The Mowles Family: 2009

G8 road trip (October 2009)

This fall it started to become very clear that Larry was going to need a new (or newer) car. He was driving our two-door Accord, and the transmission was failing. Plus, it had only two doors! It was not exactly a family-friendly car. For a variety of reasons (price, appearance, roominess, sportiness, etc.), Larry got his heart set on a black Pontiac G8. Since Pontiac is a discontinued brand, inventory was limited to existing vehicles. Larry found a new one and negotiated a price--but the car was in Denver.

So, with a lot of babysitting help from my parents, off to Denver Larry and I went. We flew in and over the course of a few days drove home: Denver to Moab, UT; Moab to Las Vegas; Las Vegas to home. It was a wonderful trip and, especially from Denver to Moab, incredibly beautiful. We had a great time.

Pumpkin patch (Irvine Park railroad)

Going back to October... Sara and I were signed up for MOPS this fall but, through a series of scheduling issues, never made it to a single session. The only event we attended was a visit to the pumpkin patch at Irvine Park. It was impressive! The weather was very gloomy that day, but the rain stayed away long enough for us to enjoy our morning there. I definitely hope to go again next fall.

Sara and Fernando

Pumpkins galore!

Posing in front of the backdrop

The cutest sherriff in town

Christmas with the Rosas

The Rosas came over on the 27th for our annual Christmas get-together. We enjoyed a free lunch from Corner Bakery (thanks to their order screwup), and the girls had a blast tearing the house apart.

Zoey and Sara on Sara's new trampoline

Melissa and baby Leo

More playtime!

Christmas Day 2009

On Christmas morning Larry and I enjoyed helping Sara open gifts and opening a few of our own. But that was just the beginning of the fun!

For the second time in as many weeks Larry's side of the family all came together, this time for a Christmas Day brunch at our place. It was a nice time with family and was very mellow. As far as I was concerned, it could not have been much more pleasant.

As far as presents go, my favorites are my Blendtec blender (which I bought for myself a few weeks before Christmas, and with which I have been making smoothies like crazy), my new slippers, and a couple of cookbooks I received. Larry's favorite is probably his new compressor for the garage, plus he got some nice clothes. Sara's seems to like everything and has been flitting about between her indoor and outdoor tables, trampoline, books, puzzles, and Fisher-Price piggy bank. The house is quickly coming to resemble a Toys R Us!

Christmas Eve 2009

This year we celebrated Christmas Eve at Eric and Tanja's house. It was really fun this year, because Ryan especially totally "got it." He had a blast through the whole thing and was even a good boy during church. Sara got more into opening presents as the celebrations progressed.

Sara and Ryan by their kids' table

Eric and his baby boy

My baby girl, one of my precious baby boys, and I. This was the first time I had done my hair and put on makeup in a long time. I look so good! LOL

The boys sitting down to an Italian-themed dinner

So many presents

Daddy and his cheesy-faced girl

We all think Blake looks like Grandpa Frank (Eric's dad)

Family portrait attempt #6. This is as good as it's going to get, folks.

Christmas lights

On Christmas Eve eve we went over to the Masterjohns' house for some pizza followed by a tour of the Brea Christmas lights. Zoey and Brian came, too!

Dinner at the kids' table: Eliott, Sara, and Zoey

In front of one of the houses

Eliott is a super social kid. He's really good with Sara.

Baby Isaac kept wandering in and out of the frame, but he's not in this shot.

Carla's birthday

Alex's wife Carla's birthday is also a few days for Christmas. We got together on the Sunday before Christmas to celebrate. We went to Mexico 1900, a popular Mexican food restaurant with the locals. After dinner everyone came back to our place.

Daddy and his baby girl

Ryan, Eric, Tanja, and "Beakers"

Mowles family (I desperately need to go to the eye doctor so I've been wearing my glasses a lot more than usual)

Carla, Kyle, and Alex

Onkel Eric and Baby Kyle

Tante Tina and Baby Kyle

Baby cousins Kyle and Blake. They are only about seven weeks apart.

Big brother Ryan gets in on the action

John's birthday

Larry's brother John's birthday is just a few days before Christmas, so we got together on the Saturday before the holiday to celebrate. We all enjoyed lunch at Benihana. Happy birthday, John!

Cousin Miranda was loving playing with Sara's hair

Our big group!

Gramma Daisy with her three great-grandkids, plus Billie, John, and Christal

Vicki and Megan

Fun outings

On the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend we took the trailer down to the beach for the day. The Tyners joined us for a cold but beautiful day.

I love Sara's hair like this. It's so ridiculous but so cute.

Ryan was shredding on Sara's trike

A week later Larry signed up for his annual Disney passport. The park was decorated for Christmas and looked beautiful!

A few days later Tanja and I took the kids to the mall for Santa pictures. The mall has a play area which was teeming with little kids.

Ryan loved the monster truck!

Sara loves her Tante Tanja and "Beak"

Cookie baking, 2009

On Thanksgiving evening I got into Larry's car and trekked out to Imperial, CA (near El Centro) to bake cookies with my good friend Karen. This was our third annual cookie-baking event, and we might have outdone ourselves. We prepared four different varieties and did a ton of decorating! I enjoy this so much every year. It's a wonderful bonding time, and it definitely helped to put us both in the Christmas spirit.

Look at all those cookies!

Karen did an especially beautiful job with the snowflakes this year

Cookies, cookies, cookies!

Thanksgiving

We did not decide on our Thanksgiving plans this year until the day before the holiday. At the last moment, my siblings and I all decided to get together at our place, and we actually pulled off quite a lovely day!

Baby Kyle and I