The Beach has Missed Us.....

.....And the feeling is mutual!

It's a beautiful day for feeding the birds!

Christmas '11 California Style

Is it possible that Christmas has come and gone already?  It just seems like it was the 4th of July and now we are approaching a new year.  Where has the time gone?  I love Christmas time.  This was our 2nd Christmas spent here in California.  I promised myself last year that I would never spend another Christmas anywhere but Utah, but I guess I break promises every now and then. Bryan had to be in Utah for work the second week in December.  One of the perks of working for a Utah-based company is that he travels there quite a bit and so we usually get to tag along.  The fact that we spent a full week there 2 weeks before Christmas we felt like it was too much to try and do another trip. I was sad and sure did miss seeing our families, but it's fun to start our new little family traditions.

We didn't come back until the middle of December and so we felt it was pointless to go and get a tree before we left because it would've been dead by the time we got back.  So first thing we did was go to a tree lot and pick one out.  It seems strange to me to go to a tree lot and get a tree as I have always grown up going up into the canyon of Fillmore and cutting one down.  However, I must say that even though the lot trees are WAY overpriced, you definitely get your pick of nice symmetrical trees.

  So here it is folks....the Rosenvall Family Christmas tree!

 I would've preferred to do a graham cracker gingerbread house this year instead of a assemble-yourself gingerbread house for edible purposes, but this one was very user-friendly for a 3-year-old.

 On Christmas Eve, we invited some friends of ours from Oceanside, the Koehle's, for dinner.  Mariah's parents were here visiting form Northern California and so they joined us as well.  We had so much fun and Mia loved spending time with her buddy, Gordon.

Such good friends.

 Both Mia and Merek were exhausted and so after our guests left, it was time for bed.

 We let Mia sleep in our bed Christmas Eve because we were afraid she was going to wake up while "Santa" was delivering the goods!

 The last couple weeks all Mia has talked about wanting for Christmas is a "princess bike, princess carpet, and shoes that light up."  I think Santa did a pretty good job this year.  It's an all-princess Christmas for sure!

 The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.....

This is the face of one happy, excited girl!

 Light shoes....check!

 Merek loving his jump-a-roo!

 One advantage of having all tile floors is being able to ride your bike all through the house!

 I love when Christmas falls on a Sunday.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior than going to church and being uplifted through words and song.  Since our church meeting started at 9:00 am, we all got up at 6:30 to see what Santa brought, went to church and then came home and opened up presents.  It was perfect because it seemed to draw out the excitement of the day little bit more.

 I can't believe that I didn't get one picture of all of us.  At least I got one of each.

 I think we're all exhausted after a long, fun day!

Hellllloooo Ladies.....

I'm 5-months-old today and counting.  Only 15 years and 7 months until I am available!!! I'm totally worth the wait!

Preschool Christmas Program

This is Mia's first year of preschool and she is LOVING it.  She goes to "Shining Stars Preschool" with Miss Michelle and we were totally lucky to get into this preschool. It's so fun to see all the new things she is learning.  With starting preschool, I feel like it's just the start of Mia growing up {sniff, sniff}. She goes 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours which is just perfect because it gives Merek and I some hangout time.

Mia just had her Christmas program and it was so cute.  The program consisted of a few songs {and a little dancing too}, but most importantly a dancing life-size Santa that the kids thought was the coolest thing ever.

{Doing the Elf Train}

 {Of course Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer}

 {Ian, Bryce, Cade, Bailee, Owen, Mia, Whitney and London}

 {Whitney and Mia just HAD to get a picture with the dancing Santa}

Show Biz Kids

I put Mia in a little singing performance group, Show Biz Kids.  She loves it and looks forward to going to class each week.  They just had their Christmas performance and it was so cute.  I must admit that it was more comical than anything.  One of the songs they performed was "C is for the Christ Child."  When it got to "M is for the manger where he lay," Mia blurts out "and M is for Mia."  So funny.  She also had a little speaking part.  She had to say, "Even though Christmas has changed a lot over the years, we remember it all started with a little baby."  I wasn't quite sure she was going to get up and do it, but sure enough she went right up to the microphone and said it word for word.  She is learning some fun songs and it melts my heart to hear her singing these songs throughout the house.

The group also had the chance to ride on a float and perform in the Temecula light parade.  I couldn't believe how big the parade was.  I thought there would be a handful of floats.  Nope.  There were over 90 floats in the parade. It was crazy

Here she is with her little friend Rachael at the Christmas performance.

I had some other pictures, but none of them turned out because we couldn't get the flash to work right :(

A Utah Thanksgiving

I love the holidays.  If I had to pick one holiday as my very favorite, I would have to say that it's Thanksgiving.  Last year, we decided to stay in California and I cooked my very first Thanksgiving.  It was different and it was fun, but I missed our family's traditions and swore I would never miss another Utah Thanksgiving again.  It's always fun to be in Fillmore for Thanksgiving.  My mom makes the BEST Thanksgiving dinner.  I hope one day I can measure up to her mad cooking skills.

Mia and her cousins Gavin and Devin. 

 The WHOLE Roper family was there this year!

 The Elite table: Buck & Kirstin, Hailey & Jordan

 First Turkey Day!

 Merek and Gram. They're just about 7 weeks apart.

 Christmas tree hunting!

 Mia couldn't ingest enough snow!

 Quality time with Grandma Great!

 Each year the city of Fillmore puts on a light parade.  This year my dad hooked the Apple Creek Farm wagon, decorated with lights, to the Percheron horses and we all rode in the wagon.  It was so fun, but so cold.  

 Mia was not in the mood for Santa this year.  But she did manage to tell him what she wanted this year. Whew! And Merek? Well he was home in bed while visions of Sugar Plums danced in his head!!

I'm 4-Months-Old Yo!

This is How He Rolls....

I can't believe that Merek started rolling today *sigh*!  Thank goodness it's just tummy to back for now.  I can't stand how fast he's growing up,