Christmas Eve videos...

The two littlest Christmas Angels...

Keeping a promise to my sister...

Your hug was delivered as requested, Carol!

Isaac's unqiue style of gift opening...

Joshua opens his package...

Jonathan and Sophia "unwrapped"...

Who would have thought that the finger puppets would be a bigger hit than the real presents?

Jonathan and his new toad...

The hall were decked...

...the tree lighted and the table set in anticipation of Christmas dinner with six dear friends! This year's centerpiece was just a bit different than normal - a great way to show off a cut glass Christmas candy dish received as a gift years ago.

This gathering of very special people in our lives is a Christmas tradition we look forward to and cherish. Once everyone arrived, we chatted over hors d'ouerves, then moved on to ham, with a potato casserole, brussels sprouts with apple, and cranberry salad, before we finished off the feast with a Raspberry-White Chocolate Cheesecake brought by two of our friends! The food was wonderful (if we do say so ourselves) and the fellowship even better - a room filled with love and laughter, with Christmas music playing throughout the day.

Saturday was just the second of three nights of holiday gatherings. On Sunday night we joined three more friends for a lovely meal in the home of cherished friend, Bill Gobie. What a wonderful weekend of time spent with loving family and friends!

Christmas Puppies...

Our two-legged guests are tired of camera flashes in their faces when they come to our house. But, the four legged ones never seem to mind. Sassy and Nica were both sporting festive bandanas in honor of the day, but only Nica was cooperative about a "close-up". Once again, all three girls - ours and their cousin Adorable Sweeney lined up for treats from Larry. And, Adorable was, well, just adorable, when she curled up for a nap among the presents under the tree!

Christmas Eve at the Huertas house...

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with Heather and David, Jonathan and Sophia, Joshua AND Isaac! The kids were great fun to be with - so excited about opening their gifts from us. (And don't forget - Santa was coming that night, too!) We had to laugh at how excited they got about some cute little animal finger puppets we found a few weeks ago and used as decorations on a couple of the packages. We think that Jonathan and Sophia, at least, liked them better than their real gifts! Anyway, it was a beautiful evening shared with family.

We should have some video from the night to post soon!

"Oh the weather outside is..."

...ghastly! Days of endless rain. But, that didn't stop me from having a wonderful birthday yesterday! A wonderful warm jacket and roses from my dear husband, a beautiful holiday bouquet from my Aunt Anne, calls and cards and scads of "Happy Birthday" greetings on Facebook. What more could a girl ask for? Dinner out last night at a terrific local Italian restaurant has been put on hold for nicer weather, but pizza at home in front of a cozy fire was great, too!

"Squirrel" is never far away...

While sitting in the living room on a rainy afternoon a couple of days ago, we noticed Squirrel trying to climb up the bird feeder pole, and sliding back down, time after time. When we got to the window with the camera, there he sat on the ground, looking like he was giving up. Within seconds of putting the camera back in it's case, sure enough, he tried again and made it! He worked SO hard for that, we just couldn't begrudge him his seed feast. We were just sorry we missed a picture of him making the climb!

Our 2010 Christmas Tree...

This year's tree, completed a little earlier than usual. Every year we say we have no more room, but we continue to add new ornaments, and somehow they always fit!

Nica and Larry...

Early in the morning is Nica's favorite time to move from the back of the couch to Larry's shoulder for a snuggle.

Belle demands some time...

Been quite a while since we've posted pictures of our biggest four-legged daughter! A couple of weeks ago Belle got her winter hair-cut, and not a minute too soon. She'd been looking like a Wooly Mammoth! It's necessary to winter clip ones that grow heavy coats as she does - with all that hair it's next to impossible to get them dry when they sweat or are bathed. Never fear - she's got a heavy blanket to keep her warm at night. From her posture in the second picture - head up, tail up, and she almost looks like she's standing on her toes(!) - we knew she was just about ready to take off around the turn-out, snorting and bucking. She does enjoy her play-time!

Adding to our Christmas collection...

...of probably way too much stuff (!) - we saw this in the garden and gift shop in San Juan Capistrano we discovered this summer. Margaret fell in love - Larry got her an early Christmas present.

A Visit to the Discovery Science Museum...

