the most wonderful time of the year.

Christmas 2011 was pretty close to perfect. 

I hope you have a spare 1/ 2 hour because this blog post is probably going to be that long. 

True to fashion I spent the first half of December trying to do too much.  Even though I have nearly reached my 3 year mark as primary president it doesn't get any easier to prepare for the next year- especially if you are going to be out of town the 3 weeks before as well as most of your teachers and when a week before you have to leave you still don't have a teacher called yet for your incoming class of 11 sunbeams.  It was a lot stressful and busy.  

And then I added in making CTR blocks for the primary kids for Christmas (sanding, painting, sanding, modge podging) and homemade hand soaps for my friends (what was I thinking?).  Throw in an activity every. single. night. of the first two weeks of december, Christmas shopping, apartment managing craziness with scheduling to have people move and turn an apartment while we were gone,  and I was one busy person.  

PLUS, I wanted to do fun things with my kids.  Zoo lights, parties, Christmas crafts, daily advent calendar activity, and every other red, green, or christmasy activity I could think of.  

Unfortunately this all amounted to my children watching a lot of Christmas movies, me constantly submitting my family to a project mess, and everyone wishing I hadn't taken on so much.  I kept telling myself that I would never do it again and that once we were on vacation I would have nothing to worry about and would just relax and enjoy my kids and husband the whole time.  And that is exactly what I did.  

But before I tell you about that, here are a few pre-vacation memorable moments:

Zoo lights.  Always a hit.  Glad we brought our hats and gloves this year because we decided to go on the coldest day of December.  Worth it for the joyful squeals on the train ride and the lights were truly amazing, but it was distractingly cold and we didn't stay long.

 (for posterity: we actually live in #13, but for some reason took a picture in front of #14).

The last documented use of the pacifier.  When the one we had been hanging onto for weeks became only a transmitter of disease we threw it away and have been done with them ever since.

Spencer's Dove Preschool Nativity pulled on my heart strings like crazy.  How is my baby boy so old, and when did he learn all these songs and why does he make such crazy faces?  And oh! The chocolate peppermint cookies.

After a week of finals, stevenson and I got our first ever paid babysitter in Portland and took a much needed date to the temple and dinner and then met up with some friends for ice cream.  We have been lucky enough to trade baby sitting with friends for the 3 1/2 years we have lived here, but it gets harder and harder to do the more kids you have and when you want them in their own beds.  Anyhow, it was a success and we will be repeating it more often!  Once a month is our goal until dental school is over since we currently maybe go on a date once a quarter.

I taught sharing time and then we headed out of town to start our vacation!  It is great that a trip to my parents house includes a stop at my in-laws who are on the way. Linda did a fabulous job with the christmas decorations and it was a magically beautiful time.  Our kids love going there and it was great to see them before and after our california trip.

Our drive was uneventful thankfully.  I got to drive the second half- which is my favorite.  I love the way my heart flutters as I drive that last 1/2 hour home.  The familiar sites, seeing what has changed, and the flood of memories that comes.  There is nothing like coming home.

While in California we did a lot of relaxing and a lot of fun.  Spencer and Brenden mostly got along and had a fun time although they are both "leaders of the pack" they realized eventually that you can actually have a really fun time when you play together.  And they did.  Digging up gravel and pouring it down the slide was their favorite activity which they did for hours.

And just for fun, here is a picture of the boys the last time we spent Christmas together:

Academy of Sciences in San Francisco is as awesome as its name sounds.  

 We enjoyed a straight out of a movie occurrence when "snow" started to fall during our lunch break to the tune of Charlie Brown Christmas.  Everyone got up and started dancing.

 That night we had the Perona Family first ever White Elephant Gift Exchange.  I don't know if we can ever top this year.  Platinum Fubu XXXL zip up sweatshirt anyone??

Here we all are with our loot.

 Christmas morning we opening stockings and ate a delicious breakfast before church.  Nellie loved her stroller and purse, and Spencer could not believe that he had ALL the Bob the Builder toys.

 Christmas church was great.  Hello true meaning enforcement.  It was a great break from the gift opening and helped it last longer (until 4pm to be exact.) and it was wonderful.
We returned home to a much anticipated phone call from our Nick on his mission in Argentina.  He sounds so Argentinian and says he likes speaking in Spanish better than in English.  It was so good to hear his voice and we can't wait for him to come home in March!

Then the gift opening resumed.  And legos entered our lives.  Forever.  And we love them.

 A few days after Christmas we met up with some friends, the Harrisons and Ricks, for some breakfast and playing at the park.  It is a great tradition and great that our parents live in the same places so that we can see them often.  On the way home we stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory because why not?  And because belly flops are the best.  Who doesn't love a ginormous gob of 5 jelly beans stuck together in your favorite flavor?  We ditched the tour (45 minutes!) and hit the road with our spoils.

 The rest of the week was spent outside a lot.  Flying kites.

 Getting pedicures.

 Riding bikes because we don't have any in Portland.

 Being read to by Grandma almost every night.

 Getting a much needed hair cut.

 Taking baths from all the time spent outside getting dirty.

Playing with Nellie's new handmade apron from grandma.

Celebrating uncle Seans birthday, complete with Lemon Meringue Pie- Perona style.

 Racing the clock to finish our 1000 piece Christmas puzzle before the New Year (11:55pm!) and enjoying that Smith tradition that Stevenson brought to us.

 And spending a lot of time right here in this chair, absorbing as much heat and sun as possible.  It was heavenly.  Snacks and drinks in hand.  Warm and relaxed.  Several days in a row. True vacation.

 Nellie remained cute, although sick.  And warmed up very nicely to my family.  She learned everyones names and still asks about them almost every day.

 Christmas pictures were attempted and unfortunately a group family picture was not accomplished this year.

 And Andrea's baby quilt was finished, hand quilted and hand bound to send off with her to Arizona. I love how it turned out.

Not pictured includes:
Playing tennis. Eating at In & Out (3 times?) Making and eating delicious food.  Watching It's a Wonderful Life. FHE minute to win it and Thimble game- best night of the trip! Baseball playing.  Jamba Juice stocking stuffer cash in. BYU/St. Mary's basketball game.  YouTube dedication night (drew names and came prepared with a YouTube video dedicated to that person).  New Years with cousins.  And chick flick day with my girl cousins, aunts, and grandma (5 hour Pride and Prejudice.)  A must.

It was a perfect trip.  A great end to 2011.  And a great start for 2012.