Happy Birthday Dave!

Since my hubbie has given me another whole year's worth the reasons to love him, I tried to fill a whole weekend with birthday favorites for him. We started on Friday with a so-good-you-can't-stop-eating-and-need-to-unzip-the-pants dinner at Famous Dave's. My Dave loves BBQ, so we indulged in a feast of ribs, chicken and shredded pork (and cole-slaw, corn bread, corn on the cob and beans).

For vacation and Christmas I baked about a gazillion cookies and bars, so I was kinda baked out. I decided to instead make Dave's favorite snack as his birthday treat-- homemade carmel corn. This is the most deliciously addictive thing I've ever made. Saturday night we put the candles in the special pizza and opened the presents.

Dave got a Wii for Christmas so he had a very Wii birthday with gift cards, points and games as gifts from family. I gave him Guitar Hero.

And of course, Delia turned Dave's first attempt at Guitar Hero into yet another dance party. We've really been enjoying how interactive the Wii is.

Today, Dave had a whole Sunday off (it was coincidence, but we'll say it was for his birthday). He didn't have to do any of the morning worship and we had no pm service. We made Dave a nice Chicken Picatta dinner and tried to let him relax today.

What a wonderful husband and daddy we have! Happy birthday, Babe!

Christmas Odds & Ends

Have you been able to keep up with my mad blogging? :) With the vacation and holiday I just have so much to record! Here are a few more Christmas thoughts/memories I wanted to share...

Knowing we'd be getting lots of gifts from Aunties and Uncles, Dave and I didn't really get the girls individual presents from us. Instead we helped Ella and Delia pick out one present for each other-- this also worked well to emphasize the joy of giving to Ella. She got Delia a baby that cries and cooes. Delia got Ella an umbrella.

One of the best moments of present unwrapping was Ella excitedly giving us the gift she made and wrapped herself at preschool. It was an ornament with her picture in it. It was my best gift this year!

On the 25th we enjoyed a Very VM Christmas with our church family who we just happen to share a last name with. Grandpa Ed brought his old firetruck for rides and carolling and our host cleaned out his shop so the kids could ride bikes and scooters. It was a great day. You know we adore everyone in this huge group and are so thankful to be included.

Ella and Delia have been *loving* this easel from Grandpa and Grandma. Oh, the masterpieces to come!

And thank you all for the stack of cards we retrieve from our mailbox each day. We enjoy reading your updates and displaying your pictures-- we're running out of room, though!

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And to conclude, a Christmas quote:

Dave was reading the Luke 2 story to us and asking Ella questions along the way. When he asked her who Joseph was she replied, "Joseph is the only one who is allowed to touch the hay."

Last Vacation Post (I Promise!)

One more thing that was special about our vacation was the opportunity we had to celebrate Christmas...over and over!

Our first night headed south, we spent the night with our good friends Phil and Teri and family. As always, it was good to catch up, share a meal and play games. The kids were also able to exchange their Christmas presents to each other. Allie and Ella both got Fancy Nancy books!

Sea World had that neat Shamu Christmas show, but the Wild Animal Park probably did Christmas the most festively. They host a celebration called The Festival of Lights. The whole park was lit up with these colored light images of all different animals. They also had crafts, Santa, face painting and sledding! Some how they wrangled a hill's worth of snow and Ella got to sled in 60's!

Since a trip through LA was on our way home, we had to stop in and see Anna. She led us to a hip, trendy neighborhood right next to the Sony Picture Studio (and her work) to meet for a pizza lunch. With her we also exchanged gifts. It's always wonderful to see Anna!

I have also uploaded a Picasa slide show over to the left. If you are interested in viewing all 92 pictures (Heather!) double click to see them bigger.

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Wishing you joy as you celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Love, Dave, Jen, Ella and Delia

Thanks Everybody!!!

Wild Animal Park

This trip was so ideal for us in so many ways. We had these park-hopper tickets that let us enter Sea World, the zoo and this Wild Animal Park as much as we wanted for 5 days. This arrangement was perfect for our afternoon-napping kids. Besides enjoying no pressure to enjoy a park to its fullest in one day, we also enjoyed zero crowds and beautiful 60 degree weather.

