Thanksgiving in Wrightwood

Beware, this is a really long post....

My dad has a really big cabin up in Wrightwood and we always love to go up for a couple of days during the holidays.  This year we even had snow at Thanksgiving!!!  Normally, we have snow by Christmas, but to have snow this early in the year was a big treat.  We decided to go sledding, although all of us were ill prepared, so what did we do?  Well, first we raided my dad's closet that has snow clothes dating back to the 80s (seriously, he has a few classic gems in that closet) and secondly, we went sledding like city folk do (in clothes that were seriously not meant for sledding). The good thing is the house was only 10 minutes away from the sledding spot we chose, so once we were beyond freezing we headed home for hot apple cider!  

PS... It is crazy to see the change in Hudson from last year to this year.  

Sisters and our boys in "age order"  (we used this phrase a lot growing up...ie... let's sit in "age order", let's take a picture in "age order" etc.)

Summer and Bryan:

Travis and I (me sporting a dad beanie):

Taylor and Brittany (with their classic dad hats):

Brooke and Trever (Brooke wearing the ridiculously large dad gloves):

Sisters and Hudson (Hudson layered in pjs and a snow outfit and at this point refusing to wear his beanie):

This next series of pictures is fun.  Travis taking Hudson sledding for the first time:

And here is the video.  We were all laughing because at this point no one had gone as far down the hill as Travis and Hudson did.  They just kept going all the way to the end:

After sledding for the first time, I finally convinced him to leave the beanie on :)  After Travis and Hudson went down the hill, Hudson and I went... and we ate it.  I guess I don't have quite the same balancing skills as Travis.  Hudson didn't seem to mind, although he was not interested in putting his hands in the snow.  

Gotta love the hot pink mittens from the dad closet (well really they were probably mine or my sisters back in the 80s... can't imagine my dad wearing these):

Brittany and Taylor hiked up a much steeper hill to sled down... and then they ate it on their way down :)

Covered in snow...haha :)

This is the view out of my dad's front window.  This was a few days after it first snowed and it still looked gorgeous!

I love this picture... Hudson sleeping on my dad's chest just like my sisters and I did when we were little:

Breakfast the last morning we were there.  Hudson was enamored by the giant moose head hanging on the wall that had a sensor and moved when people would walk by.  It made for a great distraction during breakfast:

Sadly, I didn't take many pictures of us just hanging out at home, thus I don't have any pictures of my step mom Kathy who had stayed behind while we went sledding.  

We had a wonderful time together.  We had delicious food, shared what we were thankful for, had great conversation and just enjoyed sitting by the fire.  We can't wait to go back for Christmas! 

Fortuna Bowl

A couple of weeks ago, Travis and I went back to CBU for the annual Fortuna Bowl.  For you non-CBU folks, that is our super bowl for our intramural football games.   It was always a fun event to go to as a student and it is now fun to go back to as an alumni.  There are always a group of alumni who come back for the game, so it is always a night we look forward to.  However, I must say the Fortuna Bowl is on a whole other level thanks to Chris Hof and my brother-in-law Taylor.   

College guys always seem to do the funniest things.  These guys dressed up as Fortuna.  Again for those non-CBU folks... Fortuna is a statue in the center of a fountain on our campus.  And she basically looks like these guys below.  Ally (one of my favorite college girlfriends) and I with the Fortuna look-a-likes: 

It was such a treat to spend time with one of my favorite girls, Miss Gaby:

This picture is for those Vermeer fans... does this remind you of anything?

Because we were going to a football game, Hudson just had to wear his football jersey :)

Date Night

Travis and I went on a date a couple of weeks ago in Riverside.  Being in Riverside made for a really fun date because we were able to go to one of our favorite restaurant that we have been going to since we were dating.  We went to this fantastic little hole in the wall Thai restaurant called Table for Two.  The atmosphere is great, the food is amazing and we haven't been in years... so it was fun to reminisce about the beginning of our relationship.

Dropping off Hudson with my mom before we headed out:

The soup is just delicious and refreshing:

Then we headed over to CBU to watch Travis' brother perform in the play Man of La Mancha.  He is amazing actor and we always love getting to see him perform.  Plus, going to the theater to watch a play is sentimental to Trav and I.  When we first met in college, Travis played the lead role in The Music Man.  I still remember how giddy I would get watching him come out on the stage.  So, it is fun for us to get to watch Chad perform on the same stage.  

