Big Bear for Christmas

 This year we decided that instead of giving presents, we wanted to make memories with my Parents for Christmas. We thought that renting a cabin and taking the kids to see the snow for the first time was a great way to spend the holiday! We decided to visit Big Bear and rented a lovely cabin for us all to share.

 

Bailey went up on Sunday with my parents (I was working) and Chris, Wyatt, and I followed on Monday morning.

 

The view on the drive up, snow is so peaceful and the lake was beautiful!

 

We decided to go snow tubing after we arrived on Monday because it was supposed to rain on Tuesday.

Wyatt wasn't that impressed to be wearing his snow clothes.

 

Mom stayed with Wyatt while Dad, Chris, Bailey, and I went tubing.

Wyatt must have been pretty cozy in his clothes because he fell asleep!

Nana watching and Wyatt napping.

 

There was a small hill that Bailey could slide down on her own.

 

And the big hill that Bailey LOVED going down.

 

Bailey wanted to go down the big hill by herself, but that'll have to wait a few years!

Two handsome guys!

The Crosbys in the snow!

 

We decided to open the few gifts we had Tuesday morning

 

Our tradition is to have mimosas while enjoying Christmas breakfast, Dadda and Bailey making a gingerbread house...

The girls, Grandpa and Bailey making foam bugs (trying to stay busy and entertained)

 

We went out looking for snow and found a great hill for sledding, snowball fights, and for making a snowman!  

 

Bailey and Grandpa just hanging out at the cabin.

We had a great view at night, the cabin was just across the lake from snow summit and the snow tubing place. Both were lit up at night and we could faintly see people skiing down the hill.

 

We spent one afternoon walking around the village.

 

We came upon some carolers and Bailey was so excited to give them some money, then they asked her to sing with them!

We found some ice in town and Grandpa helped Bailey explore it.

 

Nana and Grandpa make the best walking buddies.

*I was going to type "Nana and Grandpa make the best swingers" but thought that didn't sound right :-)

 

Two of my favorite guys!

 

We took a few walks around the neighborhood and found a little snow.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had fun crunching the ice and looking for bears (wooden statues anyway)

 

Although we didn't experience as much fresh snow as we expected, we had a great time visiting the snow and making memories together. I think this is a great tradition that we will be able to continue! 

Disneyland

As a Christmas gift, Chris' Dad took us all to Disneyland for two days (one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure). We had a great time even though it was chilly, fortunately it wasn't as crowded as we expected.

We left home at 6am and hoped that we could get Bailey into her car seat without waking her, but that didn't happen, so we stopped at Starbucks on our way. Bailey was happy to get a big girl drink (warm milk with vanilla). She ended up sleeping for about 45 minutes while we were stuck in traffic.

 

We tried to get Ella and Bailey to put their arms up together, but this was the best we could get.

Cousins!

Bailey (2 years), Ella (3 years), Eden (7 months)

 

Bailey wanted to get a picture with every character possible! We managed to meet many of them!

 

Fortunately, we got word that to see Anna and Elsa you needed a fast pass type of ticket, so on the second day, Chris ran over and scored us tickets as soon as we got into the park.

 

Bailey wore one of her Elsa dresses and when we got into the room with them, she ran up and hugged Anna for a full minute! She was in heaven!

The women playing the princesses were wonderful! Taking a long time with the girls and making them feel special! Ella and Bailey were so excited to meet them!

 

Bailey still wasn't a fan of the Pirate's of the Caribbean, but we did find a few rides that she loved! 

Dumbo, the carousel, little mermaid, the rocket ships, the tea cups, the Ferris wheel, and the roller coaster in toon town were all some of her favorites.  

 

We did go on the haunted mansion, and it stopped while we were on it! Fortunately we were facing the room that was decorated for Christmas and had the ghosts dancing, so we didn't mind. They had it running again a short time later.

