December Pre-Baby

This is what December looked like before Makenzie was born

saw the Thoroughbred lights

decorated gingrbread houses (well, Raquel ate the m&m's and Luis and I decorated them)

saw a living nativity

read/sang the Silent Night book 817 times

Luis went to a convention in Florida

enjoyed festivities at the local Bass Pro Shops

saw Santa without trauma

got spoiled at my baby shower

celebrated Grandma's birthday

created Makenzie's stocking (far right)

forced helped Raquel make crafts

made our Christmas Eve tamales

The One and Only

Believe it or not, we just had our first, and probably only California beach trip this summer.  We have grown to really like Seal Beach, so that's where we headed.  We all had so much fun, especially Raquel.

We played hard and were tuckered out by the time we went home.

Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush

I guess we're not much of bucket list people.  We have things we want to do, but when it comes to searching for amazing fun places to visit around here, we can't find much that doesn't cost oodles.  However, there was one place we ventured recently that we can cross off our "list of things we want to do."

Riley's Farm

It took us over an hour to get there, but as we got closer, we left "California" behind and seemed to be in some quiet country town.  It was wonderful!  Once we arrived and figured out where to go, we got to go berry picking.  Blackberries and raspberries were in season, so we went for those.

The raspberry bushes were overtaken by bees so we sent the bravest of us all to retrieve those berries.

As we looked around the farm a bit, we found a charming coffin, old buildings, wheelbarrows, and animals.  Also, I didn't get a picture of any of them, but all the workers at the farm were dressed in colonial clothes to give the farm a back-in-time feel.

Though it was blasted hot, we had such fun at Riley's farm and you can bet will be revisiting during the fall.

Independence Day

Do you have words that you ALWAYS have to think about when spelling?  Independence is definitely one of those for me (as is definitely).  You think I'd learn.  Moving along...

Let me paint for you a picture of our Moreno 4th of July.  First, after rising at 5 am to go exercise, shower, and whip up a super healthy breakfast, we spent the morning reading articles and tributes to our forefathers.  

Just kidding.  Here's what really happened.  Raquel let us lazily sleep in until 8 (yahoo!), we overate an incredibly delicious (aka unhealthy) breakfast, we slowly got ready, and then spent the morning shopping.  Yeah, that sounds more like us.  (Though we are extremely grateful for our forefathers.)

After getting our food assignments ready, we popped over to the McGarys to BBQ along with said McGarys, Mohlmans, and Mallary.

We again ate too much, but I'm pretty sure that's what holidays are for, right?  Then we headed over to a grassy spot near some apartments in Upland to watch fireworks.  Can you believe these were the FIRST fireworks I've seen in 4 years?  You read me right.  We haven't gone to see fireworks in our entire California lifetime.  We're so lame.  We weren't incredibly close to the actual firework show, but they were still magical to watch and quiet enough not to frighten my girlie.

Dave

I'm pretty sure I need an entire post to dedicate to my embarrassing relation, known as my brother, Dave.  From the moment he arrived, we found him desperate for attention.  This continued throughout his stay.  I have no words to describe this person that is my brother.

  

The worst part is that Raquel picked up some of his...whatever you want to call it.

Yikes!