The Mandatory Pics

Here are just a couple of pictures from Christmas day.

We had a wonderful December leading up to our Savior's birth, and Jake took everything in with an open and trusting heart, a true child! He loved playing with the Nativity sets around the house and memorizing Christmas hymns and songs. He told us next year when he and Warren are bigger that he'll teach his brother all that stuff too. On Christmas morning we ate Happy Birthday muffins complete with a candle while Ryan read us the story of Jesus' advent. If it sounds idyllic, it wasn't. This was all going on with a sometimes screaming, sometimes laughing baby in the background. But, it is the significance of the celebration that we pray they won't forget any time soon. Anyway, we then opened presents and later on went to Ryan's parent's for Christmas lunch/brunch. Fun times!

What more could a dad ask for than a young boy who loves Home Depot? He was thrilled with his Home Depot tool box.

The class clown (and yes, that shirt is way too small for him!)

Until next time...

SoCal Perks

Despite the overcrowding, heat, pollution, etc. of this paradise known as Southern California, there are some perks to living here.

• You're never more than an hour away from either the beach or the mountains.
• You can wear shorts or capris practically year-round, except for the 8 days it rains all year (like today).
• And, perhaps the coolest of all, the Rose Parade Flyover, featuring 3 of these bad boys:

This is the F-15 Fighter Jet. Since we were watching the parade live this year on TV and saw the flyover, we decided to look out the window because we live only a few short miles from Pasadena (where the Rose Parade is held), and sure enough, here come the 3 F-15s coming our way! They didn't fly right over our house, but it was still an awesome sight to behold!