Twas the Week before Christmas

I made fudge.  It was delicious.  And we delivered less than intended.  Because, it was delicious.

What the Heck, San Diego?!!  This weather is unacceptable for Christmas!

We dyed Rylee's hair with Kool Aid agin.

Miranda wanted this pie recipe so I sent it to her.

I made a lot of masks, and this is one of my new favorites.

Some sneaky santa dropped this off at our house and I'm absolutely stumped as to who it could have been!  But it sure made us feel loved.

 

A Pre-Chirstmas Hike

We squeezed in a hike before Christmas.  It did not go quite as planned......

We chose the wrong direction to begin.  Instead of chasing the path to the left, which would have taken us into the valley on a nice switchback trail, we went to the right and went straight down on crumbly rocks.  It was a little harrowing and some people were very unhappy about it.  But we persevered and overcame!

The trail got better after that and we had a marvelous time exploring the area.  We knew we did not want to go back up the way we came down and had an idea of how to get back a different way.  But the trails did not do quite what we expected.

But we had a good time, and hiked a pretty good distance and found some golf balls by the golf course. I was certain that we would encounter a path that would take us near our backyard, but that did not happen.  We did eventually link up to a trail we had previously hiked, and we were able to get back to where we wanted to be and we took the switchback up the hill and it was delightful  But it was a lot longer and more exertion than planned!

 

Gingerbread Cookie Time

We did make gingerbread cookies.  Partly because it's tradition!  And partly because they are delicious.  Okay, and because the girls enjoy decorating them. Please enjoy their delight in the process, and enjoy the fabulous result of their meticulous decorating skills!  I LOVE these kids!

 

One Sad Girl

This poor kid got her wisdom teeth out.  I didn't think it would be so..... dramatic.  She went in just fine, but I think they may have released her a little soon.  They wheeled her out to the car and we manhandled her into the back seat.  Halfway home she suddenly realized she was in the car and had no clue how she got there.  Poor thing was so disoriented.  The last thing she remembered was sitting in the chair getting the iv and now she was in the car.  

I had expected to get her home and park her on the couch.  I expected her to lounge the day away watching movies.  But nooooo.  She insisted she could walk just fine.  She roamed drunkenly around the house.  She swayed dangerously, but kept upright.  She demanded to go outside to "see people".  She spent some time making hilarious drawings. She talked to the dog. Then she restlessly criticized everything I tried to get her to watch on tv.  She briefly rallied when we put on YouTube with Disney songs and I almost died laughing as she raucously sang along. And then she cried because she didn't know all the words.  And then she was just sad.  

It was a long and emotional afternoon. The meds finally wore off, and she finally slept a bit.  And then she was tired and cranky and sore for the next few days.  But she survived!  And now it is done. 

 

Decorating for Christmas!

Soon after we got back from AR, we busted out the Christmas stuff.  This is the totes adorbs Nativity my sweet sister made for me.  

We managed to find a place to put the tree up.

My cute girl.

Another of my cute girls.

We did wait a few days before decorating the tree.

But we had a grand time doing it.

We do love all our personal ornaments and enjoy reminiscing about them as we put them on the tree.

Delaney found the hats. 

So they had to be worn!

And look, I made a cute Christmassy face mask to match the season.