2nd half of Christmas fun!

This was the first year we had an Elf on the Shelf and I really hope he doesn't return.  We bought a box with him and the story of Elf on the Shelf at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  The kids had heard about them from friends and so we did what we were suppose to do, opened the box, read the book and then left for Phoenix.  And when we came home, he was out of the box and hanging from our light fixture!  And for the rest of the month he did wild, crazy, silly things, or just hid where it was a process to find him every morning.  One night the kids went to spend the night at Grandma's and we talked about whether they should take him.  Oh, his name is Candy Cane.  Candy Cane was very upset that they forgot him so he destroyed both their rooms!  

I sent these photos to the kids and said I would have no part in cleaning up the mess!  They were not happy.

And I found Candy Cane looking out the window, waiting for their return.  Bad Candy Cane!

Tatum has been taking piano lessons for two months and she was asked to participate in the recital with the rest of the kids that take lessons from Terra.  She was a little nervous but did an awesome job playing Jingle Bells and Jolly Old St. Nick.

These are the few beginners and they all did great!

And how beautiful our little girls look!  How are they third graders already?!  They were all in preschool together just yesterday! :)

One of our favorite Christmas pastimes, the gingerbread house!  Here's Ty with his decorated gingerbread man

And Tatum with hers!

Look at our beautiful creation!

And the fancy roof! :)

Last day of school and it's holiday party time!  Ty's class had a few fun stations, the candy cane building table,...

snow ball toss,...

writing letters to the sailors,...

making a snow man face,...

and a book exchange!

In Tatum's class they had a hot cocoa bar and social time.  Here's Tatum with her good friend Svenna!

And Harper!

They also did a book exchange and everyone ended up with some great winter break reading!

Tatum also won an award in class for her excellent citizenship!!

We also went to the Bernardo Winery Holiday Nights, the kids love it!  Here's the model train display...

 

and our yearly horse drawn carriage ride....

they all loved petting the horse.

Grandma enjoyed the fun as well!

And of course, everyone wrote letters to Santa.

I got together with my wonderful girls, Erica, Shauna and Erin, at Hotel Del for a holiday gathering.

A beautiful view!

We headed down to Shelter Island to watch the harbor boat parade with our friends.  Keira and Tyler joined Tatum and Ty to play and get ready to watch the show.

Fun times with these girls

Tatum loved holding Julia.

We went to Legoland to check out their holiday decorations with Erica and the boys.

Ty made a big T out of legos while we waited in line for a ride.

All the kids loved the snow!

Sofa sleepovers during the two week break.  I love that Cali was snuggled up with her favorite boy. :)

We always love visiting Ken!

On Christmas Eve, after church and a delicious meal, we all opened our jammies and posed for our picture before it was time to hit the hey.

Christmas morning!!!  Santa hooked it up!

Creeper!

Creeper again and Green Machine!

Ty with his presents

And Tatum

Daddy got hooked up too!

And Garrett, Mom and I enjoyed champagne as we traditionally do.

After we cleaned up, we headed to Mom's house for Christmas dinner and then on our drive home, we drove through the Carriage neighborhood.

The day after Christmas, while Garrett had to work, we went to Hotel Del to enjoy the decorations...

ice skaters....

wine...

and beautiful view.

During the last week off, we decided to check out the roller rink since Tatum got a pair of roller blades.  Ty wasn't too happy about it but gave it his all.  These little walker things were very helpful!

This one was in heaven!

We invited Tamara and Ellie to join us.  Ellie used the walker for a while but got the hang of it pretty quick.

Nerf gun war!

A random day of fun at the ice skating rink.

Mom and I took the kids up to the Queen Mary to a special Freeze event.  Lots of activities, decorations,...

sledding....

and an ice castle that was 9 degrees!  We had to suit up in these long jackets so we didn't freeze in there!

The theme was a Christmas Carole, they had done a really great job of carving all the ice.

At the end was a slide that we all had to go down to get out.  Mom wasn't too excited about this but she did it!

We then walked onto the Queen Mary and were able to watch a 15 minute 4D show and then toured a portion of the boat.

For New Years Eve we headed up to Pamela and Bruce's cabin in Idylwild along with Jen and girls.  The kids loved the snow!

Ty too of course!

These two are so cute together.

A lot of people passed out before midnight but not us!!  We made it! Happy New Year!!!

Before it was back to school, we checked a new ice cream place called Baked Bear.  You pick two cookies and ice cream and they put it together into a sandwich.  Tatum opted for the brownie.

And Ty got the donut!

I got the cookie, messy but good.  The year and the holidays were over but it's 2016!!!