December is always a full month for us-full of birthdays, full of holiday events, full of fun! This year was no different!
We kicked off the month with Nora's baptism at the Zickler's house the first weekend in December. It was a beautiful day and it was so special! We love this sweet girl!
The behind the scenes action to make these photos happen!
That evening Laura, Paul and I took all the kids to the Encinitas Christmas parade. It was our first time going and it was awesome...well, other than finding a parking spot! I circled for about 45 minutes and missed part of the parade but ended up finding something and at least the kids could get out and saw the entire parade so it all worked out. If we go again, we'll just go earlier!
Charlotte and I helped out in the afternoons at school with the Giving Tree. 
Still hanging out and trying to keep warm at baseball practice, too...
Joseph turned 11!!! Yay!! He had to be at school this year (last year he had the day off due to parent teacher conferences) but I think he had a good day! That night we tried to go to Corvette Diner for him but got there and found out that hty are closed on Tuesdays! Oops! Thankfully he is such a good sport that we ended up at Ballast Point and a big burger for him was just as good! We are so proud of the young man Joseph is becoming. He is kind, funny, respectful, a great older brother and cousin and people just really enjoy being around him. We can't wait to see what his 11th year holds!
A little birthday baseball with Poppa makes for a great day!
Joseph also had a band concert. He hates band and was not excited about the concert-ha ha-but did a great job and we are glad he is sticking with it!
Pajama day for the girls on the last day of school before break. Joseph didn't want to dress up this year!
The girls and I went to see the Nutcracker at the Poway Performing Arts Center. We went with Julia's friend, Valentina, and her mom so it was a fun girls night out. This has become a tradition that we're all enjoying!
Trying to win all of the big stuffed animals at the end of the night!
Our annual photo with Breakfast with Santa at San Rafael. Big year this year without any tears!!!!
Never too old for a chat with Santa!
We did gingerbread houses with the cul de sac crew one Friday afternoon.
The Army Navy game is always a good time in December and we had the Ozecks and Cawlfields over this year to watch. The Ozecks stepped up the game a bit and had our yard decorated in Go Navy signs and decor-too funny!!
Thankfully Jingle was prepared for payback when they came over for the game
For religious education on Thursdays we do a Posada the last class before Christmas. Joseph was volunteered to be Joseph, since his name is Joseph ;) and he was not excited about it and had an almost scowl on his face the entire time but he survived and I was proud of him for doing it.
We celebrated Joseph and Ella's birthdays with a family party and had a great time! Donuts on a string, marshmallow toss, antler toss on a reindeer and make a snowflake were all planned by Ella-she makes party throwing easy!
Baking cookies-one of the best Christmas traditions!
Ella turned 9!!! Jingle was all wrapped up for her! We are so thankful for this girl of ours! She brings so much joy, helpfulness, kindness and love to our family. She has the best laugh and is so even keeled and responsible. We are looking forward to having some of her friends spend the night next month but were so happy to eat Thai food and coconut cake with her on her special day and spend the day at Sea World.
We loved our time with Jingle this month, too! She is so special to our family and we always look forward to her visit every December. She hid in our car one day this year which was super fun!
Lots of cousin/sleepover time over Christmas break!
Charlotte is ready to swim and be warm!
Charlotte enjoying some nutella one morrning for breakfast
Classic girls face asking to have a sleepover! Normally at the end of a show!
And the thumbs up for after the yes to the sleepover!
Along with all of these amazing activities also sometimes causes me to rush and do things when half awake...for example our Christmas card this year. Oops!! Thankfully it was ordered early enough so I reordered since I couldn't justify sending this out and thankfully Ella forgave me. Sorry Bean!
Getting luminaries ready for Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve mass was special this year since both Julia and Charlotte were angels in the Christmas pageant and Ella did a reading.
Julia all ready for Christmas Eve mass!
Everyone came back to our house after church for Christmas eve appetizers, hot cocoa bombs and excitement before Santa comes!!
Once everyone we left we ended the night with opening our gifts from Nonna and Pop Pop since that is the tradition and everyone went to bed happy and excited!
2021 may go down as being our best Christmas ever!! Dad and I pulled off the biggest surprise with a puppy!! It worked out perfectly and had everyone in happy tears! We started talking about a puppy over the summer casually and every now and then I looked online. In the fall I found a litter of labs that was due at the end of October and would be ready right around Christmas. They were the cutest things and figured the timing was perfect so we decided to go with it! The breeder, John, and I texted back and forth since they were born on October 29th and he constantly sent me photos which I had to be careful to hide! Then on Christmas Eve Rich drove to Bakersfield (4 hours away each way!!!) to pick up our little guy! Rich threatened to put him in the back of the truck but I think once he saw him he was happy to have him right next to him. Ha. He still isn't a dog person but was excited for the kids. Rich brought him to Nani and Poppa's where the plan was for them to watch him overnight and then bring him by on Christmas morning. Rich was going to meet them outside and the kids and I would answer the door and greet Nani and Poppa and then Rich would sneak around the backdoor and be waiting in the chair with the puppy once we walked back. The plan worked out perfect and I could watch the video over and over and still cry every time. 
We did open most of our presents before Nani and Poppa arrived so the timing worked out really well because once the puppy arrived we had to start cleaning up-and so puppy life has begun :).
Here are a few photos of before the puppy excitement:
Annual Stair Photo
Charlotte's gift to Joseph had us laughing forever!! It's tough picking out presents when you can't read!
Later in the day Julia was ready to use her gifts!
The Ozecks stopped by to meet our new addition and then we all headed to Nani and Poppa's. By that time we had a name for him...Hunter! He only peed on Nani's rug once while we were there but kept us (well, me!) busy the entire time! Such a fun Christmas day celebration!
And now for a ton of Hunter puppy photos!!!! Everyone is absolutely in love with him (well, except for when he bites with his puppy teeth and it hurts!!!) but they absolutely love him when he is sleepy and cuddly and he is just so much fun...and a lot of work! Ha!
Hunter following around Dad!
We ended the year with the Ozecks over for New Year's Eve! We celebrated at 9:00 and then the girls spent the night at the Ozecks and the boys stayed here. The boys made it to midnight and were pretty proud of themselves! We were so happy to celebrate the end of 2021 with the Ozecks since they were such a big part of the year-we love having them back and at school with us! And we are looking forward to 2022 with them and the rest of the family!
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