Chad, Christen, Trav and I:

Chad thanks for making us laugh.  You always amaze us with your hard work and your talent!

Oak Glen

Our annual Oak Glen trip was refreshing and a great time to get away from the busyness of life.  As usual, our time consisted of eating a picnic lunch, eating carmel apples, playing flag football or some kind of game, eating pie, relaxing in the sun, picking apples or just buying a bag of them, talking, walking around downtown and just enjoying each other.  This year was no different.  The weather was perfect.  The sun was out, but it was crisp enough that we wore jackets and scarves. 

Hudson enjoyed getting to climb trees with his auntie:

He loved getting to run free and climbing the haystacks:

And of course, the petting zoo was a hit:

Hudson fell while running down a hill and was left with a war wound (and you gotta love the residue of a picnic treat... oreos don't keep secrets):

Enjoying a picnic lunch:

Hudson had better things in mind than taking a picture... he wanted to run:

Something about the fall makes me giddy inside. 

Hudson is 18 months old!

This post is 2 weeks late, but our little Hudson turned 18 months old!  We can't believe how fast it has gone.  He is talking up a storm and full of personality.  Here are a few photos of our little man: 

He definitely has a lot to say:

 

Trav and Hud:

gotta love the sad face:

Good friends

When Trav and I moved here to San Clemente after he took the worship director job at Saddleback San Clemente, we were really excited to make some friends.  After one of our services, I walked up to Brian and Amy to ask them to be a part of our small group and the rest is history.  It really is amazing to see how much they have grown in their relationship with God and how their family has grown.  They are now a family of 4!  You can go to our photography website to view photos of a recent shoot we did with them right before they left.

Brian and Amy are moving to Chicago for a few years.  We are sad to see them go, but we are hoping they will be moving back in just a few years!  When I was sitting down and thinking about their family I have so many memories... like this one or being at the hospital waiting room while Amy was in labor anxiously awaiting to meet their first baby girl or spending Thanksgiving together or the times when Brian and Trav worked out like mad men or when their house was in danger of burning in a wildfire so they lived with us for a few days... They have been great friends for us.  And I have to say the love and support they have continual showed us has meant more to us than they will ever realize.

Also, before they left our old small group got together to celebrate the Giaretta's and to pray over them.  We have definitely grown in numbers!  When we first started this group there was only one kid and now there are several... definitely more chaotic and a lot of fun ;)

The girls and the kiddos (including the Wedde baby bump... Rebecca who is due in 2 weeks)

And the guys...

This group of people are some of our most cherished friends here in San Clemente.  We all have been through a lot in the last 4 years and God has done a lot through us.  We are so thankful for each and everyone of these families.

Halloween

I know I am posting Halloween pictures over a week later, but I just haven't had the time to sit down and post.  This year, thanks to the inspiration from the Imai family, we dressed up Hudson as a lobster and we went as chefs.  It ended up being so funny. 

We posted a few more pictures from a mini photo shoot with Hudson on our photography website... You can check them out at t&h photography.  We just felt it was so appropriate to get pictures of our lobster on the beach :)

Then a few days before Halloween, Hudson and I headed to Orange to hang out with Brooke, London and Natalie at the "Treats in the Streets" event downtown.  London was Tinkerbell and she really enjoyed pulling Hudson in the wagon:

Then on Halloween we started the evening off at our church for the Blocktober event.  We had fun getting to see some of our friends, but with 12,000 people there it was a bit crazy!

Uncle Brandon was such a good sport.  Hudson wanted to go down the slide, but he is too little to go by himself.  So, Brandon braved the big slide with Hudson:

After that, we headed over to the Davis' house for BD's now famous chili and his already famous cornbread waffles.  Seriously, the food was amazing!  I might try to get the recipes out of BD and post them on our blog :)

Taylor and Brittany were "the double rainbow youtube video"... hilarious!!! so creative!

London and Hudson taking a ride around the neighborhood:

London refused to wear her Tinkerbell costume.  It was actually really funny, because Natalie was dressed up as Wendy, BD as Peter Pan, yet she refused to be Tinkerbell.  When we asked her what she was she said, "a girl".   So here is Hudson, the lobster and London, the girl.