Christmas time is here!

I always look forward to Christmas time, especially decorating the house with a wonderful smelling tree. Now its not very easy with a 1 year old so this year we had a brilliant thought! Our town home was just installed with a new bay window so we got what we thought was a perfect sized tree for our window, but much to our surprise it still did not fit! Matt walked across the street to borrow a hand saw and came back with Bryson on his back and a huge bow saw in his hand, it was hilarious! Really I think Matt was just so excited to use a saw :)We also know that we wont be here for Christmas so a Bryson size tree was perfect! he loves the lights and playing with frosty, I think Bryson will be a big fan of Christmas.

Thanksgiving madness

We went home (socal) for the Holiday weekend not knowing what we were getting into, first of all it shouldnt have been surprising that it was almost 80 degrees for the Holiday but... it was! we got to see family, have Bryson's birthday party (early so we could be with family) and have our first and hopefully only trip to the Prompt care for stitches.

We flew in the morning of Thanksgiving and to our surprise the airport was not so crazy! We came in and had some great food :) and Bryson enjoyed his first Thanksgiving.

The next day Bryson was playing with a snare drum on the floor it lifted and then fell onto his finger cutting the tip open and spliting his nail. It was super sad and scary, we took him to the prompt care and he was given 7 stitches in his right ring finger and they cut the nail off, he did SOOO well and  was such a big boy but hopefully he doesnt get used to roughing it up.

Good ole Humboldt

It's been awhile since I have updated our blog, I think its been a combination of being busy with a 1 year old and feeling uncreative, I don't know if this will be much better!
But at the beginning of November our Friend Gatlin came home from his mission in Brasil and we were anxious for the opportunity to see him and out other friends in Humboldt.


It was a interesting trip starting with a drive at night with no windshield wipers! and it ALWAYS rains in Humboldt... fyi the wipers were working before we left. We stayed at our friends Daryl and Sarah's, they are always so hospitable and we love their little girl Raya! It was really nice to bring Bryson to see where we used to live, he was entertained by Miriam and Sarah serenading him :)

I also want to share some pictures of the beautiful sites of the area!

Halloween Fun

This year Halloween was especially fun, not only did Bryson have his first Halloween but we had fun with our friends Jay and Sarah! Friday night we went to the ward trunk or treat and gave out 3 bags o' candy and we were able to show off our little Jack Jack :) and see our friends who were soooo cute.








After we got home we got the treat of the pumpkin master, yes my friends, Jay is the pumpkin master! he carved the death star
Sarah choose a pretty princess pumpkin for her carving and carved a flower in it, it was pretty cool cause the whole pumpkin was glowing.




Matt carved a traditional pumpkin, he thinks its been the same jack o lantern face since forever.



I choose to do a pirate ship so I strategically choose the biggest pumpkin so that I could have room.




Last night we just hung out watched Nightmare before Christmas and had dessert fondue. Thanks Jay and Sarah for a great Halloween.

huzzaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to the Ren Faire, I know it's a little dorky but since my friend Jessie introduced me 5 yrs ago I have gone almost every year! maybe its just my love for the turkey legs, or maybe I just like the dressing up part! This year Miriam came down for my birthday weekend and entered the faire with us, We even had a little dragon in tow :)
Bryson had fun hanging out with his dad. they played around and then Bryson got very tired.

Through my window

Soooo, all I can say is lately Charter Palms has been an INTERESTING place to live!
but its been some of those times that pictures speak louder than words.
First we will talk about the pesky squirrels, they are vicious and try to attack my house!

(this is the my back screen)











Next is they are doing a lot of construction to make it look nice and after they were done this is what they left

I tried to zoom in but its underware! (anyone lose there briefs?)







And that leads me to today. I told Matt how its frustrating that they always like to do work when it's Bryson nap time, yes they do it other times too but its hard to put a 10 mo old down when there are two chain saws literally out side my window. and I love that there are two men up in trees out side my window while I am in my PJ's!
And I cannot walk into my back yard cause right now I have my own forest on the ground!


This is my rant!

