the train show

we went to the train show at the anaheim convention center. it was a good time of looking at tons of trains. we found some electric thomas trains - i think they make them to transition little boys from thomas to the world of electric trains. we're not ready yet. but the boys had a blast looking at all the set-ups and the men running them were so kind to talk with the boys and answer questions and even cater to their preference for thomas the tank engine when pointing things out. ky kept asking when we would leave. she does have a shorter attention span but i think it was a girl thing. still, we had a good time as a family.

our neighbors

our neighbors are such a blessing to us! we got home from our vacation and had all our neighbors visit and bring gifts! it was incredible. we received many yummy treats AND an electric train & track AND a new soccer goal!

here are the kids with the train and the soccer goal. unfortunately i didn't get out the camera fast enough to show the treats!

Electronic Snap Kits

the boys received 2 electronic snap kits for Christmas and they win for most time used with a gift. actually, the pjs they got may win, but for awake time - playing with electricity wins hands down. (it helps that daddy really likes them too). on the first of the year, they spent 4½ hrs straight building projects, broke for dinner, and were back at it for another couple hours until bed! the next day - 8 hours! it's too bad daddy has to make money because they could probably still be going at that rate if he was here! check out the fun...

IE Adventures

on the way home from AZ we stopped in the IE to vacation. The kids rode with grandpa & grandma in the microwave. we stayed with them at the RV park in cabins. us in one, the cousins in another, and the grandparents in the RV.











we went on the palm springs aerial tramway. while we waited to board, the kids played in a gorgeous surrounding of fall leaves, crawling through bushes and climbing on rocks. on the tram, we had the opportunity to see beautiful views and there was snow at the top to play!
we had an all family snowball fight - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - it was a blast. we built our first big snowman (last winter we made one about a foot tall, so this year's 3 feet was much more realistic).
sy was the 5th little grubb to wear this snowsuit. it was his daddy's over 30 years ago and now each of our children has had the opportunity to wear it at least once.


scott's sister's family is such fun to play with. the kids enjoy doing just about anything with each other and the adults all like playing games together. so vacation with them is always a good time.



we went hiking in the hills behind our kabin. there were more fun views and big boulders to climb.



we celebrated scott's 35th birthday at a local italian restaurant

then headed home on new year's eve. by this time our kids had been away from home for 9 days and we were thinking that it was about 2 days too long. hopefully we'll work on that again though soon. (that means we'd have to go on another vacation - which always sounds good to me.)

Christmas in Arizona

we had a fun 5 days in Phoenix with the grandparents! the kids love to see them, of course. but beyond seeing them, we got to hike with them, church with them, and bowl with them. all of this culminated with a drive in their microwave! (you might call it a motorhome).

the kids hiked the mountain behind their house numerous times. the 26th, we hiked up "the bigger mountain" which took a couple hours. that was fun.

this photo is at the top of the bigger mountain, there were a lot of people out hiking, running, etc for the morning after Christmas. it was really cold to us, but there were quite a few families in shorts! i guess we are accustomed to the sunny California winters!
the boys spent a little time outside with their nature journals. i really wanted them to do it everyday while we were gone because there are so many different things to see - like cactus, cactus, and more cactus. but their journals currently consist of only what is in our neighborhood - grass, flowers, vegetables. so we got one cactus - and that's good enough for me.

"the professional"

what fun we had!

Christmas with the Thibodo's

we had my side of the family over on the 21st for Christmas dinner. it was a fun time with cousins together and lots of football watching (the soccer kind and the throwball kind receiving almost equal time).

costco fun - getting things that aren't on my list!

we went to costco today. we were there just to buy diapers as i was down to 2. but, as usual i got more than just what was on my list! we bought 1 box of diapers AND a new slide for sy.

here he is on his new slide...

he was pushing this around the house on the carpet. he'd stop randomly, walk around to the back of the box, climb on and slide down. then move on to the next spot. what fun!