more December goodness

A lot happened in December 2011.

There were holiday parties. Since Jared has multiple jobs, he had multiple holiday parties to attend, and they were at opposite ends of the spectrum. There was the hoedown at the Carriage Museum in Santa Barbara...

Probably the funnest part about this was figuring out what we were going to wear. We did a lot of borrowing. I'm quite pleased with my choice of denim on denim. Yeehaw!

And then there was the evening of cocktails/dinner/dancing at the Ventura Beach Marriott...

Jared's new golf buddy (and boss), his wife, me feeling realllllly tall, and my handsome guy. 

I love being tall, except sometimes in pictures.

Dontcha wish your boyfriend was hot like mine?

There were old friends. Some of our favorite friends from UCLA were home for the holidays, and so they spent an afternoon at our house. It's crazy how much their kids have grown in the 3+ years since dental school. We're glad they have ties to Ventura and we expect to be stealing them from their families often in the future.

There was a pony tail. Just one, just barely. Bethany had found one of my hairbands and asked me to put it in, but only gave me about 3.5 wiggle-free seconds to do it. More to come, and this mama is excited. I just have to learn how to do hair, and quickly.

There was a day trip to Solvang. Ever since Stacie's bachelorette party in Santa Ynez valley 6 years ago, I have wanted to go back to Solvang. We finally did. It's this super cute Danish town just over an hour from us. Maybe because most of Jared's and my ancestry is from Denmark, we felt right at home. Especially in the chocolate shop.

There were new toys. Not a ton, just the right amount. Jared & I tend to not do a lot of toy shopping for the kids (I'm trying to remember if we've even bought more than a handful of toys ever-- they were given a bunch though). I had a good idea of what they would like to have, and was pretty specific when the grandparents asked what the kids wanted for Christmas. Those things, plus a couple things from aunts, uncles, friends, and us, turned out to be the perfect mix. Every toy has been played with (sometimes all at once), every book has been read. Maybe toys do bring joy? Just a little?

Isaac in the baby doll crib with Woody, Jessie, Bullseye...

...and Bethany.

She did eventually climb in. He wasn't wild about the invasion, but he went with it.

There was the black & white Crown Vic. Our friend, who's in the county Sheriff's department, came by one Saturday morning with his police car. We stood out there talking to him for a while, and when neighbors looked over, I felt like yelling, It's okay! We're friends. For those who have never been in a cop car before, like me, let me tell you: it's not comfortable. Just a ride in the back is your first punishment for looking guilty. The seat is made of hard plastic, however, there are slots in the hard plastic for your handcuffed arms. So that's nice.