Oh, Baby!

Joshua has a new phrase that he likes to repeat...constantly... The primary phrase is, "Oh, baby!" He likes to substitute "baby" for all other family member's names - "Oh, Sissy!" "Oh, Mama!", "Oh, Daddy!" I caught him repeating it over and over while in his room, and recorded some of it. This went on for quite awhile.

Daddy's Little Helper

Joshua loves helping us with our chores. Doing them with Daddy, outside, is even more fun! I love watching them together...

Monterey Aquarium

We made the drive down to Monterey to visit their famous aquarium. Joshua was starting to feel a bit under the weather at this point, but he was a trooper. The place is huge, and there is so much to see. I hope we can make it back sometime in the future because then I think the kids will be able to appreciate it a little more. 

The tidal wave is coming!

Re-fueling with clam chowder in a bread bowl. This made Mommy and Daddy very happy!

All of the never-seen-before ocean stuff, and his favorite part was making this bus go round and round (go figure!).

We came home with some new shirts!

Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow is a really cool place for young kids with rides and animals. We can't wait to take Joshua and Makayla back once they are a little older. 

Daddy picked the one animal that didn't go up and down (oops!).

Feeding the goats

Leapfrogging like a pro!

He couldn't get enough of this slide.

Having so much fun is tiring.

"Mommy and Daddy, can I keep it?!"

A Grundstrom Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we visited a donut shop for our annual Christmas Eve donuts...

"What do you mean they're out of donuts?!"

Later that night, we had another New Mexican-inspired Christmas meal. On a side note, I take for granted how easy it is to find red chile in New Mexico. I sent Andrew on a mission to find red chile for my posole, which ended with him and his dad in the "culturally-different" part of San Jose. Remember, these two individuals are about as white and Swedish as you'll find ; ) I wish I could have videotaped their adventure! After dinner, we opened up Christmas gifts...

I really wish Joshua would cooperate for a family picture. This is about as good as it gets...

Joshua and Makayla were really excited about their xylophone. You can imagine how Andrew and I felt about it ; )

A caterpillar tunnel!

The kids with Great-Grandma Onnen. 


We had a great breakfast on Christmas morning, and then we opened our stockings. Joshua played Santa...

Later that night, we played cards. Makayla is already learning how to be a card shark!

Cookie Decorating with Gigi

Joshua and Gigi (Grandma Grundstrom) did some sugar cookie decorating and baking for Christmas. Much like our first cookie decorating experience in Albuquerque, Joshua was more concerned with taking the candy off of the cookies and eating them, rather than decorating. He also had fun putting his fingerprints in each of the cookies. It was a fun time, nonetheless!

We're Back!

We're back from our Christmas hiatus, so let the blogging begin...

Before leaving for Christmas in San Jose, we celebrated Christmas with my (Amanda) parents, my sister, and both sides of grandparents. We devoured a traditional New Mexican Christmas feast of posole, tamales, and biscochitos, and then attended to all of the gifts under the tree. Okay, so there wasn't a tree, but there were plenty of gifts! As you can see, we did a horrible job of taking pictures...lesson learned...

Hey, Sissy, check out all of those gifts behind us! We must be pretty special!

Snuggle time with Great-Grandma Padilla

Papi is such a poser, and what a surprise...Joshua got trucks!

Posole, tamales (not pictured), and biscochitos...the ultimate Christmas food!