Dec. 24th & 25th - Christmas Festivities

Christmas this past year was a fun one. We did all the usual stuff: decorated the house, bought the "perfect" Christmas tree, baked cookies, went to Disneyland, wrapped a million presents ... I love all of our Christmas traditions. Christmas Eve was held at my parent's house for the first time in a really long time. It was SOOOOO nice not to have to drive out to the valley for once. We went back to my parent's house for Christmas morning and then to John's parent's house in the afternoon. As you can see from the sampling of our pictures below, a wonderful holiday was had by all!


HOUSE DECORATIONS & THE TREE

Aren't these snowmen just the cutest things you've ever seen??  Renee bought them for me and I love them!!

We're off to find the perfect tree!

This one will work.

Done!

BAKING COOKIES

THE OFFICIAL PARDUCHO FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD

 CHRISTMAS EVE

It's birthday and I'm ready to party!!

Playin' around in the backyard

It's present time!!

CHRISTMAS DAY

As you can see, we were all very generous this Christmas.

Here's a video of Nala playing with her new toy from Mimi and Papa. It was pretty entertaining for all of us!

**Click here for video**

Taylor had a great time moving everyone's opened gifts around the room.

She likes it!

More presents at the afternoon Christmas celebration!

Guia says "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

A Christmas toast

A Christmas family shot ... sort of.

Dec. 23rd - Bobby's Birthday

My brother's birthday is the day before Christmas Eve. One of our traditions has always been to go to a Japanese teppan restaurant for dinner and this year didn't disappoint!

We started out with a delicious dinner at Tokyo Hibachi.

Bobby and Grandma

Me, John, and my Dad

My Mom, Renee, and a sleeping Taylor

Awwwwww ... a heart of rice!

After dinner we headed to my parent's house for presents and cake.

What in the heck is this thing?

Cool!!

Birthday brownies for the birthday boy

My Grandma had a Christmas gift for Taylor that she wanted to give her before what was sure to be a hectic Christmas Eve and morning.  It was a hit!!

Dec. 16th - Disneyland With Grandma

As luck would have it, I actually got to go to Disneyland TWICE this year for Christmas.  I was so happy to be able to spend so much time there during the holidays.  This time I was joined by John, my parents, and my Grandma.  We did a lot of the same things I did with my Mom.  I loved getting to spend time with my Grandma at Disneyland.  She's such a good sport and was definitely an influence in my love of all things Disney.  I hope we can do it again sometime soon!

I have a couple of pictures, but I know there are more.  I'll update this post later with more when I get them.

John relaxing against a candy cane

My Mom and Grandma in front of the castle

The gang is ready for fireworks!

Pretty tree!

Dec. 8th - Disneyland with Mom

Every year, my Mom and I get so excited about going to Disneyland and seeing all of the holiday decor.  We just love it!  We always say we want to go multiple times to take it all in, but usually we get too busy with the holidays.  This year I was determined to at least go one time and really  enjoy it.  I decided to take a day off of work so that we could get there a little earlier in the day before it got too crowded.  My Mom joined me, it worked out perfectly, and we had a fantastic time!  We got to see everything we wanted to see, do some shopping, and spend some time together.  Doesn't get much better than that!

Look at how big the ornaments are on the Christmas tree!!!  They're bigger than Mom's head!

Getting in line for the Small World

Isn't it pretty at night?

Me and my Mom enjoying some Southern California "snow"

And now for some video!!

I love going on Small World during the holidays and seeing how it transforms.  Here's just a quick glimpse of what we saw.

**Click here for video**

At night they have a neat light show that plays outside of Small World.  It's very fun!

**Click here for video**

And definitely one of our most favorite parts is the Christmas Fireworks Show.  They do such a good job.  I have 2 clips, one from the middle and one from the end.

**Click here for video (middle)**
**Click here for video (end)**

Dec. 2010 - Nala

Just a couple of pics of Nala doing what she does best - look cute!

Nala can not resist any blanket or towel that's on the floor.  She immediately has to lay down on it.  She loves it when I change the sheets on the bed because there's bound to be something for her to plop down on.

I couldn't resist taking this picture of her curled up in her bed.  Look how her back feet are under her chin.  So flexible!

Nov. 2010 - Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving Day with John's family in Chino Hills.  It was a little bit of a potluck but John's Mom ended up doing most of the cooking.  She always makes really good food! 

All dressed up and ready to go!

Where's the turkey?

Our official photographer.  Trying to decide whether to take pictures or eat ... eating won!

Look at all the delicious food!  It was definitely a feast!

John's Dad carving the bird

Visiting and relaxing after the meal. We were so full!!

The cousins

The next day, we drove to Pomona where my family was camping.  We spent the day out there doing some more visiting, watching the UCLA football game at a local bar, and enjoying scrumptious chili that was simmering all day long. 

The kids were so funny because they became obsessed with this rope and getting tied to a tree.  Tyler (my cousin Teresa's son) was asking for someone to tie him up, so Bobby didn't hesitate and ran over to do it!  Tyler was so happy!!  Soon all the kids were joining in.

Tyler is all smiles!

Taylor says "what a weirdo!"

Here comes the rest of 'em

Leah is so cute!

The weekend after Thanksgiving, John and I made all of my Nana's Thanksgiving recipes and had my brother's family over for dinner.  We had a really great evening together and stuffed ourselves once again.

Makin' the dressing

It was a great Thanksgiving and a great reminded that we have so much to be thankful for!