I love this time of year! Holly and Greta were bursting at the seams to decorate our tree! They want to race through it, but I want to pause and look at each ornament and remember. I've made ornaments for our girls for the past 5 or 6 years and I love remember the little details of Christmases past. Oh, and having a baby at Christmas is pure magic!

American Thanksgiving is a bit of a weird holiday for us because none of our family celebrates it. We were lucky this year, Conor’s parents came to visit and spent a chunk of time with us. We made a lovely turkey dinner and just spent time together. This was our third year in a row making chocolates with Catherine and Jim and that’s pretty special! Thanks for coming!

Last year, we bought a very lovely Christmas tree from a lot for $95 and I cried about it because I really wanted a certain tree and Conor really didn’t want to spend that much. To be fair, I didn’t want to spend that much either. And I must also include that I gave birth to Maeve the day after we bought our tree that I cried over. Last year we committed to buying a permit (for $5) and cutting down our own tree for the rest of our lives. 

While Conor’s parents were here visiting, we cut down our own tree! It’s a beauty and I look forward to continuing on with this tradition. When we lived in Denver, we cut down Christmas trees with dear friends when Holly was just a baby, and when Holly was still just a baby, but older. 

Knowing that the monarch butterflies were migrating through California at the same time we would be visiting, Holly, Greta and I learned about them. We found some really fun books from the library - our favorite was “Gotta go, gotta go!” We did some other activities and I personally really enjoyed what we did! I love the monarch butterflies and I love the eucalyptus groves they stop over in. It really is such a magical event. I’m so glad the timing lined up for us to do that. We’ve been in the past… see these blog posts. 

After the butterflies we played on the beach with friends. I’m so amazed at how willing the kids (and Conor!) are to go into the water when it’s pretty chilly outside. They loved it.

We tried to visit Ranchos San Antonio on a Sunday afternoon and I was reminded of one thing I don’t like about California - too many people, not enough parking!! We drove around the parking lot for 20 or so minutes and then left. Fortunately I was able to come back the next day, and being a weekday, the parking lot wasn’t even half full. I love this place. So many good memories. I love the rolling golden hills of California