We met Heather and her kids at the Discovery Science Museum in Santa Ana this morning - a tremendous interactive center for kids. The museum has a number of permanent exhibits and activities - a favorite with our kids was (big surprise!) the Dinosaur area. There are also lots of table height demonstrations and experiment opportunities for the elementary school set. One play area specified that you had to be five or under to enter - Sophia and Joshua were thrilled to enjoy all its activities.
Though Heather has been there before with her older kids, this was our first visit. We're sure we'll return - perhaps to rejoin the little ones for the Sesame Street based exhibit coming in late January.

Gingerbread House Competition at Discovery Science Center

Three rooms at the Discovery Museum were being used to exhibit a Gingerbread House Competition. We got photos of just a few of the structures being judged - some of which were amazingly intricate and beautiful!

Isaac is "1" now...

We had a great evening with Heather, David, the kids and David's mom, Jenny, last night - celebrating Isaac's first birthday with "burgers and fries" at Ruby's Diner, before going to see the older kid's in their school Christmas pageant. Our "baby" Isaac is growing up to be a handsome little boy!

Jonathan and Sophia's School Christmas Pageant...

Sophia dressed as a lamb for the Nativity Scene in the School Christmas Pageant. Our kids are somewhere in the crowd...

Pageant Video...

Jonathan singing and playing hand bells with the first-graders. Don't blink or you'll miss Sophia (first lamb on the left) with the kindergarten group. The stage lighting was definitely not very video or photo friendly!

Lighting the night for Christmas, Southern California style...

The holiday lights of Newport Back Bay.

Holiday fun at Newport Dunes...

We discovered that the Lighting of the Bay at Newport Dunes is a great activity for the whole family, and it appeared that there were many there who make it an annual part of their holiday celebrations. (We plan to!) There were hot dogs, chili and chowder, and hot beverages for sale to help take the chill out of the night. The two youth song and dance groups who performed where cute and quite polished. Santa was available to hear the younger crowd's list, and older kids were swarming to a truck containing video games. And, of course, the Back Bay really was spectacular when it was lighted!

We'd passed on the soup and dogs at the Dunes, opting to finish a great early evening out with pasta at a new Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. Then, it was lovely to come home to a cozy fire in the fireplace and the glow of a few of our own holiday lights.

More amazing Southern California late fall sunsets...

A few more from our friend Mary's amazing sunset photo file!

A wonderful way to start the season...

Last night we attended a fund-raising event for Share Our Selves, a local volunteer organization that provides food and multiple other services to deserving families in our town of Costa Mesa and adjoining Santa Ana. This was the Fifth Annual Festival of the Trees put on by SOS, held in the spacious lobby of the Costa Mesa Hilton. Local businesses and design firms donate incredibly beautifully decorated holiday trees to be auctioned silently to benefit SOS. (We got pictures of just a few!) Activities for the children who attended included crafts with gingerbread, face-painting, and a strolling magician. All who attended were entertained by a local hand-bell choir who filled the lobby with the sounds of holiday carols.
Sadly, the opening bids on the trees were higher than our pockets are deep. But it was our first attendance at an SOS event, and we enjoyed the spirit and camaraderie of the folks we met there, and look forward to volunteering with this group in the New Year.

Christmas and Calla Lilies...

Months of strange weather have brought some interesting blooms to our "winter" gardens... Looking through the berry wreath on our kitchen window - two beautiful, big calla flowers.

Let the Christmas decorating begin...

Everybody knows our house has "gone to the dogs". So, of course we couldn't resist bringing home this holiday pooch to welcome our guests over the weeks ahead!

Thanksgiving memories...

Thanksgiving 2010 was quiet and joyful. Our dear friends, the Sweeneys, joined used for dinner, as well as our new friend, Kari, a newcomer to the neighborhood. We loved the combination of old and new decorations on the holiday table as well - Margaret's old hunt china mixed with new pumpkin pieces, fitting the season. The vase filled with Pom mums is still glorious days later, though the "Pumpkin Trees" and ornamental peppers which had adorned the house for weeks were retired over the weekend. Chuck and Christine's ShihTzu, Adorable" knows exactly who to go to for a treat (Uncle Larry!) and lines up with Sassy and Nica for hand-outs! And, once again, Larry cooked a simply beautiful and oh-so-moist and tasty turkey breast to bring to the feast. It was a beautiful holiday!

