we woke up and Santa arrived! ;) Since I've never missed a Christmas morning at my parents' house, my mom still packs a stocking for me. She also has one for Matt and Leah. It's one of my favorite Christmas morning traditions. We opened our stocking gifts, and then let Leah open the rest of her presents. 

Afterwards, we packed up and headed to San Diego to spend Christmas with Matt's family. Matt's mom recently moved to a house on the same street as his brother! We toured the new house, then walked over to his brother's to meet up with everyone else. We opened more presents and ate lunch from Bucca Di Beppo. Leah has had a jam packed 2 days, but she loved every second of it. She was so playful with everyone, and even when she was tired, she powered through it and wanted to keep playing! With all these tragic events occurring in our world, this Christmas was extra special. To be able celebrate the birth of Jesus with our families is truly a blessing.

Merry Christmas!

Leah's First Christmas

Christmas this year was extra special since it was our first Christmas with Leah! I haven't felt that much of the holiday spirit since I've been at home pretty much 24/7 and haven't gotten to see all the Christmas lights and decorations around the neighborhoods. We did manage to get a Christmas tree and decorate the house, and whenever we're in the car, we're blasting KOST's Christmas music. We also received "Leah" and "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments to mark this special time.

Fred and Bev were in town for the week, so we went down to Huntington Beach on the 23rd to hang out with the Kelly family. Leah was a big hit. Everyone wanted a chance to hold her which was a nice rest for us. Leah did great and was a pretty content baby throughout the whole day. It was nice to have the whole family together since we only see Fred and Bev about once a year. The kids took a cousins picture with the new addition!

Christmas Eve we went to Jeff and Cyn's new house to celebrate with my side of the family. I was excited to see everyone since we missed the big Thanksgiving get together. I think Leah was so exhausted from all the excitement the day before that she slept throughout most of this. She missed seeing all the presents she got.

Christmas day we went back to Huntington Beach to meet up with the Kelly side of the family again. We had Buca Di Beppo for lunch and the kids opened up all their gifts.  Again, Leah slept through most of it. :)