Picture Time

My dear friend Andi took some Christmas pictures for us this year. We (or rather I) kept going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth about whether we should get professional family pictures taken this year. Let me just say that I am SO happy we did it. I mean, come on. When do you ever regret getting pictures taken? My point exactly. Especially when they turn out at lovely as these. I love the way she captured our family and especially the Claranator. Check out Andi here. She has even more pictures from our little photo shoot on her website. Thank you, Andi. You are amazing!

Give Some Love

Tis the time of year. To grab your cup of hot cocoa and cozy up to the fire. To blast those lovely Christmas tunes. To bake the heavenly goodies and eat way too much (if you're me, at least). To gather with friends and celebrate the season. To buy a hat and change a life.

That's right. It's time to give the gift of love. If you know me, you know I love Krochet Kids. This is obvious because a) my brother-in-law helped start it but more importantly because b) they are doing incredible things in the lives of women in northern Uganda and c) their products are amazing.

If you are struggling because you want/need to give a gift but you want to give your money to a meaningful cause, look no further! Just peruse the above website and make your selection. Or stop by our house where we have eighty hats waiting to be sold at Jono's office and our church. If you order online, just type in "Jonathan.Hook" in order to receive a 15% discount. That's basically the same thing as getting free shipping!

Enjoy choosing your product! Consider yourself warned...it might be challenging to pick just one!

Elmosong

If you want a little glimpse into life at the Hook home these days, just check out the following video. And then imagine a little girl running around the house saying elmosong (all one word, or so it sounds) all day, asking to watch it. We're trying to regulate to just a few times a day, but it takes some serious resolve. It's good to know that of the 21,117, 019 views, we have contributed to about 87 of them.

Christmas Shopping

It's officially Christmas season. And I love it. The girls met downtown this week for our annual Christmas shopping venture. We checked out the krochet kids display at Nordstrom, nana bought the girls matching Christmas PJs, and we ate an amazing lunch at Mizuna. These next few weeks are packed to the brim with holiday fun and opportunities to connect with family and friends. I'm trying to be intentional to carve some family time to relax - and most importantly - to prepare our hearts and reflect on the reason for the season. There are just so many reasons I love this time of year!

Californi-yay

It is hard to believe but just over twenty four hours ago I was basking in the golden rays of sunshine while eating my animal style In & Out burger before jetting to the airport. From where I sit now, I'm watching large flakes float down on the foot of snow that has already blanketed our yard. And it's supposed to snow/rain for the next week. Oh, it's good to be home.

Our trip to California might just have to become a tradition. We went last year for a week as well and it was glorious. I think every Spokanite may just need to plan a warm vacation sometime during the November-February chill/gray/sleet/snow/rain/frigid days of winter. But it's good to be back, really. I love the snow - especially around the holiday season. I just thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cali this past week. And I already miss my dear sister.

Clara couldn't have been a bigger fan of the airplane situation. I wish I would've counted the number of times she said "airpane". Since I didn't, my rough estimate is somewhere around 104. Here she is, waiting in anticipation to board for our trip.

We arrived late, thanks to a pretty significant delay. Something about -5 degrees and safety and airplanes and de-icing? So inconvenient, I know. Because of this, we had a later start than we hoped in traveling from the OC to Hemet. We did make it eventually for a wonderful dinner with my aunt Becky, uncle Bob, cousin Darren and his wife Janelle. Of course I didn't capture any pictures of Darren and Janelle. But I did get a few of their precious little girl, McKinsey, who is two months older than Clara. And of course Elijah, their darling month old little boy. As you can see, the girls had a great time together.

And Leah was in birthday bliss here. She turned the big 2-5 on the 25th of November (can we say GOLDEN BIRTHDAY, folks!) We celebrated Wednesday night with a Vaughn classic: mud pie. New baby (Elijah) + mud pie = Leah birthday spectacular!

Since the 25th was technically Thanksgiving, we celebrated again on Thanksgiving day. The day included a self-proclaimed turkey trot, homemade cinnamon rolls at grammy & grandpas, time in the park, a nap, a wonderful turkey dinner, and a long evening walk. It was delightful.

And then we were off to Newport Beach. We filled a few days with beach time, thrift store shopping, dollar Friday tacos, yogurt land, tennis, the park, H & M (oh, how I love you), and forts. If only my dearest sister felt better while we were there. She battled chills, fever, a sore throat, and eventually a sinus infection. Not fun, I know.

Let's just say that Clara has all love and absolutely zero fear of the ocean. Not only was she unphased by the freezing temperature, but without constant surveillance she would've literally run straight into the crashing waves, to be swept away and never to be seen again. So we played - or rather restrained her.

In the end, she still found a way to dive into the waves. And she was defeated. The ocean always wins.

So then she spent some time wrapped in a towel. All she had was her diaper and bow. What more could a girl need? Oh yes. And Jono got to surf and fulfill one of his many passions (with Trav & Mo, Trav's brother).

Here are a few random gems. Leah's boots. Christmas train at the mall with awesome waving little girl. Sea lion at the park (which Jono called a dolphin twelve times. She'll be confused for years). Horrah for forts!

On Sunday we took off for the three hour trip to Bakersfield, where Jonathan's grandpa, aunts and uncles live. Clara got to see her great grandpa for the second time and it was a treat! Then we were able to have brunch with him as well as Jonathan's aunt Janice, Uncle Dwayne, Cousin Luke & his daughter, Bridgett. It was a good thing Bridgett ordered a quesadilla, because I struck out with the pancakes and eggs. It was lovely to see them, and not long enough.

On Sunday night we were able to stay overnight with our dear friends Katy & Jeff. I played volleyball in college with Katy and Jonnycakes played football with Jeff. In fact, Jeff is the originator of the johnnycakes nickname. We love these two. And I think Clara adores Harold, their dog, just about as much as we love Jeff and Katy.

Our final day in southern California was spent at the happiest place on earth. Let me tell you, last year was a happy experience. But this year was even happier. All the Thanksgiving holiday-ers were back at work/school/schedules because lines were way shorter on Monday than they were the day before Thanksgiving last year. Go figure! So we fit in all the best rides. And as you might anticipate, Clara loved it. Last year she was chomping away at her rice cereal and napping in the shade of the stroller. This year, she was on stimulation overload! It was a bit hard to get her to look at the camera, as you can see.

There is really nothing more fun than watching her take in the world around her. Disneyland has always been fun, but having a little one in Disneyland is 300% better! Poor Jonathan and Travis. There's no j or t in California.

The grand finale of our time (literally) was clearly the colors light show in California Adventure. It was ridiculous.

And that was our time in SoCal. It may just rank amongst my longest posts ever. So much for the birthday promise. Sorry.