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We all really liked the Wild Animal Park (especially Dave). As soon as you walked into it you were transported to the jungle. The atmosphere, layout and landscaping all contributed to a sense of being in another world. This was a park you just roamed around and happened to find animals along the way-- it felt that natural. The coolest part of its naturalness was the "Journey To Africa" safari ride that took us through a giant savanna packed with animals. We rode and saw rhinos, giraffes, lots of different kinds of gazelles, cheetahs, zebras, vultures, etc. all living together as they would in the wild.

These gorillas were so entertaining!

See the baby?

Lion Camp-- there are 7!

Elephants

San Diego Zoo

Late last night we finally made it home. I can't even believe today is Christmas Eve-- my day is going to be full of laundry, unpacking, grocery shopping and hopefully a little blogging. Here are just a few pictures of our great days (it took us 3 to see everything!) at the San Diego Zoo. This zoo is hailed as the best in the world and it definitely earns that title. One billboard I saw had a dragon on it and said, "If we don't have it, it probably doesn't exist!" So true! We marveled at God's creation and debated about which species He must love the most based on sheer quantity and variety. Birds? Monkeys? We liked how the zoo was 100% outdoors-- no animal houses or cages. Each enclosure was open, natural and had great vantage points.

We were thankful the zoo offered skyrides and double decker bus tours. This moved us from one end of the zoo to another and got us acclimated.

Albino Python

Hippopotamus in the underwater viewing area

"Franklins!" (Turtles)

As you already read, the koala bears and panda bears were absolutely our favorites. Each time we visited, we did try to see a new part of the zoo, but would always stop in to see these guys.

Really, I could post 100 pictures of all the different animals we saw. Keep your eye out for a little slide show in the sidebar.

Sea World

The park we were most looking forward to and the one that indeed proved to be the coolest was Sea World (we loved it so much, we went 3 times!). They did a great job at creating those moments of wonder and making all their animals accessible for interaction.

You already saw Delia's reaction the first time she saw Shamu swim by. At the shows she was even more awestruck, as was I. These animals are incredible-- huge, graceful, gentle, sleek. I got chills when I watched them.

The beautiful beluga whales were found in a neat Wild Arctic exhibit with polar bears, walruses and penguins.

"Mingos" on parade. These guys just roamed around, escorting us to our next attraction at one point!

The pool of sting and bat rays (with no stingers) was totally awesome. We got to feed them fish and since they know people as food sources, they would swim right up for some love!

At the Shark Encounter, an underwater tunnel that allowed you to see sharks swimming all around you, Ella was really cute about encouraging us not to be scared. Here she reassures Dave that the sharks can't get him (we came up with this game because Ella truly was afraid).

Sea World featured a little Sesame Street amusement park in the middle of it. The few rides and crazy play area may have been Ella's favorite part.

The highlight of Sea World for me was a beautiful night time Christmas Shamu show. We went to it skeptical that it would be annoyingly general about the "holidays" and only make reference to Santa. How incredible it was when the entire program was choreographed with live musicians playing Christian Christmas music and Luke 2 appeared on the jumbo screen. The finale of the show was an invitation to all of us to stand and sing Joy to the World while the whales did their most impressive set of jumps and flips. I'll never be able to sing this song in church again without picturing this amazing image of God's creation!

Lorikeet Lunacy

Another amazing experience was at Lorikeet Landing at the Wild Animal Park. In this habitat full of brightly colored little birds, you could hold a cup of nectar and hand feed the birds. We were excited for this attraction, so we went to it first thing in the morning. We were warned that the lorikeets would "attack" since we were the first ones in...

Ella assured us that she was ready to try this on her own, but when one of the lorikeets nibbled on her, she understandably freaked out. I don't love pictures of my daughter distraught, but I do love this image of Dave trying to console her while covered in birds!

Sorry Giraffes, I Have a New Favorite Animal...

On a return visit to the zoo this morning, we spent a huge amount of time watching the koalas. They sleep for 20 hours a day, but we caught them active at breakfast time. There have been so many moments of wonder and great memories made on this trip, but this will be a favorite for-sure.

