Christmas 2008

This year for Christmas we got a treat a little early. We decided since Boise State got accepted to the Poinsettia Bowl that we'd go and support them and make a family vacation out of it. We spent a night in Vegas then headed the rest of the way to San Diego. We spent a day at Sea World and the kids absolutely loved it. Austin was a trooper and made it through the entire park until we stopped at the last show which was the seal show - Rys loved it, Aus slept through it. The kids are still doing the Shamu chant - except Austin says it 'Amu.'

Then we spent a day at the Wild Animal Park. This was really cool because we saw elephants, big horn sheep, giraffes, lions, rhinos, zebras, gorillas and cheetahs just to name a few. We got there just in time to see them feeding most of the animals so they came up a lot closer than they normally would. Austin's favorite was the gorillas - or 'Ooo Ooo Ahh Ahh's' as he calls them - so much so that he had to get one from the gift shop. RyLee liked the giraffes and the gorillas but I think her favorite part of that day was what we did after leaving the park. For some reason she insisted on getting her ears pierced - and by golly she did it. She was such a brave little girl and hopped right up into the chair and got it done.

The next day we were going to hit the beach but it turned out to be a rainy day so we hit the aquarium and called it good. The next day was the BSU vs TCU game and we were more than ready for that. It was cool because we stayed in the same hotel as the players so we saw them throughout the week. Every time Aus would see someone in orange he'd say 'Go Broncos' but by golly if he saw a player it was like he was in awe and wouldn't say a thing. So cute.

The game was awesome, the kids had a riot it's just too bad it didn't end the way we wanted it to. We made lots of memories as a family and that's what we have to reflect on now. We drove the entire way home on Christmas Eve to make it back for the service at church. Whew!!! Jared and I didn't know if we'd be able to pull that one off so we had a friend ready to play Santa for us just in case, but it all worked out.

Christmas was fun just hanging out at home after that long trip. RyLee got a two wheel scooter from Santa and Austin got a train table. They both were very thankful for everything they got and have had fun playing with everything since. Now we're just trying to keep our head above the snow and are looking forward to getting back on a schedule after that whirl wind.