Oh Christmas Tree...

It has been two years since I was able to decorate for Christmas. The tree is my favorite part of Christmas, it ties all of my decorations together. To make up for last year this year we have 9 trees around the house... :) I also get to pull out all of my Christmas ornaments, more on this later.

It only seems fair to show you how our tree made it's way back to our house...

on top of Matt's Prius. (A green tree on our "green" car!)

... in our drive way...

Matt and Dad bringing the tree into the house...

that's me making sure the tree is straight...

un-doing the netting...

smile Dad...

Trimming the tree is my favorite part of the tree. Here are some stats on our tree:

1200 little white lights

MANY sparkling ornaments

6 bows

3 berry garlands

1 tree topper

& ta-da we have our 2010 Christmas Tree

a view of all the presents, wrapped and ready to send to our nephews/cousins!!!

a view of the tree and its trimmings...

the garland and our very 1st "4 ft" tree

For those of you who drool over the Potterybarn Christmas catalogue, I got the inspiration for this garland from that magazine. The pre-lit pre-decorated garland that is $80 for 8ft. So instead of paying all that money, my mom and I made our own garland. We attached each ornament individually and made ribbon puffs to fill in the holes. I love it!! I love the colors and I love the ribbon!!!

This is the view as you walk into our house....

some close ups of the ornaments...

Matt started a tradition the very first christmas we spent together. We were living in a one bedroom apartment and it was the first year I did not celebrate Christmas with my family. Off to Target we went to get some Christmas cheer for our tiny apartment. We bought a 4 ft tree, some lights, a box of ornaments and a berry garland. We set the tree up on one of the end tables. It was so cute, just a little bare.

Christmas day, Matt's gives me ornaments from a little store called Potterybarn. I loved every single ornament he chose for our little tree. In the collage above look for the little pocket ornament, later that morning he directed me to look in the back of that ornament. There is a little pocket on the back of the pocket ornament and in it was an engagement ring. I then look at Matt and he proposed to me... another reason I love our Christmas tree ornaments. Every year I get to pull out that ornament and think of our first Christmas together... :)

the dining room table decorations that I made several years ago...

our fire place decorations...

the Christmas tree on the kitchen counter...

Our house is really festive this year!

(I will take some pictures of all nine trees around our house...)

Sitting on Santa's Lap

Now that we have a full blown toddler on our hands mommy was a little worried about the Santa picture this year. Lately, whenever Brody is asked to smile for a picture/camera he refuses to cooperate (i.e. turns away, runs away, puts his head down or says No Picture, No Cheese, No Mama). Fun times...

Today went way better than I could ever hope for. There was no crying, whining or refusing to take a picture. When Santa asked Brody to come sit on his lap, Brody went right over to him and then began saying "Cheese"... as if to let me know he was ready for his picture to be taken. (That's my boy.... tear...)

After being such a ham for the camera, I asked Brody to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Brody tell Santa he wanted "Cars Cars, Choo Choo, iPAD, Buzz".

Santa listening to Brody's Christmas Wish List...

All of that coaching sure paid off... ;)

Playing at the Beach

Sunday, we drove to Santa Cruz to play at the beach. (It is only 40 minutes away!) We went with our friends, Heather & Garey. We have really enjoyed hanging out with them the last several months and getting to know them. :)

Family Picture...

a view of the beach...

The Boardwalk...

Heather & Garey...

playing in the sand...

after a long day in the sun and playing in the sand....

I could do this every weekend during the summer....

San Francisco Creamery Co.

After we toured our soon to be new house, we drove up to Walnut Creek CA. We wanted to go eat at the San Francisco Creamery Co. We were introduced to this restaurant via the TV show "Man vs. Food". That guy is crazy, but the food sure looks good on TV(more on this later).

This place sure delivered....

Walnut Creek is beautiful. I do not even have the words to describe it, it is one of those places you just have to visit. SFCC is an old fashioned ice cream store nestled in this little town. You can eat dinner, eat desert or have both. (That is what we did!!)

I skipped right to the good pictures.... DESERT!

They have sundaes....

Waffle bowl Strawberry Shortcake Sundaes....

and the Grand-daddy sundae.... THE KITCHEN SINK!!!

(It is so much bigger in person!)

If you eat this sundae in 30 minutes or less you get it for free.

Here are some stats about this sundae:

6 bananas

3 gallons of ice cream (you choose the flavors)

4 Toppings (you choose the toppings)

a huge portion of Whipped Cream

1 cherry on top

Serves 8 people

Cost: $40

& you get your picture taken with the sundae as a souvenir.

Matt did not have any trouble taking down his sundae....

He chalked it up to training so he could one day finish the Kitchen Sink!

To end this post I will leave you with some video footage of Brody & Matt eating their sundaes... I hope that you enjoy!

Bob the Builder Exhibit

Brody and I frequent the children's museum once or twice a week. Last week, the Bob the Builder exhibit opened. It is really great for toddlers. All the stations are at a perfect height for Brody. I really wanted him to wear a hard hat and a tool belt, but he refused to wear either (not even for a quick picture).

Views from Pier 39

Last weekend we ended up in the city. Great weather, great people watching and great views of Pier 39. Here are some pictures that capture our day in the city.

The clouds hugged the bridge....

Mama was using her big girl lens to capture this great photo...

my boys...

they are slowly returning...

You can't see the bridge any more...

The clouds cleared and now you see across the bay...

there she is....

we love fire-trucks...

Coit Tower...