Christmas Travels Part 3

Beware: Lots of pictures ahead :) 

Part 3 of our travels were in....California!!! I was so excited to go home! I realized that it had been a year since I had been in Camarillo. I don't know what it was about this trip- ok, actually its probably because I think Texas is an overall pretty flat and ugly state- but I couldn't get over how beautiful Camarillo was! I have told Michael that wherever we settle has to be in a pretty place :)

Anyway, California was great and we were able to do lots of fun things. December 18-22 were in Camarillo. Then the 23rd-28th were in Folsom with Michael's family. But then it was back to Camarillo for a whole week until we flew home on the 4th.

Some of the fun things we did while we were there:

Camarillo Part 1:

I chopped off my hair!

Before- it had gotten so long! Forgot to take an "after" one, but you'll see it in the rest of the pictures 

All that she cut off. It was A LOT! 

My high school friends threw a little party celebrating Collin! It was such a fun, unexpected surprise and was so good to see some friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Kat, Chloe, Me and Collin

Chloe and Collin 

Had some fun time just hanging out with Boppi and Owie!

Mom and her babies...Miso the cat wanted to snuggle right up there with Mom, Dad and Collin 

A night with Spencer, Anie and the kids.

Meeting Uncle Spencer 

The girls LOVE Uncle Michael...here's Elle and Michael watching a Christmas movie 

Family Pictures by Anie, in their backyard 

The perfect picture...if only Collin was happy. Perhaps I will try my hand at photoshop.  

Love this one! 

My handsome boys

Gemini Street to see the Christmas lights

Random fun things:

Anie and Collin

Watching Owie's train go around the tree

Folsom:

Of course Collin's FIRST Christmas! 

Christmas Eve! Thanks Boppi and Owie for the Christmas Jammies! 

His present from Santa! Can't wait to share this Christmas favorite from my childhood! 

Our gift to Collin- "Bruno" the Monkey, in honor of Collin's "womb" name

Opening Collin's present to his Daddy. A picture for his office. 

Matching with my baby boy! 

Family picture by the tree

Christmas Day walk

The family

It was a beautiful evening for a walk! 

Drive by the Folsom Dam

We came. We saw. And we left. (it really wasn't too exciting)

Making Christmas Cupcakes

Meeting Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, and cousin

Collin and Emerson- Emerson is 3 weeks older...but VERY small for his age

Collin and Uncle Ben...Collin's eyes make me laugh! 

Collin mesmerized by Grandma Coon

Camarillo Part 2:

Corinne, Morgan and Bailey surprised us in Camarillo!! I just have to document this story. First of all I had NO idea. They did a good job keeping the secret...and turns out quite a few people knew. That day Michael and I were driving home from Folsom. Long story, but the drive took a lot longer than planned. Corinne and I had been texting for a while. I thought she was still in Utah with Morgan's family. Really they were sitting at home anxiously waiting for us to get home (Mom and Dad were in LA...but knew they were there). We finally get home, the house is all dark. I walk in first, and was really excited about a bag of perfectly ripe avocados that were on the porch, and totally walk past them sitting in the dark living room. I walked back to the entry, turned on the light, and it wasn't Michael came in that he noticed them sitting in the living room. I am very impressed that Bailey stayed so quiet. Totally startled me, and makes me think twice about walking into a dark house, but totally worth it. It was fun to see them again so soon!

Aunt Rinny and Collin

A beautiful afternoon for enjoying In N Out (actually mine and Collin's 3rd time this trip!)

Take note of who is walking in the background...Owie and Bailey! 

Collin's Blessing Day

Our little eternal family!

With the Grandma and Grandpa Coon and Boppi and Owie

Collin's first beach trip

We love the beach! 

Collin looking cool in his shades. He actually loved them, and didn't like it when we took them off. 

Boppi and Collin

Love his sweet smile in this picture

Getting his toes sandy with Daddy!

Celebrating our 3rd Anniversary/First date without Collin

Heading out...baby free!

We went to Erik Erikson's on the Ventura Pier. I tried Swordfish. It was very yummy! 

