Holiday Bowl

Matt got free tickets to tonight's Holiday Bowl between Washington St. and Michigan St.  Unfortunately, Allison wasn't feeling very well, so Andrew took her place. 

We tailgated with some of Matt's buddies from work and had great seats in the plaza level.  We didn't really care who won, but cheered for Michigan St. since surrounded by their fans.  They got the big win!

Christmas Day

Kaia was the first one up this morning and even brought down her Santa toy to play with by the tree. So sweet!  

 We all opened matching pajamas last night

 and woke up to open stockings before Grandma and Papa arrived from the hotel. 

We had our traditional egg bake, Zimel's coffee cake and fruit before opening gifts.

 Everyone was super spoiled this year and grateful for all that they received!

 Matt took care of getting everyone our lottery tickets...no big winners, but a little money was won.

After some board games and tv watching, we had a turkey and ham dinner with all of the fixings and christmas cookies.  We feel very blessed this year and were grateful to all be together.  

Christmas Eve

 We met Grandma and Papa for brunch at Journey golf course.  It was a pretty day with a gorgeous view.

The food was delicious and we had a nice time visiting.

 We had a little bit of downtime in the afternoon before going to candlelight service at Rancho Church and dinner at Francesca's.  That seems to have become our new Christmas Eve tradition.

 No more Santa key or reindeer food, but feeling the magic of the season

and glad to have Grandma and Papa here to celebrate.

Tis The Season

Allison finally got out of school yesterday (proud of her 4.0 this semester!), but with Christmas only 2 days away, she didn't have much chance to get in the holiday spirit.  While Matt did his Christmas shopping, the girls and I drove to San Clemente to do a little last minute shopping at the outlets.  

 We shopped, had lunch and toured some model homes before walking along the pier

 and finally crossing South Swell hand dipped ice cream bars off of my bucket list!

At night we did a family trip to Bainbridge Circle and the Krakow house for Christmas lights.

White Elephant

Tradition continued with our annual white elephant party.  We waited until these 3 (and Tyan) arrived home from college.  I can't believe they are in college!

 

It won't be long until these 3 are too!

We had a yummy potluck dinner before opening the gifts.

We had some good ones this year.  Allison with her plastic papaya and watermelon seat cushion.

Reanna  was brave and opened the gigantic box to find this lovely, yet very dusty, lamp that Taylor picked up at Goodwill...lol!

 Taylor got the Trump mask, but it was quickly stolen by Charlie.

 Poppy loved his chicken hat

and the beer belly fanny pack was a common theme this year!

 Crazy how these kids have grown over the years

and so grateful for these friendships!

A Fallen Hero

Today, we paid our respects to fallen firefighter Cory Iverson.  He died battling the Thomas Fire, one of the many that have scorched southern California in recent weeks.

He left behind a young wife, 2 year old daughter and a baby on the way.  So tragic!

His procession was 210 miles, beginning in Ventura and ending in San Diego.  We brought our flag and waited along with many others along the Rainbow bridge.  There were dozens of firemen and families saluting and honoring the family as they drove under the bridge on the 15 freeway.  From numerous accounts, I believe every overpass along the route was represented the same way.

Quite a tribute!

Thank you for your service Cory Iverson!

Home for Winter Break

Allison and I picked these 2 up from the airport tonight!  They were relieved to be done with finals and to have a few weeks to relax and regroup.  So proud of Taylor for pulling off a 3.95 in her first semester at KU!

They requested carne asada burritos so we went to Old Town SD for dinner at Cafe Coyote.  

Andrew will be staying with us off an on over break until we drive in to Phoenix to see Karla and then to Chicago to visit friends before school starts back up. 

I'm excited to have Taylor home until Jan 12th!

Varsity Season

Varsity season is officially underway and the girls have played in the Beaumont tournament and finished as semi-finalists in the Cathedral Catholic tournament.  Allison saw a ton of play time in the goal and really rose to the occasion.  She is improving with each game and becoming a really strong asset to her team!

Winter Formal

Taylor and Andrew finally got to attend a formal together and they sure looked happy and so fancy!

Letterman Jacket

It arrived!! Allison has worked so hard to letter in 2 sports as a freshman and again in soccer as a sophomore.  She asked for this jacket as an early Christmas present and took great pride in it's design!

She has both sports embroidered, her jersey # inside the soccer ball, her graduation year and WSB patch on the front and sleeves.

I love the font she chose for our last name and think her quote suits her perfectly!

"She believes she could, so she did!"

And she looks so happy wearing it, which makes me smile too!

Surf College Cup

We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Oceanside for the Surf College Cup.  Beautiful weather, tons of college coaches and lots of great soccer.  Allison wrote letters to a few college coaches prior to the tournament and was so excited that the Iowa keeper coach watched one of her games!

The team was also watched by Washington State, Cal Baptist and a few others.

 Allison was pleased with her play and wrote an email to the Iowa coach afterwards.

 He invited her to a prospect camp in February and is so excited to go! 

It's going to be a great way for her to see the competition she is up against to play college soccer, but I know she will do great!

Sunny and Allison have become so close on this team and can't wait to start playing together on varsity next week!

Thanksgiving Break

Taylor flew in for a few days over Thanksgiving break.

We went shopping with the Lebitski girls,  

 saw Wonder which we loved and

 ate dinner at Guadalajara.

 We enjoyed a nice family hike on Thanksgiving morning, although it was way too hot for November!

 We hiked up into the citrus groves 

and stopped at this ranch full of friendly horses.

Taylor saw a few friends and both girls enjoyed a little down time before the stresses of finals.  We hated to send her back to Kansas, but Taylor will be home for a month in just 19 days!

Welcome to California

My cousin Anna lives in Rochester, NY and flew into SD today for a work trip.  I picked her up at the airport and took her to Cafe Coyote to experience her first ever California Burrito!  She loved it and it was fun getting a chance to visit.  We drove along the coast for a bit before I had to drop her at her hotel in La Jolla.  Welcome to California!

18

We've celebrated your birthday with rubber ducks, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Dora The Explorer, chef hats, a surprise trip to Knott's Berry Farm,

a pop star mystery dinner, sleepovers and pool parties.  I wish we didn't have to celebrate this one 1,500 miles apart,

but I know you are right where you are supposed to be!  Happy 18th Birthday Taylor!  I love you so so much!