Christmas in Utah

After a long, long drive from LA, which included an overnight stop in Vegas, we made it to my Mom's house.   It was a very cold and snowy.    

The kids were very excited to open more presents.

Jonah wore his normal breakfast attire (PJ shirt and a diaper) and added his new Batman boots to the ensemble.

 We rode a carousel.

 The kids played iPad games with Grandma.

We had a yummy breakfast at the Original Pancake House.  These next two are my favorite photos from the trip.

Jonah is a real character and it turns out that this is amplified by having a larger audience.  

It was colder in Utah than we had planned, so we did a little winter shopping (thank goodness for clearance sales!).  I found this jacket for Jonah.  It has a little wolf on the front and little wolf ears on the top.  Every time he wore it he insisted on being called "Wolfie."

 So fun to see these guys.  It was totally worth the trip just to spend time with them.

 It was wonderful to have some help from my sisters.  Harper and Jonah love their aunts!

We got to see my Grandparents.  This is my maternal grandfather and one of the people I most admire in the whole world.

Not the best picture, but this is my maternal Grandmother, Harper, and my Mom.  These three ladies are amazing.

One of the highlights of the trip (other than seeing family) was to ride the Frontrunner Train.  Jonah still talke about getting to ride a train.

We rode downtown to check out the new mall and temple square.  We also spent some time in the Children's area of the Church History Museum.

And this is my cute sister Kelly with her boyfriend.  He is leaving on his mission next month.

We were sad to leave, but happy to be home.  Especially because it got much colder in Utah after we left!

Christmas 2012

This year we decided to stay home for Christmas day and then head to Utah for a few days.  On Christmas Eve Tom's parents came over and we made a gingerbread house and watched Elf.

 On Christmas day we woke up early and opened presents.  The kids both got new shoes.

 And lots of other things.  I wasn't very good about taking photos of everything.

 One of Jonah's favorite things was this pirate telescope.  It pretty much goes with him everywhere.

 And this Spiderman.

After we cleaned up a little we all piled in the car and headed to Utah.  It was really fun to have time with both of our parents and quiet Christmas morning at home :)

her favorite things

Until I have time to go through everything from our Utah trip, here is Harper singing in the car on the way home.


IMG 0485 from Erica Jackman on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Tom!

On the 20th Tom had a big birthday.  We kept it pretty low key and had an ice cream cake at home.  

The kids had helped me pick out some of Tom's favorite treats: baked Cheetos, coke, bubblegum, and of course Batman pajama pants.  

One of Tom's co-workers even brought by some Apple shaped sugar cookies for him.

Tom requested Rubio's fish tacos for his birthday dinner. So we drove to a nearby Rubio's, parked the car, and walked to the front of the building only to discover that it had been closed down :(  But the shopping center did have a kosher fish restaurant which also had fish tacos so we gave it a try. 

Tom got a new camera for his birthday/Christmas so we spent some time playing around with the camera.  And since the camera is Tom's, there might actually be some photos of me in the future!

And here is a photo of us singing Happy Birthday to Tom.  What is it with my kids and licking birthday cakes?

MAH00491 from Erica Jackman on Vimeo.

Christmas Tree Shopping

We have a Christmas tree lot about three blocks from our house where we have gotten our tree for the last couple years.  We walk by the lot several times a week, so they kids were very impatient about going to get a tree.

We don't have a ton of room to put a tree and the lot was mostly out of the smaller trees, but we found one that didn't totally overwhelm the living room.

 I love the view from the lot.  It is on Santa Monica Boulevard and it is fun to be standing in a forest of trees on the busy street.

 Jonah waiting for the tree to be ready.

random recent photos . . .

The kids made some sugar cone and frosting Christmas trees at their friend Dean's house the other day. 

 Harper was a little more careful than Jonah about not getting frosting all over her face :)

Posing next to a snowman at the Grove since there was a 3 hour wait to see Santa.

 Christmas tree lights at the Grove.

 The kids being goofy.

 Jonah in his carseat.

 Harper had her holiday program at her preschool this morning.

DSC 3905 from Erica Jackman on Vimeo.

handsome Jonah

A day in the life...

We decided to take Daddy along to drop Harper off at school this morning and then go grab some breakfast.  Here are a few photos we took to remind ourselves of these days before they pass us by.

Heading out to school.  Harper has a rough time with her eczema when the air gets drier and colder.  Her eyes are puffier and she has splotches on her face and body.

Harper doesn't seem to care about the eczema and she demonstrates her latest "here I am" pose, which she busts out when she knows a photo is coming.

Norra Sterry Elementary.  We had to apply to get it in, but unlike a lot of preschools in LA this one was free.

 Waiting for her teacher, Ms. Ana.

 Also waiting for teacher.

 I am Spiderman!  I'm also very serious at times.

 On the way to the car, we decide to get a photo of Daddy.

After we drop Harper off it is time for breakfast in Westwood.

On being told he is having pancakes.

 This man is ready for some pancakes (and they appear to be on their way).

Yummy!

All About The Benjamins

As I shut the front door behind me on my way to work today Harper (age 4) told me to "go get the monies Daddy."

It looks like she has finally realized where all the candy and toys in her life have come from.