christmas in cali

i spent the holidays in california-best decision ever. we all know i hate winter. living in utah=lots of winter. winter is off to a pretty snowy start so i was more than happy to leave the snow. 

christmas with kids is the best! the kids were so excited from the minute i got there. they make it so much more magical and fun. i'll be back next week with a full trip recap.

chelsea and i did some last minute shopping on christmas eve which is only part of the reason for a simple dinner. growing up we never had a really fancy dinner on christmas eve. the past few years we have sandwiches and chips and some sort of dip. the kids like it, and it's not a lot of work.

after dinner we drove around and looked at christmas lights. it's one of my favorite christmas traditions.

the kids made some cookies for santa.

i'm really big on tradition. one of our traditions is opening one present on christmas eve. it is always pajamas. i love the tradition! i'm pretty sure my mom wants to stop it, but i won't let her.

we acted out the nativity. kenzie was baby Jesus but is a little too mobile for it.

christmas morning was the best. the kids were so excited and had a really fun time opening gifts. we facetimed the rest of the family a few times so they didn't feel so far away. the kids had fun playing with their toys.

the rest of the day was really low key. we played with all the toys and relaxed. i finally decided to work out in the late afternoon, and there happened to be a hallmark movie on. we had a nice but not too fancy dinner.

after dinner we took some pictures of the kids with christmas lights. i did some experimenting and lots of research. we were mostly trying to get kenzie, and i love how hers turned out.

christmas was great. i loved being with family especially the kids. i'm really sad it's over. how was your christmas?