Christmas in California

We haven't had a Christmas in California since before Jessica was born.  So I think the my parents were pretty excited... the girls had a good Christmas.  Grandpa Jim and Grandma Kari got them a new car.

Allison and Jessica got a big kick out of the present that Grandpa Jim got for himself: a remote control helicopter.  Jessica talked about Grandpa crashing it in the skylight for a couple days afterward.

Jessica derailed Grandpa's tree train.  Allison practiced death defying acrobatics on the living room fireplace.  She climbed up there herself and she was proud of that.  I took a quick picture and then ran over to get her down before she fell.

The girls always love Aunt Lindsay's glittery makeup and her jewelry.  Allison is trying to force feed Aunt Lindsay something, a closed mouth only makes her more determined.

Daddy tried to give Jessica driving lessons and she acted like a stubborn teenager.

Allison was in the Christmas spirit.

Jessica got a work bench with a working drill.

Allison got a discovery garden.

Christmas morning pictures.

Christmas can be exhausting.

I love the scowl on Jessica's face here.

A play date in the princess tent with daddy.

Cute pic of Joe and the girls in our new apartment.

Joe giving more driving suggestions outside our new apartment.

Playing in the closet in the girls' room at Meema and Grandad's house.

The Humpty Dumpty sandbox at the Caper Acres playground in Chico.  One time there were some kids around Nathan's age building an elaborate sandcastle and Jessica ran over and smashed it... I felt so bad, I said sorry to the angry mom and we left quickly.

Joe sampling the beer at the Brew House at Feather Falls Casino.

We have a really nice playground right behind our apartment, it's even closer to our front door than the playground in Florida was.  The pool is right next to our front door, closer than the playground.  Jessica throws a tantrum occasionally when I tell her it's too cold to go to the pool.  I have a feeling we will be getting our money's worth this summer.  Bring your swimsuits when you come to visit Lady and Paw Paw!

Here's a couple videos of the girls in the Escalade.

Here's a cute video of Joe pretending to play the saxophone.