Sacramento

it was our friend Miriam's Birthday last week so this past weekend we went to visit her in Sacramento. We decided to take the train so we did not have to deal with traffic, surprisingly it was not that expensive and WAY less stressful with a mobile 9 mo. old that wants to crawl around everywhere.
He didnt sleep like we planned but he DID have fun crawling on the table!

The next day we went to Apple Hill, it was a great little area with lots of yummy apple stuff, apple cider, pie, donuts,milk shakes, caramel apples ect... we had to bring back some dutch apple pie and cider.....yummy!
There was also a pumpkin patch and petting "zoo" we were able to gets some cute pics from.


All in all it was a great trip and it was so good to see Mir! We all had a great time and at the end Bryson was all tuckered out!

Like Father, Like Son

I've long thought that Bryson inherited a few things from me: his love of music, the way he's always happier when outdoors, and even his awesome facial expressions (my favorite is the single cocked eyebrow - he's been doing it practically since birth!), but it wasn't until recently that I realized just how close to the tree this little apple has fallen.  You see, Bryson LOVES Scooby Doo.  The talking stuffed Scooby I've had for years (people always assume it's Bryson's...) has become one of his favorite new friends.  He cracks a smile everytime he hears it talk, and he usually crawls towards it at full speed.  He's adorable to watch with Scooby - just check out these pictures (and the flannel pajamas) !!!

 

I mentioned Bryson's musical inclinations, didn't I?  Well, this has recently manifested itself in a very entertaining fashion.  Our little guy has turned into a one man band.  Who knew he was already so talented?

Oh yes, and there's at least one more trait that our rapazinho shares with dad - we're both easily entertained.  yes, Bryson and I enjoy the simple things in life... like crawling through cardboard boxes.  :)

Shoreline

Recently, we took a hike closer to home at a place called Shoreline. We've walked around Shoreline a few times, and we always see some wildlife - usually geese, squirrels, egrets, herons, ducks, and terns - but this time we saw something unexpected. Actually, we saw a LOT of unexpected critters. As we were walking along a trail, we saw a few huge pelicans flying right over our heads. They glided down and landed in a marsh just a few feet away from us. Right behind this first few birds was a HUGE flock literally hundreds of these massive, beautiful birds. We took a few pictures, but they hardly do the scene justice. It was amazing watching them fly in and fly out. Here's a few snapshots and a brief video clip of our experience (plus one of Bryson in his beenie before our chilly morning hike - he's just so darn cute!). Enjoy!

Bryson's First (Crazy) Summer

Bryson's first summer sure has been a crazy one. We've gone through lots of ups and downs, and that little boy has traveled up and down the state several times. On the bright side, we have lots of fun pictures and videos to share. :) This top picture is one of Bryson's first experience at Huntington City Beach (you'll notice the pier in the background). We set him down for a few seconds to take a picture, and he immediately grabbed two fistfuls of sand and shoved them in his mouth. He's such a little boy.

This summer marked another important first for Bryson (and us too): his first trip to Gilroy's annual Garlic Festival! Ever since I first heard that such a thing existed I've wanted to go to the garlic festival, and this year I got my wish. We had some AMAZING garlic fries, garlic steak tacos, and even some deep-fried garlic. (Yeah, it was pretty awesome.) Being the intrepid food adventurers that we are, we also sampled some more exotic garlic cuisine, like garlic ice cream (we have proof - it's in the picture above), garlic chocolate covered peanut butter cups, and garlic grilled kangaroo skewers. No, kangaroo does not taste like chicken... it's more like a gamey beef.

Bryson has been learning all sorts of new things lately, and that has made playing with him even more fun. Recently, our rapazinho discovered the magic of bubbles. Here's a few pictures of him and bubbles in our little back patio.




In August, we camped in Big Basin Redwoods State Park (which, BTW, was the very first state park in California) with our friends the Bergs. Both Bryson and the Berg's two-year-old Luke had fun looking at the big trees, going on hikes, and sitting by the campfire. Bryson's favorite part, though, seemed to be eating dirt. :)