A mama and a BABY!! I tried to show Delia that this is how I want her to cuddle with me...all the time, like the koala. We watched this baby never let go of its mom. Junior even got a ride on mama's back.

Sorry, can't figure out how to flip this video, but you'll get the idea.

We've Arrived!

It took two totally insane days of travel, but we finally made it! We do have wireless, but I don't intend to blog every day. Just wanted to let you all know we're safe and having a fantastic time. We had a magical day at Sea World today. For weeks the girls have been reading books, watching videos and playing with toys that teach them what killer whales are. The best part of today was seeing Delia's excitement at finally getting to meet the real "Ah-moo"! Enjoy this little video teaser...more pictures and stories are coming!

Stuck!

I write this post with wireless access from the Staybridge Suites where we are stranded in the high deserts of LA. We were planning on being in San Diego today, but a "historical" snowstorm hit Southern California and here we are. We knew there was going to be a little weather, so we opted to take the desert route, which is less mountainous...in retrospect that was not a good decision. Of course, this sucks, but we are blessed and had many prayers answered. We drove for 6 hours and went nowhere, yet no one had a major meltdown (though I was close). We couldn't see anything nor drive above 15 mph, yet our car stayed on the road. And the town we finally found gave us the last room of the last hotel (someone was literally calling to cancel their reservation when Dave walked in). We thank God for safety and shelter, but what the heck? WE MOVED TO CALIFORNIA TO GET AWAY FROM THIS TYPE OF THING!!!

What She Woke Up Saying

Last night we had Pastor Bruce, Joyce, Heidi and Joe over for a little church staff Christmas dinner. It was a pretty typical night with friends-- dinner, dessert, games, conversation, etc. But our party had some special moments too. Ella insisted on dragging her chair over to eat between Bruce and Heidi. Pastor Bruce sat in the rocking chair, reading Ella her story and putting her to bed. Delia, for the first time ever, was in total show off mode-- dancing, twirling and taking prat falls. And we think Delia's heart was finally won by the pastor she was formerly terrified of. This is what she's been saying all morning...

It's only taken 17 months of M&Ms, high-fives and goofy faces/noises, but Delia is finally a "Pa Boo" fan!

Still Lovin' Last Year's Gifts

As the UPS man stops by each day and the pile of presents under our tree grows, I just wanted to throw this out there to our fabulous Aunties and Uncles: No pressure, but last year's gifts will be hard to beat! We still play with and use everything you thoughtfully picked out a year ago. Delia is getting more into Little People. Ella hauls out her dishes for a tea party literally every day. The books are still read, tricycle still ridden and dolls given regular hair cuts. Some of the clothes even still fits! And just today I made a batch of stroopwafels. We can't wait to open our gifts because we know what great gift givers y'all are...but don't worry we will wait. I've resolved to make it to Christmas Eve! :)

Proud Parents

Tonight Ella's preschool performed their Christmas Program. Little Ella was too cute singing her heart out in the choir. Her hands stayed clenched in front of her (even when she itched her nose!). There was an adorable star, funny wise men and a Mary who even dropped the Baby Jesus doll, but we couldn't take our eyes off Ella and our cheeks hurt from smiling so widely!

They've been practicing this program for weeks and weeks. Today when Dave picked up Ella from school her teachers said, "Remind Ella not to play with or eat the hay from Jesus' manger." We thought this was hilarious. I'm pleased to report that Ella ignored the tempting hay for the performance!

Here are Ella's stellar teachers, Miss Debbie and Miss Jenny. How they get 50 three and four year olds to stand so still, sing so enthusiastically and say lines/sing solos so perfectly, I'll never know and forever admire!

This is Ella's "favorite friend" Oliva. They met at orientation this summer, were drawn to each other, hugged and remain good pals. We were blessed to have a number of church friends and family come to the program to see Ella, like Pastor Bruce, Julie and kids and Gramma Jean.

Of course, we had to celebrate a job well done with some ice cream. Since Delia was home with the sitter, Ella was all-too happy to soak in lots of attention from Mommy and Daddy on our "date."