Christmas with the Hoyal Gang

With both of our families living so close, we keep very busy on holidays! After my mom's, we went over to Ladd's parents for a delicious dinner and presents. All the cousins had fun together, as always, and we were entertained with a Christmas dance performed by Peri, Madelyn, and Savanah. We were exhausted by the end of all of our Christmas celebrations, but were grateful to spend time with our families!

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning and no electricity! We had a wonderful Fontana wind storm that knocked out our electricity for Christmas! Luckily, Santa braved the winds and made it to our house. Here is Tanner playing with his jackhammer he has been talking about since May and Hunter playing in his Kangaroo Climber. Hunter's favorite present was the fruit snacks Santa left in his stocking, he couldn't get enough!














We had breakfast at my mom's, with my sister and Brad joining us. The boys loved all of their toys and games. Tanner was so excited to give Grandma her surprise. He had made calendars for all of his grandparents and was so good at keeping it a surprise from them all month! It was nice to spend the morning with my sister and get to know Brad a little better.

Christmas Eve

We spent a relaxed Christmas Eve with my dad, my sister and her boyfriend Brad. We went out to dinner and then back to our house for presents and treats. We were happy to finally meet my sister's man! Hunter was not too happy to be set in grandpa's lap, but as soon as he got down, he crawled right back into his lap and was having a grand time! He could not be told what to do, he wanted to choose to sit in Grandpa's lap on his own!

Tur-duc-hen

On Sunday night, Ladd and I hosted our 3rd Annual Cook Family Christmas Dinner. All Ladd has been talking about since he heard about it on the radio, is tur-duc-hen. It is a New Orleans specialty. It is a turkey, stuffed with a duck, then stuffed with a chicken. It sounded disgusting to me! Nevertheless, that is all he wanted for Christmas. Ladd thought it would be easy for me to make and printed a recipe for me. I took one look at it and when I had never even heard of some of the tools needed to prepare such a dish, I trashed the recipe and ordered a frozen one from cajongrocer.com. We served it to my family and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Ladd said it was the best turkey dinner he had ever eaten- I am glad he enjoyed his present!
We had a nice evening with my family opening presents (my boys were spoiled once again!) and catching up with everyone. We attempted to go look at the Christmas lights on Thoroughbred as we've done in the past, but it did not work out so well. Between a three year old (my cousin Brenda's son) and my two boys, they all had other needs (sleep, bathroom, and hunger) which were more important than Christmas lights. Better luck next year...

Cold Days in California

Between the rain and getting ready for Christmas, we have not been outside in a few days. Anyone with boys knows that it is essential that all boys get their daily outside time -we all had cabin fever. Luckily it was not raining this morning, and I took advantage! I bundled up the baby and we stayed out until the clouds couldn't hold in the rain any longer. Here is Tanner digging in his "building site". An area on our huge slope where nothing will grow because it is constantly being dug up and reshaped. Hunter is having fun chasing after a ball using his new walking skills!

Discovery Science Center

Last Friday, we decided to go to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. Ladd had the day off after finals and we had never been there. The museum had a gingerbread exhibit which was a lot of fun. Some of the most beautiful gingerbread houses were on display. Tanner got to build an arch, see a gingerbread man fly into outer space, and find out what happens when you put a marshmallow in the microwave. I am glad he discovered that there, and not at home! Tanner's favorite part was the dinosaur exhibit. He had a lot of fun running through the giant dinosaur and seeing how its "insides" worked. We all had a great time, but we were just happy to spend time with Daddy! Everyone (except for Mom, of course) took a nice nap when we got home! For info about the museum check out www.discoverycube.org.

Merry Christmas!

If you are reading this, that means you got our Christmas card and have learned about our new blog! I have been bad about writing down all the exciting adventures we have and all the cute things our boys do, so I thought starting a blog would be a great way to keep our family history and keep in contact with all of you! Let's see how this goes...