Jonathan is seven now...

Celebrate, Celebrate...

Family and a few close friends joined Jonathan and his family to celebrate his seventh birthday. While most of the kids enjoyed their cake and ice cream in the back yard with the adults, Joshua decided that he preferred eating at the kitchen table. We think more ice cream went on his shirt than in his mouth! And, Grandma Jenny and David spent much of their time holding and rocking little Isaac who is teething and wasn't feeling well at all. Still, the rest of the kids seemed to be having a ball, while the adults had a great chance for a visit.

Playing to the little ones...

Yesterday was a beautiful Southern California day, sunny and warm - the perfect day for brunch at one of our favorite little restaurants near Newport Pier. Once we were finished eating, we took a walk out on the pier, enjoying the sights of the surfers and many others enjoying the beach. Walking back we saw that this pair of street musicians was really prepared to involve any small kids who came along in the music. They had a toy xylophone and toy accordion, plus lots of rhythm toys and a box of kazoos the kids could take away with them. This family of kids and their musician hosts treated us to a fun, noisy, energetic concert!

The Shipley Nature Center

Surfing the net is a great way to find things to see and do in your immediate area that you might never otherwise hear about. That's how we learned about the Shipley Nature Center, an 18 acre native plant and wildlife preserve in Huntington Beach, just minutes from us. We spent about an hour wandering the trails, admiring the work of hundreds of volunteers who have replanted this area in native plants, who maintain the trails, man the information booth and gift shop, and ensure that this little gem of nature in the middle of a heavily populated urban area thrives. It was a perfect day to be outdoors - sunny and pleasantly warm. We loved this place and will go back during other seasons to see how it changes and what different birds and waterfowl will be passing through.

Our first fall sunset pictures...

Our good friend, Mary, just sent out her first fall sunset picture.
What autumn takes away in hours of light, it certainly returns in amazingly beautiful sunsets!

The heat is STILL on...

We're now into day three of temps in the high eighties and nineties, even right on the coast! We stopped at the barn to give Belle a few minutes "be a horse" time in the turn-out (where she played hard, despite the heat!) and then cooled her down with a good head to toe soaking from the hose. When she was dry enough to go back to her stall, we hopped into our hot, hot car and headed to Dana Point in search of cooler, ocean air.

After lunch at a cafe overlooking the marina, we decided to explore areas of the Dana Point Wharf/Marina that we'd never seen before. When we crossed the bridge to "Dana Island" we saw that the views of the break-water were spectacular.

Then, at the end of the road, we found a lovely white sand public beach with water equipment, including paddle boards, available for rent. (The little white dog riding the front of one board looked like he was enjoying the ride!) And, we found the Ocean Institute, an educational facility only open to the public on weekends. While we couldn't get inside, we were able to see two of the ships that are part of the Institute's programs, the Pilgrim and the Spirit of Dana Point.

Another day-trip in our future...

The Ocean Institute looks like a fascinating place to visit. And, as soon as we saw the Spirit of Dana Point coming up to the dock we knew that an afternoon cruise on this beautiful tall ship is something we will be doing very soon!

Summer, 2010 - Round two...

Temperatures climbed back into the eighties and nineties yesterday morning. (Will again today!) Seemed like a good reason to get near the water. Lunched on the patio of one of the many, many restaurants on Newport Harbor, where we could enjoy the cooler, ocean air, and the sights and sounds of the marina. A noisy gull had us laughing as he "talked" at us from just a few feet away. (We're sure he was saying "Throw me some food!") Paddle boarders made their way through the harbor, dodging the boats of all sizes heading in and out of the docks. A jelly fish made an appearance , sadly swimming a bit too deep to get a decent photo. Just another beautiful afternoon in Southern California!

That's one heck of a "dinghy"...

Check out the helicopter on this yacht! (You may have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see the helicopter on the upper aft deck.)

More our speed...

This sweet little wooden vessel brought out the "boat lust" in both of us!

A poor imitation of a maple tree...

Pity us poor Southern Californians our limited autumnal tree color!

It's the Great Halloween Cactus, Charlie Brown...

Love how the Christmas cacti stretch out their season!