A GREAT Holiday!

We had a great Christmas vacation this year. We were able to see snow, family, and friends. Here are just a few family photos. Love you all!

Brooke and Rene (Tori's daughters) with Aunt Emi.

Girls shopping trip out. Believe it or not it is close to 70 degrees-just crazy windy.

Lori and her girls.

The Devor grandkids.

Devor family out for pizza before going ice skating.

Christmas in Kansas

We arrived in Tonganoxie, Kansas on the evening of Christmas Eve. We went straight to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's to celebrate the holidays with the whole family. It was nice to see everyone, many of whom I haven't seen in a really long time. The evening was filled with food, presents, and laughter.

We woke up Christmas day and enjoyed Mom's infamous Cheese-Sausage Biscuits and syrup. We then opened the Devor Christmas presents. Juan and Brad were both excited to receive the RC cars they have both been hoping for. Later, we ate some breakfast and enjoyed some of Juan's new games.

The remainder of the family arrived around 2 p.m. We meet Dustin, Rachel's boyfriend for the last 2 years. He was a nice guy and it was nice to have finally meet him face to face. We started our afternoon with Elizabeth's quick birthday celebration. We then moved to the "Christmas" room and watched everyone open their gifts. Gift giving/receiving is always fun at any age. Later, we had an enchilada dinner. I was able to convince many to join me out in the cold for a football game, which later turned into a snowball fight. FUN!!

Rachel and Elizabeth stayed at Mom and Tim's house for the evening and we just hung out. We will be going to do some girl shopping and stuff tomorrow. :-)

Photos of our Ski Trip

Here are a few photos of our ski trip. We had a great time. We are, however, appreciating California weather more each day. It is currently 8 degrees. BRRRR!

Me on day two with two ski's and two poles. Feeling much more secure after a day of snowboarding.
Juan is a natural snowboarder. Here is one of many shots of him coming down the mountain. I am amazed how well he was able to catch on. He is such an athlete.
Brad and his parents getting ready to hit the slopes.
Juan and I on day one. This is when I was confident that I should try everything once. Well, I tried snowboarding once-I am done.
Brad, Juan, and I at our hotel.

Check out this scrapbook on our ski trip.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I am not 16 anymore!

Our day began at Ski Cooper around 8:30 a.m. We got our lift tickets, lessons, equipment, etc. and were ready to go. Brad, Jerel, and Nieta started off right away, while Juan and I hung out until our snowboard lessons began at 10 a.m. Juan and I were immediately split up into two groups; 16 and younger (Juan) and 16 and older (me). The reason for that split was immediately evident. Within the first 30 minutes of the lesson, I fell onto my foot binding and I knew the rest of the day was going to be interesting. PS I currently have a swollen bruise on the back of my thigh about the size of my hand. It hurts to sit, but I am managing. Anyway...the lessons went pretty well. I did good until they said to buckle in both feet and stand up. The stand up part was the part I couldn't seem to catch on to. I took a couple passes down the trainer slope, but wasn't having the best of times. Juan loved it and enjoyed going down the pass falling 30 - 40 times. He loved the falling, because he was able to pop right back up.

We ended our day around 3 p.m. I went straight to the ski rental and traded in my skateboard for a pair of ski's. Hopefully today will be more successful!!

We will be leaving for Kansas early tomorrow morning to officially begin the Christmas season!! Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Cold in Colorado

Today we made it to the very cold Colorado. We are in Leadville, Colorado and is currently about 20 degrees (which it has been most of the day). We arrived around 12 p.m. and started off with a great snow ball fight. Jerel and Nieta got here about an hour later. We then went and had some dinner and then got fitted for our ski gear. I am quite nervous about learning to snow board tomorrow. Juan says it will be EASY! We shall see!

Tomorrow we will be heading over to Ski Cooper around 10 a.m. to try things out. Wish us all luck. We will be skiing for two days before heading over to Kansas. I am sure it will be a fun vacation all around. Will update on photos upon our return.