Michael loved his steam pot

We were both still a little hungry so we picked up a dozen donuts for dessert...and we were kind enough to share with our babysitters :) 

Lunch with Chloe

It's always so fun to catch up with Chloe! 

New Year's Eve Japanese Dinner

Perhaps the best meal we had the whole trip! 

New Year's Day Hike

CA is beautiful!! 

Michael acting like we went on a super tough hike

Love how we are all in our own little family group, and of course the beautiful ocean in the background! 

Our group! 

Random fun:

Michael trying to hook Collin's nose with the Barrel o' Monkeys...Collin actually thought it was funny! 

Collin and Truly.
I was a little nervous that Truly wouldn't make it for them to meet, but she is still hanging in there! 

At the airport to leave.
It's amazing how much more luggage we have traveling with a baby AND at Christmas. And note to self, don't fly the Saturday after New Year's! The line to check our bags was outside and longer than the entire length of the building. Thank goodness it was a gorgeous day. And Collin was content in his car seat the entire time- what a blessing and relief! 

My sleeping boys on the plane.

It was an exhausting, but wonderful trip. I am so grateful we had the means to travel and that we were able to create so many wonderful memories with our families and friends! I definitely felt a bit homesick after we got back to Texas! 

Christmas Travels Part 2

We had a fun and packed week in Utah!

Wednesday the 11th: pulled into Huntsville late that night and it was freezing! We quickly unloaded the car, cranked up the heater at the house and then crashed!

Thursday the 12th: We headed down to Centerville to meet up with the bride-to-be Courtney, and my best friend Jess. It was so fun to catch up with them! Its been hard living so far away. But when we get together it's like we have never been apart. Corinne even commented on how much we are capable of talking ;) And I just loved to see them love and dote on my little boy! After our visit I just remember being so happy the rest of the day!

They Loved Collin!! 

Auntie Jess and Collin

Auntie Courtney and Collin

Auntie Court got Collin to sleep  

The Power 3!! 

Grandmama Hansen and Collin

Friday the 13th: This was a day spent in Huntsville. Bailey was feeling a little under the weather. It was so hard to keep her away from "Baby Collin" (or as she sometimes mistakenly calls him, "Baby Megan")- she loves her little cousin! And it was laundry day...4 days into vacation and we were already out of burp cloths and had tons of dirty clothes!

Bailey loves "Baby Collin"

Just 4 days worth of laundry! Oh the joys of traveling with a 2 month old- blow outs and spit up galore! 

Saturday the 14th: The day we had been anticipating for so long, and the main reason for the trip to Utah...Cohan's Wedding!! Unfortunately, Corinne came down with the same thing Bailey had so Collin and I headed to SLC on our own. Thankfully we had a backup babysitter for during the sealing! The sealing was wonderful. It was the first I had been to since my own and I loved that the sealer went through the entire ceremony and explained each part. And I loved that it was so close to our anniversary so I could reflect on those special blessings and promises. I was very emotional during the whole sealing (actually the whole day. Blame it on the hormones and lack of sleep...I have been way more emotional since Collin was born!) It was a very long day, but I loved being able to be apart of all the festivities. And I loved getting to spend the day hanging out with Jess and Josh (and I really appreciated the extra help with Collin and I know they loved the practice!)

Collin and the Bride at the luncheon 

Jess rocking Collin and Josh rocking Jess. These 2 are going to be the best parents...someday hopefully real soon! 

Happy boy in his wedding outfit

Collin and McCall- Courtney's niece

The Power 3- all married now! 

Courtney and Jonathan

Sunday the 15th: Another day in Huntsville. We purposely planned on every other day in Huntsville, to give the kids some good naps, to relax and so that we weren't driving all over the place every day.Thankfully Corinne and Bailey were feeling much better, but we were still keeping our distance to be safe. Collin and I slept in and were going to go to Sacrament meeting but Collin was acting a little off. He was really sleepy, eating on only one side at a time, and running a slight fever. I was pretty concerned since Corinne and Bailey had both had fevers. The stress of traveling and being away from Michael was definitely starting to wear on me! Thankfully this was the climax, and the rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. And thankfully the fever never amounted to anything and Collin was back to his normal self by late afternoon. In retrospect it was probably just the result of a really busy day before and not getting a really good nap.

