Christmas Vacation

The first week of our FOUR WEEK vacation (if I ever suggest taking a vacation longer than a week someone must slap me) was spent at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Grants Pass.  It was nice and relaxing for the most part since Oskar was the only child running around even though Joel wasn't there, Joel was in New York for this week speaking at a social media conference.  We got to spend some time with Granny as well because her foot was broken and she was staying with us.  Oskar loved to help her with her puzzles and boy was he helpful.

Oskar has to wait to get haircuts until we see my Mom because I don't trust myself to cut it and I think it's silly to pay for a child to get a haircut, I barely pay to get mine cut.  Here is the before.


And after

Of course is snowed in Oregon while we were there.  Bad weather just followed us on our vacation.  Oskar wanted to play in it so badly even after he realized how cold it was.  Nothing stops this kid.  I didn't want to take a step outside, luckily Grandma was more willing.

 

 

Here is my Mom's table of nativities at the Creche Festival in Grants Pass.  She even got an article in the paper written about her and her collection.  Oskar was super excited about it.

For the second leg of our journey we headed north to Seattle and stayed there for a week.  This week was a little harder since Joel still wasn't with us (he was in Utah getting ready for the Ackerman Family Christmas Party) and there were other kids, toys, and floors to brutalize.   Oskar loves his cousins so much though so he had a great time, except when he got sick.  He got sick about three times during the month we were gone, the first being when we were in Seattle.

 

 

 

 

 

Naya, Mari, Eva, and Grandma (Keri and I helped a bit) colored beautiful signs to welcome Kamron home from Russia.

Kamron meeting Oskar for the first time.  When Kamron left on his mission and after Oskar was born, Kamron specified in an email to me that I was to make sure and teach Oskar the difference between himself and Jordan. I believe he said something like, "Make sure you teach him that me and Jordan are separate and distinct personages." 

Oskar helped Kamron pull his suitcase all the way through the airport.  Once again he showed how helpful he can be.

The third and last leg of our journey where we spent half of our time was in Utah.  We stayed at Kelsey and Boyd's house and even though Joel was back with us it was probably the hardest time because Oskar got sick twice, one of those times was up screaming for five hours in the middle of the night, and we'd already been gone from home and routine for two weeks.  It's hard to be away from home for that long especially when you have a crazy two year old.  But once again Oskar had a great time and loved getting to play with all of his cousins.

 

 

 

 

Oskar was pretty sick on Christmas Even so we didn't get to do any celebrating but on Christmas morning he was feeling a bit better so he got to watch Joel, Carson, and Landon open presents and open a few of his own.  Then later we went to Joel's parents house for dinner and got to see almost all the Ackermans.

 

Here Joel is modeling his new pajama pants I got him.  We had another low-key Christmas this year as far as the gifts we got each other.  We got some movies and Joel got some clothes.  Eventually when we're rich Joel is going to buy me the moon, he told me.

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland yesterday!  One couple that we're friends here invited us to accompany them to Disneyland because they have free buddy passes that allow them to get two people in free!  We spent most of the day in California Adventure riding all the big kid rides, which I LOVED, and a few kid rides.  It was a long and exciting day for Oskar so he finished it up by throwing up everywhere, on multiple rides and me, he knows how to go out with a bang.

In front of one of the Christmas trees.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas when it's 70 degrees!

This is Heimlich's ride from A Bug's Life.  Oskar was way into it.

And the Mater ride in Cars Land.

We switched off with our friends who also have a little boy Oskar's age so one couple could go on a ride while the others watched the kids and then we switched.  This is the Tower of Terror, one of my favorites.

The "cast members" really get into it on this ride.  I was just taking a picture of Joel as the employee walked by and he stopped long enough to make the picture creepy.

It looks like Joel and I are posing for a family picture.  We didn't do it on purpose.  Although, whenever I go on a scary ride I end up laughing the entire time, no screaming, just laughing and smiling really big.  And Joel just shouts the name of the ride the whole time.  On the ride California Screamin' the entire time he screamed at the top of his lungs, "CALIFORNIA SCREAMING!!!" 

And this picture was taking at the end of the night when I had puke all over me and in my hair.  Oskar also christened the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Casey Jr.'s Train, and the tram that takes you back to the parking structure.

Just Me and My Mom

Joel says: "I used to work at my brother Dave's apartment, but I hated the commute (in traffic it could take as long as six minutes), parking, and the allergies from his dog. So I've been working from our apartment more. Besides being a more productive, more comfortable working space, I get an afternoon snack whenever I want one. Usually it's cookies and milk, with the milk in my great aunt's (antique) teacup and the cookies all around it on the saucer, but lately it's been pumpkin pie with ample cream. My grandma was right: it's the little things in life (like snacks and fancy dishes)."
 

 

 

 

Family Portrait

Earlier this year Joel went to an auction that our ward was putting on and bid on a portrait package, and paid $50 for what the company said was a $5000 value.  I wasn't there because I was at the NCAA men's volleyball championships that were held here in LA but I was very proud of him for getting such a good deal.  I don't know if they really charge $5000 but the way they were talking to us about upgrades to the size of the portrait and picture frame prices I wouldn't be surprised.  Anyway we decided to leave Oskar out of it because we're hopefully going to have more children and we didn't want the other ones to feel gypped that they didn't get a fancy picture.  So we went, they put us in three different poses, and then took us to a back room where they showed us all the pictures and we had to pick one.  Initially we picked a different one because we thought we were getting a smaller size but when we found out we were getting the bigger size we went back and chose this one.  I'm happy with our choice, I think it looks awesome, like a rich young couple who takes themselves very seriously.  I love it.  Now we just have to find a place to put it.

Halloween '13

I'd been thinking about Halloween a lot prior to the holiday because I love dressing up and I wanted to figure out a fun family costume.  But I couldn't think of anything!  So the week before Halloween but the week of our Trunk-or-Treat party I just made a list of all the redheaded characters I could think of in film and literature.  I came up with the following:

Little Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks (Joel wouldn't wear a bald cap)
Scully and Mulder (Joel didn't think people would know who we were)
Giselle and Prince Edward (Joel didn't want to spend money on a good costume)
Jessica Rabbit and ??? (I will never dress up as Jessica Rabbit)
Variations of Ariel and Prince Eric

We ended on Ariel and Prince Eric and since the easiest and cheapest version of her is when she first got legs, that's the one we went with.

Oskar was a baseball player because we didn't have enough time to make a Sebastian or Flounder costume for him.

On the real Halloween we went trick-or-treating with our good friends who have a 5 year old daughter.  She was in an amazing Mary Poppins costume and Oskar was her chimney sweep.  Oskar went up to each house and said, "I want candy," which, I promise, we didn't teach him and tried to grab two handfuls of candy.  Halloween was good to me this year.  

 

He enjoys climbing and reading.