 

Bailey and Ella are more like sisters sometimes (fighting and loving just like sisters), but they were happy to be together while waiting for the parade.

 

They had a Feliz Navidad parade at California Adventure and Bailey danced while watching the entire thing, then she was surprised when the dancers asked her to come dance with them, she loved it!  

 

We had a great weekend with family and enjoyed making memories together! I was pooped at the end of it, we walked a lot and didn't sleep much but I'm glad that we could all spend time together for the holidays!

 

 

Christmas day 2014

As usual our work schedules had us spending the holiday apart. Fortunately, our families are flexible and we were able to celebrate early with Chris' Mom on Christmas Eve. We will celebrate with my parents later this week and have our Christmas together in a few days.

 

Even though we weren't together, I was thankful that we were there for those that needed help on Christmas day.

 

My work had an all-day potluck and we were able to wear our jammies which was a nice change. Here was my view for a few minutes when it was quiet...

 

 

I hope that you had a wonderful Day and celebration, whenever you were/are able to celebrate.

 

Merry Christmas Friends!

Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday friends!

I hope that this week brings you lots of unexpected moments of happiness!

I went to Michael's the other day to get some picture frames and I couldn't help browsing their Christmas items that were on sale.

I saw this set of three pre-lit Christmas trees and reached out to put it into my cart.

I pulled my hand back once I saw the price.

{$79.99}

After I walked down the aisle, something in me said to go back and grab one because I could always put it back if I didn't like the price once at the register. 

I watched as my items were rung up and I was shocked when I saw the price come up on the screen:

$15.99

Holy Cow!

I ran back to grab another one while the people in line watched me to see where I got them. That for sure made me happy!

Here's to a week of good deals!

Link up and tell us what's making you happy this week.

The end of our year

We had an eventful end of 2012! We had to split up our Christmas celebrations because:

 1. I had to work Christmas day

 2. Chris' parents are divorced so we celebrated with his Dad on Christmas eve

3. My parents came down the weekend after Christmas to celebrate.

So we had about four mini Christmases this year!

Christmas eve:

Chris' Dad got the cousins (and himself) matching beanies. They're the character Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba {we don't let Bailey watch tv so that's who Chris' sister tells us it is}

That night we walked around a neighborhood in town that sets up beautiful decorations. Bailey really enjoyed looking at the lights. I used the smilebox app on my phone to turn them into Rudolph. 

While I was at work, Chris and Bailey enjoyed Christmas day at his Mom's house. {sorry, no pics}

Dec. 30th (12:45 am)

Chris calls me at work to let me know that he needs to take Bailey to the ER because she had stridor. Such a scary phone call to get! Fortunately we only live 5 minutes from home so I sped home and met them as Chris was getting Bailey in the car.

*I am so glad that Chris was home, being a paramedic he knew just what to do!*

It turns out that Bailey had croup and after a few hours (and a shot of steroids) in the ER she was better and we were able to go home. We had her sleep in her swing for a few nights because it kept her head raised which helped her breathing and after a few days her fever broke. {Croup gets worse at night}

**on a side note, we bought her a warm mist humidifier but the Dr said that she needed a cool mist one and the moist cool air seemed to help her congestion**

Mom and Dad came down later that morning so we could celebrate Christmas with them and it was so calming having them there (Mom's a nurse and Dad was a firefighter/EMT).

Bailey was able to help open some of her gifts, she loved ripping the paper off. Chris enjoyed his silly straw drinking glasses, Santa brought my Dad some sumo thumb wrestlers, and Bailey LOVES her new swing!

Despite Bailey's scary morning, it was a wonderful Christmas.

We have been so blessed this year and are looking forward to what 2013 brings us!

**Stay tuned for Happy Sunday to return!*

Christmas picture photo dump

We had lots of fun taking Christmas pictures this year. I have too many to describe {and edit} all of them, so you get a photo dump! Enjoy!

 

 

Have a wonderful holiday!