Bathtime without water...in clothes...

I came upon this sight by chance... Jason got fun bathtime crayons from Aunt Michelle.  Who says you need to actually be bathing to use them, right?

Visit From the McCreas - Day 2

The 29th was still pretty dull and dreary.  I forgot to mention earlier that Garrett totally had the stomach flu when they got here, which is why there aren't many pics of him.  He was busy watching his new movie from the McCrea's "How to Train Your Dragon," and lying in my room in misery.  Poor little buddy.
I had a great time coloring with Joscelyn.  We made this masterpiece together.  We were quite proud of ourselves.

The highlight of the 29th was when Kevin got home early from work, and I was able to take the McCreas on a drive to La Jolla.  I think La Jolla is absolutely beautiful.  We were able to stop at the temple, and right next to the temple is a shopping center that has Trader Joe's so we were able to stop there and get some gluten-free foods for Ant and my kids. 

The rest of the day we watched "good cable" (Ant's name for non-basic cable).  It was fun to catch up on totally shallow, fun shows like "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and "Millionaire Matchmaker."

Gavin was super cute and happy just chillin' with the rest of us. 

This was, of course, quite the funny sight.  Garrett always goes after everyone's Cokes.  :)

And, of course, Ant got some good snuggle time in with her little buddies.

Visit From the McCreas

 We were very excited to find out earlier in the year that Ant Larraine, Kayli and her two kids Joscelyn and Gavin, were coming to San Diego for their vacation.  They got here late on the 27th, and they sure were a sight for sore eyes.  The first couple days they were here were kind of overcast and rainy, so we just chilled at home and played and our kids got to know this other part of their family a little better. 

Gavin and Jason played very well together.  It was nice to see Jason playing with another little kid since Garrett and Caiti don't give him the time of day.

 Caiti loved Ant Larraine.  Ant just had the magic touch and made Caiti feel happy.

 Gavin and Joscelyn looked super cute trying on Caiti's hats.  I loved having a flower pot and a princess in my living room.

On the 28th, I was lucky enough to get a VERY needed haircut from my favorite hairstylist, Kayli.  I felt pretty lucky.  She did such a good job. 

Christmas 2010

So, coincidentally, not only was Kevin on duty on Thanksgiving, but he was on duty on Christmas as well.  So, we ended up having our Christmas Eve on the 23rd, and Santa brought the presents a day early so that we could celebrate Christmas on the 24th. 

Michelle was nice and did respite for Kevin and I so that Kevin could get his Christmas shopping for the kids done.  He had gone earlier and gotten me a great sweater and new jeans which, of course, I opened early cause I'm not very good at waiting.  We were glad to have Michelle there the rest of the evening to celebrate Christmas Eve with us.  We made a ham for our Christmas Eve dinner...which burned...dang it!  I never claimed to be a good cook.  Luckily I had a frozen cheesecake for dessert, so at least we didn't ruin that. I was too lazy to make the tater-tot casserole I had planned for our dinner, but that ended up making a great Christmas breakfast instead.  :) 

A Roach family tradition is to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, so we watched that for our Christmas Eve tradition.  Then we all opened a pair of pajamas before bedtime.  :)  After the kids went to bed, Santa stopped by and left a bunch of presents.  Thanks Santa!

We had a great time on our Christmas morning (the 24th).  We loved watching the kids open their presents.  They were very excited about all of their gifts which made me happy because I never really know what to give Garrett and he liked everything he got, and I never know if my kids will even get what is going on.  I felt like they all understood that it was a fun holiday and that the presents were for them.

We had a nice visit from the new Military Relations missionaries.  They brought by cookies.  Yummy.  It was a little embarrassing because our house definitely looked like we had just opened tons of presents. 
That night we rented Salt with Angela Jolie and just had a chill evening.  I love my family and I'm grateful for all the wonderful gifts we were given and able to give.
Most importantly, of course, I'm grateful for the reason we even celebrate Christmas.  The gift of the Savior is a better gift than any other.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Fall Pictures...at Christmastime.

Around Halloween, Garrett and Caiti got these adorable pictures taken at school.  I am just now posting them because Michelle gave me a couple-day early Christmas present of a wonderful printer/scanner.  I'm so glad.  What a fabulous sister.

Sitting on Santa's Lap

 Today, out of the blue, literally, I found this picture from 2006 of the first time either Garrett or Caiti met Santa.  This is a funny memory for me.  We were in Michigan visiting my sister Jennifer's family, and Santa was at the Ford Museum.  It was the first of many hillarious family pictures.

 After seeing Dora and Diego and being better introduced to Santa through their Christmas specials, these two did a whole lot better when they saw Santa this year at the Children's Christmas Party for Kevin's ship. 

Security Blankie

Jason just rediscovered his favorite blankie.  We originally bought it back when we had that fire in our old house and had to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks.  We thought Garrett would like it.  Garrett was about the same age then as Jason is now. 
Anyway, Jason's super into cars, and I got this blankie out for him the other day.  He totally smiled and had to examine all the vehicles on the blankie.  He has since carried it around with him almost everywhere.  It's so cute.

Garrett's Favorite Yoga Pose

They now make Yoga undies intead of Yoga pants...yeah...

Garrett watching Grandpa's Art Instructional Video