California

I know I'm slow on blogging this trip... but it's better late than never right? The day after Christmas we hopped in the van and headed to California! We were so excited because we went the North way and were able to stay at Stew and Emily's house for a night. We got to see our newest nephew Benjamin Rasmussen (born Dec. 4th), see their home and play with cousins!! It was perfect!! Stew and Em we love you guys and love your precious family!! Thanks for letting us crash your place. We loved every minute of it...it just wish we could have stayed longer!

We had so much fun in Fresno with everyone... the highlight of the Trip was being able to be there for Micah's baptism!!! Thank you guys for arranging it for when we could be there! The kiddos, especially Brayden LOVED watching Micah get Baptized! It'll be his turn in July!! Micah Thank you for being such a good example to our kiddos!! They are lucky to have you as their cousin and bud! We also met Peyton for the first time. Kolby and Peyton are about a month apart and they had so much fun playing with eachother!! What cute cousins!!
We were really excited to do our Christmas exchange this year. The kiddos loved what they got from Nana and Papa and from their cousins!!! Thanks so much everyone for everything! I was really excited to give all the cousins the gifts we had for them....I made everyone these Jedi Robes! It was time consuming but very worth it especially when we saw all of them running around playing Star Wars together!! Aren't they adorable!!! I'm glad they all fit and that they were a big hit!! In all I made 9 Jedi Robes they were for...Brayden, Adelyn, Sophie, Kolby, Ethan, Micah, Jacob, Ben and Essien. Wow, was I glad when they were all done!
It was fun to be able to spend time with everyone, strenghten family relationships, have fun, make memories and just be together! We have such an amazing family for which we feel truly blessed!!

On our way home, Helga and I talked a group to go to Avila Beach with us. I wish Scott, Marcia, Essien, Dad and Brent could have come. But we had a blast with Mom, Bryan & Helga and Tyler and Kelly and their cute family! This was the first time our kids have been to the beach and they LOVED it!!! I was so excited to be there....man I've missed the beach.

We spent all day, playing in the sand, water and just enjoying the beautiful weather. The best part was just being together!
Our sand castle was one to brag about....the kids loved getting barried in the sand...the brothers couldn't get enough football on the beach. I love our cousins stair step picture! What cute friends!! LeGrand had fun being with his brothers, I loved being with my cute sister in laws, and we all had fun being with Nana!!

On our way home, we were able to spend a few days in Henderson with Mom, Dad, Whitney, Seth and Nicci. I wish we could have seen Brandi, but we will for sure next time. We had fun going to the park, playing tennis, football, running around and just being together!! This Christmas Break we were able to spend a lot of good quality time with loved ones...It doesn't get much better than that.