Bailey playing in the curtains. She is such a silly girl! 

One morning Bailey and Collin played with each other for the longest time! I have probably a 5 minute video of them just playing. It was the cutest!! 

Monday the 16th: This was our day spent in Logan. Collin got to meet my 101 year old Grandma, aka GG, his Aunt Tanna, Uncle Jeremy and 4 of his Jenkins cousins. It also just happened to be his 2 month birthday!

Collin and GG

Kisses from GG

Uncle Jeremy

Aunt Tanna

Cousin Austin...the other boys didn't show much interest in Collin. But sweet Austin wanted to hold him! 

Sydney and Collin

Tuesday the 17th: Another day in Huntsville. Corinne and I made some yummy chocolate sandwich cookies with a peppermint frosting filling. They were delicious! I did another round of laundry (so not fun!) and packed up our stuff for our flight to LA the next day. Also that night some of Michael's siblings came up to the house to meet Collin. It was great to see them again and nice to see Collin loved by so many family members!

Aunt Charlette

Aunt Misty

Uncle Dennis 

Aunt Brittany

Aunt Misty and Cousins Kiara and Juli

Wednesday the 18th: This was our day in Salt Lake. We picked up Morgan from the airport in the morning, shopped at City Creek for a bit until it was time to meet up with my friend Caitlin and her little girl at Zupas. It was great to meet little Laila! She is 6 months old, but about the same size as Collin. It was so great to catch up with Caitlin too. We had a nice long visit. We sure miss being in the same ward as the Mortensen's! At Zupas we also ran into my childhood friend, Emily Tao. She is living in SLC and just happened to work at Zupas. Unfortunately we had just missed her brother Matt. After lunch we had more time to kill until I had to be at the airport so we do what Jenkins girls do best...shop! I suppose it was a good thing that I was already loaded down and didn't have room to buy anything :) At last it was time for me to head to the airport. Funny story: The Hales just happened to be flying into SLC that night. Their flight landed while I was waiting for mine so I figured out what gate it was coming in at, and met them as they were walking off the plane. They were totally surprised and it was fun to see them and have them meet Collin. (Papa Hales is the mastermind behind the beautiful cradle my dad made for us). Finally we landed in LAX, were reunited with Michael, and met my parents who treated us to a late dinner at In n Out. It was great to finally be "home" and for my dad to meet Collin!
Oh, I kept forgetting on the day of, and I nearly forgot to add it in here...This day was also our anniversary. Happy 3 years to us! It was a weird one being apart, and I had forgotten until half way through the day :) But we made up for it by celebrating later during our trip...more to come on that later!

Emily hard at work! 

Laila and Collin- 4 months apart but nearly the same size! 

Caitlin and Collin

Us and our sleepy babies! 

Saying goodbye to Aunt Rinny (no idea how to spell that!) at the airport...little did we know we would be seeing her in a week in CA! 

Ready for Collin's second flying adventure! He was such a great little traveler!! 

Christmas Travels Part 1

On December 10th Collin and I flew from San Antonio to Denver. It was Collin's first flight and he was a pretty good little traveler. He slept in the Beco from the time we got to the airport till the time we boarded, he ate during take off, was a little fussy, but quickly fell asleep after standing and rocking him in the back of the plane, then he slept the rest of the flight...even during the landing!

Sound asleep on the plane

Welcome to Denver!

My sister Corinne and niece Bailey picked us up from the airport and we spent the afternoon running errands, getting ready for our road trip the next day, and even squeezed in a trip to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop.

Love that Santa is looking down at him

The next day we loaded the car and hit the road for Huntsville, UT.

It was a long day, with all the extra stops we had to make to feed Collin. But the kids were great little travelers so the drive wasnt too bad. For having never been in the car for an extended period of time, Collin was an amazing traveler. He pretty much slept the whole time and just woke up every 4 hours to eat.
He did have the biggest blow out I had ever seen (he has since had an even bigger one!) at one of our stops. Thankfully he had just eaten and was sitting on my lap when it happened and not in his car seat...that would have been messy!

I'll save you the gross picture ;) 

Happy now that he is all cleaned up

Coming up next our week in Huntsville!