A bday celebration for me and Jackie

Since me and Jackie share a birthday month, we always celebrate together with the Encino gals. Funny the ONLY pictures I took were of the cheesecake. It was from Porto's bakery and was divine. Thanks to Emily for getting it for us. 

We kept it low key and hung out at Brooke's house. I ordered a platter of Rubio's Mexican food and we pigged out, and chatted for a few hours. 

Apparently our facial expressions could not get in sync.

Oh..there we go. It was a fun night and I'm glad I have these girls to celebrate with every year.

Winter Band Concert

I love how much Ashlyn loves playing the flute and how good she is getting at it. Makes me so happy.

Her winter concert was really nice and she did a fabulous job!

Way to go my little Ashlyn!

Temple Trip

We made our annual trip to the LA Temple to meet up with friends and see the Temple lights. It's the only time of year we get all of us Encino gals together with our families. It's always a bit crazy, as we all have so many children, but it's always super fun. And I really look forward to it each year. 

Brandon and Audrey have a secret crush on each other I think. They're both a little bit crazy and I think that brings them together. LOL. They sure are cuties though and I wouldn't mind if they ended up at prom together someday. Mormon Prom that is!

Me and My Encino girls. And Tanya Low, who happened to be up from Anaheim that day and knew we were gonna be there. 

Such a beautiful Temple! I never get tired of looking at it.

Me and my sweet Ashlyn.

And my crazy boys who were not very reverent on Temple grounds despite the stern talking to we gave them before getting out of the car. Apparently it had no affect on them.

Baylie, Leah, Darby and Kelsey

And my four cuties who are getting WAY too big looking. Can you believe we hardly ever bring a stroller around anymore?! It sure makes life easier, but it's definitely weird.

And I promise Paul was there with us. He just didn't end up in any photos. Sorry honey!

Ward Christmas Party

We had a lovely Ward Christmas Party this year. Lots of appetizers and desserts, the decorations were BEAUTIFUL, had some nice musical numbers, the primary kids sang, Baylie and Ethan made a very nice Mary and Joseph and no one got hurt. I call that one successful evening. Paul worked SUPER hard on the food and I felt bad because ever since the church did away with an Activity Coordinator, it has mostly fallen on the Bishopric and RS President and other Auxiliary leaders who are already super busy with their callings. But I will refrain from my opinions on that for now. ANYHOO….it all turned out perfectly and hopefully most people had a good time.  

 Not a great family photo, but I'll take what I can get. Next year I need to remember to try and have us all match. Or at least coordinate.

Brandon's an ALL-Star

Three kids from Brandon's soccer team got chosen to be a part of the all-star team and Brandon was one of them. He was very excited.

We ended up with the nazi coach that insisted on 3 practices a week for two weeks plus the game on Saturday. And of course it was the two COLDEST weeks of December. I wasn't sure we were going to make it through it. But we did. Brandon was apprehensive at first because the coach was so hard core and had them playing positions and everything. Something he was definitely not use to. Once he figured it out though, he was okay and when the big game day came, he did great. AND the best news is, his team won. The final score was 2-0. Brandon didn't make any goals, but he took the ball all the way down the field and then passed it to his teammate who kicked it into the goal. So I considered that good teamwork and just as good as scoring a goal himself! He got a medal and a t-shirt and soccer season was OFFICIALLY over. Until next year. I'm sure he'll want to play again. And I have to admit, it was pretty darn fun watching him play.

We celebrated at Wendy's afterward. Brandon was one happy boy!

An evening for the Young Women

The Miamaid leaders put on a beautiful dinner for the Young Women last night and I was lucky enough to get to go. She figured that the Relief Society always have a dinner at Christmas time and that it was only fair the YW got to have one too. We had it at her house and everything was just wonderful (as you can see from the pictures). I fell in love with her plates and was trying not to covet them. 

The food was AMAZING! Everything from the salad, chicken, potatoes, green beans, rolls and the hot chocolate and dessert to top it off. If it wasn't for me swallowing wrong and having to run to the bathroom to spit my food out or choke to death (very embarrassing btw) it would have been perfect. Sadly only about half of the Young Women could make it, but I think the ones that did, had a fun time. I think it will have to become a yearly event to look forward to. 

Thank you Sarah Eddy for all the effort. It was much appreciated. 

Burbank Nativity Exhibit

I love all the holiday traditions we have. My blog probably looks similar from year to year, but oh well. They're too fun to pass up. 

We went back to the Burbank Nativity Exhibit. It was beautiful just like last year. The kids had fun doing the nativity scavenger hunt (brilliant idea btw) and we got to see the live nativity at the end. We were the last group of the night and poor "Baby Jesus" was tired and cold and probably hungry, so he wasn't too happy. Felt bad for the poor little thing. I'm glad we got to go and that Callie got to come with us this year. We have been loving having her with us. I try to tell her she can't go off to college in the Fall, but I don't think she's going for it. Oh well…… We'll enjoy her while she's here.

I probably took pictures of all the same ones last year, but they are my favorite so I took them again.

This is by far my most favorite though. Isn't it beautiful?! I wonder where they got it? I love nativities.

They had a nice presentation of the nativity with music and narrators. It was lovely…except for poor crying Baby Jesus. I hope the little baby didn't end up with a cold or anything after that chilly night outside.