California Christmas

Today was a GREAT day! I host the annual California Christmas celebration each year in my house. We have from 10-20 people come each year. It all depends on who is available that year. We also have it a few weeks prior to Christmas, because the closer it gets to Dec. 25th, the busier people get. In addition, many of us like to just stay home on actual Christmas Day. This year was a smaller crowd, but still a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of our day. My mom and her siblings got my grandmother (their mother) a new lift chair. As you can see, she was very excited. Grandma just turned 80 this past Thursday, and on this day she wasn't feeling so hot. But she still came and held out through dinner. I am glad she did, because I wouldn't have wanted to miss this precious moment. What a smile!!

Here is everyone just enjoying the meal. Yummy!! Ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, "green stuff", and sweets that went on and on forever.

Each year, we play a fun game of Christmas Bingo. This is always something everyone looks forward to. Here I am playing the BINGO MASTER. This year I won cute salt and pepper shakers (sorry, Maggie).

The boys (Holt, Juan, and Luke) with Grandma in her new chair.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting ready for Christmas PHOTOS

As you can see, Brad and Juan are ready to go. Brad is excited about his BIG googlies, because they fit around his eye glasses. Juan HATES sunglasses, but we told him the snow will be very bright and would like him with his retinas (sp?) in tact, so we got him some "cool" sunglasses. I love these boys!

Getting ready for Christmas

I am having a busy next couple of weeks. Next weekend is the big California Christmas bash at my house. I have most of the Cali family come over to my house and we enjoy food, drinks, and lots of sweets. We then move into a very competitive game of Christmas BINGO. This game is all in the effort to get the BEST $5-$10 gift on the table. It is fun, however we have had tears in the past. Let's hope this year is tearless. Lastly, we open the Christmas gifts. This, of course, is always the most anticipated part for the kiddos. For me to, just because it is so much fun to have some family time. Sappy, I know!

The following weekend, we will be leaving sunny California on Saturday, December 20th. We will be meeting up with Brad's parent at Ski Cooper in Leadville, Colorado (highest incorporated city in the nation-WOW!) to try out some skiing. Well, some of us will be skiing. Juan and I will be taking snowboard lessons on the first day. I am a bit anxious about it all, but it should be a fun adventure. Juan is not worried one bit, he is already planning his first 360. I wouldn't doubt if he catches on right away. He is very athletic and quick to pick up just about any type of physical activity. Brad and his parents are keeping it old school with regular skiing.

After Colorado, we will be heading off to Kansas to enjoy many Christmas celebrations. Meeting with my family in Tongie on Christmas Eve-Christmas day. We will then go to Brad's parents and do a Christmas celebration with the whole family, and then stop in Wichita to see Brad's grandparents. I hope to meet up with some friends while I am out in Kansas. I hope I can. Then, we will return to sunny California again. We should be home on time for New Year's Eve. 2009-here we come!!!!!! How time flies!

I hope this message finds everyone else having a GREAT holiday seasons. May many blessings to brought upon you all this year and next. Much love!

Sneak Peek

Get a sneak peek of our family photo session at

www.staceysteel.blogspot.com

Just started

Well! I am trying to be more and more technology savvy...I just started my own blog. I don't know how often I will write on it, but I will try to keep it up. Today was a fun day. We had our family photos taken out at Santa Rosa Plateau. This is a place in Murrieta where we often like to take hikes, have picnic lunches, and just enjoy the nature. It was fun and I am looking forward to seeing the proofs. I will try to post some on line, if I can. The photographer was a friend and teacher in my district who does photography on the side. Check her out at steelthemomentphotography.com.

I am starting to feel a bit depressed because I have to go back to work tomorrow after a week off. The week has been great and I feel much more refreshed. I guess I have to go back sometime. Then, I only have to go for about 3 weeks before the winter holiday. :-)

I think this will be all for my first blog. Talk again later!