Winter in Vegas = Hiking in the Desert

New Years Par-tay!

Maddie got to sneak off to her cousins' house in Utah for a very special new years party. They got very fancy,

so that they could bang pots and pans at midnight!! 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This little creature showed up on our front doorstep. Maddie was so happy because she said it was a nice dog from Santa (since the last one he gave us was very, very naughty). Since I refused to believe this was true, I brought him to the vet and had him checked for a chip and very happily returned him to his grateful owners down the street. But for about an hour, we had the perfect family dog. (And long white hair all over the house.)

Our Christmas tree was really old and the lights stopped working. So I sent Josh to get us a new Christmas tree......and he came home with this......uh......Christmas twig. I'm all about keeping family holidays simple, but this is a little ridiculous. It's barely taller than Maddie! Haha

Maddie and I worked meticulously on our gingerbread houses. When Josh and I bought the kits, he insisted he didn't want one because it is lame. But when we were working on them, Josh felt left out and wanted to participate too. I love him enough to let him "help" decorate my perfect gingerbread house.   :o)

Family Christmas Picture

Maddie hating waiting at the top of the stairs for Grandma.

Jack was old enough to open his presents by himself and loved his swing set.

 

Maddie scored with some great stuff. She has a good strategy of being nice all year.

I loved my new vacuum. And I loved watching Josh build it for me. It is my favorite. 

We were so happy to spend a few days with our cousins who visited from Mexico. Jack was very suspicious of them at first, but quickly warmed up to them while doing "upside down."

What is the best present a grandpa could give his four creative granddaughters? A trip to Build A Bear! 

Somehow I convinced everyone to go ice skating. I got all four grown Harris men in ice skates, which I previously would have thought was an impossible feat! It was so much fun.

We finished off the Christmas vacation with a night downtown to see Britney Spears.

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

Since Jack is no longer allowed on planes, we did a little road trip to the beach for our Christmas tradition.

By random luck, Santa was at Fashion Island Mall at the same time as we were. The kids got to tell him all about what they wanted for Christmas.

We get a hotel room that overlooks the harbor and get room service and watch all the hundreds of boats with Christmas lights. It is magical and happy.

We tried to get a family selfie where a) Maddie didn't look crazy, b) I looked thin and young, and c) all three of our heads fit. FAIL! (Jack was already asleep in a portacrib in the hotel bathroom.)

Happy place. (Except in the sand. Jack HATES the sand. Mama's boy.)

Slugs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Jack's first dentist appointment went....well?

His new favorite hobby is pulling everything out of my kitchen cabinets and banging on them.

I love his fake cry.

We were hoping that Jack's strange phobias of weird stuff had passed. Nope. He was terrified of this Nemo bath toy for absolutely no reason. Seriously, is this normal? There is nothing scary about this fish, and if anything, it looks kind of like him. I just don't get it.