Our trip was so much fun and we packed a lot in a short amount of time. We walked around the campus at Gonzaga University where Michael is attending graduate school, checked out the bookstore, drove by John Stockton's house (my personal favorite!), and went to the Mall to do a little Christmas shopping. In addition to those basic tourist activities, we spent lots of time hanging out with Houston, taking pictures, eating fabulous food, playing games, and we took a couple of beautiful walks.

Thursday morning we went to watch Michael play in the Turkey Bowl with members of his Elder's Quorum. I would just like to point out that this was not a typical San Ramon Ward Turkey Bowl...it was absolutely freezing! But we enjoyed almost every minute of it, especially since I spent my time pushing Houston around the track in his stroller. Overall, it was a perfect vacation and we thoroughly enjoyed being with our precious family.

November in San Ramon

I have always believed that we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The idea of roses in December is a reality here and we also have some of the most beautiful displays of Fall Leaves that I have ever seen. The other day I was coming home from an appointment and I looked out the window and thought, "Wow, I need to come back and take a picture of this!" Then I remembered that I had my camera in the car so I pulled over and snapped a couple of pictures.

Answer to Prayers

I prayed that Houston wouldn't start walking till we arrived for Thanksgiving and lucky for me my prayers were answered. My first night there we practiced and within minutes of Michael arriving home Houston took his first steps. This is his second attempt. Pretty rockin, eh? We are so excited for him.



Although, by the time we left I was hoping that this whole growing up process would slow down just a bit. We bought him some 12 month jammies for Christmas and when we tried them on him, we could barely zip them up. I am not ready for him to start walking, running and getting ready for school. I want him to take his time growing up so we can enjoy every precious moment.

Christmas Morning on Thanksgiving Night

What a fabulous week! We went to Spokane to celebrate Thanksgiving/Christmas with our wonderful grandson, Houston and his adorable parents, Michael and Meilani. Since they have other plans for Christmas, we did our Christmas shopping on Wednesday then celebrated Christmas on Thursday night right after our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a special day of gratitude followed by the joy of watching Houston celebrate his first Christmas. Opening his first present... EVER!Houston completing his pre-flight checklist. Michael had a pretty good time opening his presents as well.After a long day in the kitchen, Lani got to open a present too.
The perfect ending to a perfect day. So, Merry Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night! We love our little Houston Boy and can hardly wait for our next adventure.

Photo Ops at Gonzaga

We stopped to enjoy the scenary on our walking tour of Gonzaga University and couldn't resist shooting a photo of three of my favorite guys.