Random photo shoot: Sophia 3y 4 months, Preston 23 months, Bentley 6 weeks

Sometimes when you don't plan on taking pictures you get the best ones(so we've found out). One day we just sat them all in the corner of the couch and started shooting. Preston is SOOOO much better with Bentley and when he wants to hold him he holds out his hands and says "me too". Preston is talking sooooo much now. Our favorite is when he says "bless you mommy/daddy/baby/phia". He never misses a chance to say " bless you" which is funny because that was the first thing Phia said to Preston when he was born. I remember bringing him home from the hospital and he sneezed and Phia said " bless you"(she was only 17 months!!).

Decorating the house!

We had so much fun decorating this year. This is definitely our favorite time of year and we go allll out and it was especially fun having the kids help. We were so curious if Preston would get into everything but he's done so well. Both kids love searching for the Elf in the morning that Sophia named "Snack". Phia of course finds it immediately! Presto is learning Christmas songs and sings "fa la la la la" very loudly! Their enthusiasm is so infectious...I wish the holidays were all year round!!

Pictures with Santa!

This year has been so fun. BOTH kids absolutely love Santa and we have a very friendly one near our house who loves the kids too. We've visited him multiple times and the kids never stop talking about going back!! Last night we took the kids for individual pictures and Santa said "what made you not scared of Santa this year?", and Phia said "I just love you" and he said "ohhh I love you too" and in true Phia fashion she came back with " I LOVE YOU MORE" and of course everyone around gave a big "awww". When we took the group shot of the kids Bentley didn't even wake up(he was only 5 weeks old). Last night he(at 7 weeks) he was wide awake and happy!!!

Bentley was so alert and happy even though we had just woken him up...we were shocked(and happy)!

Sophia is thankful!

We are amazed at all the things Sophia is learning t school. Just yesterday she said " mommy in Germany they call Christmas trees Tannenbaums and they decorate them with apples and lights"!She remembers absolutely everything! They have a prayer bear at school and each child takes turns bringing him home> The teachers ask the child what they want to pray for and stick the prayer in the bear for us to say with her at night. She's always super proud to bring him home so I wanted to document her prayer.



What Sophia was thankful for this year, Clearly mermaids hold a special place in her heart:)

Thanksgiving in Solvang!

We went to Solvang again this year but sadly Nonno was so sick he couldn't join us. It was sure an adventure with 3 kids but we ended up having a blast. Thankfully when we arrived at The Hadsten House they upgraded us to a jacuzzi suite! It was a MUCH bigger room which came in handy plus Nana had her own room so Presto slept with her. We enjoyed an awesome dinner at the hotel that evening. Phia was super sick too('tis the season) so we went straight to bed. The next day we went to our favorite castle park and then head our Thanksgiving feast at Coldspring Tavern. The kids were so excited about the surrounding they could hardly eat. Presto just wanted to explore and Phia loved running up and down the trails. We had a private house to eat in thankfully so the kids could be as loud as they wanted! We let them eat a HUGE bowl of whip cream for dessert which they both devoured! We took lots of pictures of the kids. It was so beautiful up there...it was hard not to!

Little punky Phia was so sick but she loved her pink dress and loved taking pictures in it:)


Castle Park!!!( most of the pictures are mid running!!)



Me and my sweet pea's

Presto never leaves home without his lawn mower!! He did his part to keep the park groomed:)

And he REALLY wanted the lawnmower in this shot...in fact, he insisted!!

The park was so beautiful!

When we arrived at Coldspring Tavern Phia's cold was in full force poor thing but I just love this picture of her...

I love this picture...little Presto loved the outdoors!

Nana and Phia!

Beautiful!

Dada and his bud:)




I love this boy!!!!!

Mmmmm whip cream!!


This was our little Turkey Day House:)

There's a little play house that the kids loved to play in:)

Our littlest peanut is missing. He spent most of Turkey Day asleep:)

JPT's 36th B-day...

"Happy Birthday Mommy" sign handmade by Sophia and Preston with their hands and feet!

My birthday dinner with BT and Bentley

This year was a 4 day celebration:) Thursday night Brian and I headed to Santa Barbara for the night and stayed at the Bacara with baby Bentley. We enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner and ordered in room service for breakfast. We spent Friday strolling around SB and bought mama a new iphone! Saturday night we went to Cafe Firenze with Jason, Ally, Rob, and Kelly for an awesome birthday dinner! This restaurant is our favorite and it's becoming a tradition to host all our celebrations there. Sophia kept talking about having a "party for mommy" and kept asking when my "party" was so on Sunday BT bought a mini pinata and Nana baked a cake and we had a party with noise makers and party hats!! Sophia was in heaven and was so happy to sing Happy Birthday to mommy. The kids made me an awesome sign with Leyla using their hand and foot prints. It was a whirlwind 4 day birthday celebration and I especially enjoyed all the family time.

Happy Mommy and 4 week old Bentley bear in Santa Barbara

Our little bug enjoying the hotel room

Sigh...the grounds were beautiful!

A perfect, relaxing breakfast on our balcony

Daddy and his smallest monkey


Cafe Firenze time...
Kell and Rob!

Ally and Jason

Happy B-day to me:)

The birthday crew!

Our family "party":
Daddy got us a pinata and since it was raining we did it in the garage:)

Daddy even got us some party hats which Presto couldn't quite figure out:)

Make a wish...

Enjoying pinata candy:)


Daddy decorating the party table...