December: California Edition

What a fun, and beautiful day in San Diego, California when we were all able to be together as friends and family and witness Cody and Jess get sealed for time and all eternity.  December 17th, 2011 

My life-long friend, Jackie Burdick Williams. 

The entire Crippen family... all 6 children now have their eternal companion.

Aren't we cute?!  Gotta love the posed wedding day pics.  :)

The original Crippen Clan.

The Hopoate Family, December 17th, 2011

Little Miss Katelyn (Jackie's oldest)  and Miss Samara, our youngest.  :)

All the Crippen Cousins looking good...

Pretty in Purple

My love and I... looking good!

Wedding is over... Time for Christmas!

We had a round-robin Christmas craftmaking with the Crippen cousins.

The kids loved making gingerbread houses, decorating cookies, and painting ornaments.

Date night!

Tino and I were able to sneak away to Newport Beach and enjoy Cheesecake Factory, a walk on the beach, a ferry ride, Christmas shopping for the kids,  and each other.

Christmas Eve day- at the Beach!

It was a beautiful day to play at the beach... and we basically had the entire beach to ourselves!

UBGBs- Ultimate Beach Grand-babies

Nani catching Hermit crabs and sand dollars.

Doesn't matter how cold the water is... the kids are still always getting in. 

The Polar Express - Christmas Eve

Amazing Papa... hooked up and decorated the trailer and transformed it into the Polar Express!

Tino and I had the best seat in the house... the back of the pick-up truck.... alone.  :)

The Crippen Christmas chaos.

We drove around Windsong and sang Christmas Carols and even got to meet... 

Santa Claus!

Each child was able to greet Santa and share what they would like for Christmas and then receive a special bell... like in the movie.  :)

It was a memorable experience and really helped bring the magic of Christmas.

Twas the night before Christmas...

The children were nestled all snug in their beds...

Cuddle-cousins

The granchildren put together a Nativity all by themselves.  They did a wonderful job.

Play ball!

The men went and played a game of over-the-line together.  Tino is NOT a baseball player/fan... but I think he holds his own pretty well!

Home Run!

It was fun to hit a ball - I want to play more often!

Coach Papa teaching Kea how to swing.

A good hit by Nani.

New Years Eve!

Relaxing in the sunshine right after the fog rolled out, and before the fog rolled in.  We had a good hour in between.  :)

Life's a beach!

Reagan and Kea splashing in the waves.