New Year's Eve

We had planned to go to Legoland for New Year's Eve, but it was raining pretty good all day long. We decided to spend the evening at home. The kids drank sparkling cider.

I have big goals going into 2017...I will run my first full marathon. I've been taking some time to reflect on my accomplishments this year. It's amazing to think about how many races I've participated in since January!

Winter Break Fun

Zachary decided to go to Cub Scout camp for two days this week. He chose a fossil fun theme and build it theme. On Tuesday, Zachary went to the Natural History Museum. On Thursday, he went to the Science Museum. He said next time he wants to go to camp all week.
While Zachary was at camp, Kailani and I enjoyed some time together. We started our Tuesday off with breakfast at the Hash House. I've always wanted to eat here, but it's always too busy. The breakfast was huge, but it was good! After breakfast, we hung out at the zoo until Zachary was finished at camp.

New Year...Organization

Since we're moving into the New Year, we had to take some time to get organized. Even Lucy wanted to help...

We spent a lot of time organizing Legos in the play room (I mean Lego room). We still have further organization to do, but this looks way better than it did.
 

Just Like Daddy

We had lunch at Miguel's today. Zachary is just like daddy with his sauce!

Merry Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas together as a family. The kids got way too much! Kailani's big gift was a laptop. Zachary's big gift was a WiiU and Lego Dimensions. They both got tablets and fit bits among other things.

 They got way too many Legos!!

Kona enjoyed his gift.

We finished the day off with our tradition of dinner at Fuji.

Christmas Eve

Today we hung around the house all day. The boys watched football and the girls read (yes, I actually have time to read now!).

 

Koa fought Kona for the dog bed!

We baked some cookies too.

 
We went to Christmas Eve service at church. The kids are always invited on stage to decorate the tree. Zachary went up this year, but Kailani didn't want to. The service always ends with everyone singing Silent Night with candles.

 The Elf brought the kids a warm pair of pjs to wear to bed tonight:)

I saw this online today and it made me think of how lucky we are to have Jason home this Christmas.

Dad's Retirement

Today was my dad's last day of work at the City of Bethlehem. He is now a retired man. I am so happy for him.

Girl Scout Holiday Party

Tonight the Girl Scouts celebrated with a holiday party. They painted Christmas trees, made picture frames, exchanged gifts, and decorated cookies. Each of the girls brought a dog toy that we will be donating to the Humane Society. They had a great time!

Of course Zachary got in on the action:)

Breaking and Entering

Every year the radio station helps one family in need by "breaking and entering" into their home and setting it all up for Christmas. They only choose one family from hundreds of nominations. In order to help more families, they ask for businesses to sponsor additional families. Amy, our Fit Miss trainer, decided to sponsor a family. We were all invited to purchase a gift for the family. We met outside the family's house, sang Christmas carols, and presented them with all of their gifts. It was so great for all of our kids to be a part of such a selfless event. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain, but we still made it happen.

After we delivered the gifts, we went to eat at El Pollo Grill, a restaurant owned by one of the Fit Miss families.

Legoland

Today we went to Legoland. They had a special scavenger hunt for the kids to complete in order to earn more pop badges. They've collected a few during past events.

After Legoland, we went to the San Diego Food Bank to volunteer with the Padres Volunteer Team. We made boxes for seniors and packages for students at local schools. Our job was to assemble the boxes. We spent 2 hours at the foodbank and made 600 senior boxes and 690 student packages for a total of 20,000 pounds of food. The kids really enjoy volunteering at the food bank.

And yes, we did sign up for Padres season tickets again next year!

Animal Antics

Lucy got herself into a little situation the other night. She jumped up on top of the cabinet above the toilet and I had to rescue her:)

Holiday is still getting a lot of attention as the only dog (for now). We're keeping our eyes open for a boxer friend for her.

PetSmart is moving a few blocks up the street into a different shopping center, so they are selling everything at 75% off. The kids and I went and stocked up! We should be set for a few months.

Holiday Half

Today I ran the San Diego Holiday Half Marathon. It was a chilly 36 degrees this morning in San Diego! It was very hard to get out of the heated car and stand at the start line. After a few miles, I started to warm up though. I finished the 1/2 marathon in 2:28:34, which is 2 minutes faster than last year and 1 minute faster than my faster 1/2 ever.

At the start line...

At the finish line...

Wreaths Across America

Today we participated in the annual Wreaths Across America event with Girl Scouts. Kailani and Kaia were the only girls from our troop to attend. We really enjoy participating in this event. This was our 3rd year.