Christmas, New Years and the Rose Bowl...Oh My!!

Sadly, I am waaaay behind on my blogging.

You know what that means, right?

Yep. Collages. And few words. It's the best I can do right now.

Enjoy!! :)

 It seems silly to be posting Christmas pictures when we're well into January, but here they are...finally!

This was Christmas Eve...the children's mass at church is always wonderful, and then we had a nice, low-key night with my parents at their house this year...my dad wasn't feeling up to getting out of the house.  We missed the gang we usually spend Christmas Eve with, but it was nice to be close to home and spend it with just our immediate family.♥

Christmas morning..."Mommy, Daddy, Santa came!!!"

Taylor was sooo excited about all of her gifts!  She squealed when she saw her stocking so plump and full of goodies and couldn't wait to dig into it! She especially loved her "skateboard" {sled!} and can't wait to use it...maybe next weekend?!

Matt and I both did very well this year, too.  In fact, Matt does a great job with Christmas every year...he always spoils me.  No complaints from this mama! :)

We spent the afternoon and evening at Cheri and Jay's house for more Christmas celebration!

A delicious tri-tip dinner and presents from my mom and dad meant everyone was full of excitement and joy!

The only bad part...my dad was very sick.  He caught the nasty cold that's going around, and since he's already run-down, exhausted and sick from going through chemo, his body just couldn't fight it.  But, after a trip to the ER in the morning for blood work, IV antibiotics and fluids, and lots of rest, he was doing much better by the next morning.  Praise God!! ♥

Next up...California!!

We traveled down to the LA area for New Year's and the Rose Bowl, and it was SO. MUCH. FUN!!

This is the beach house we stayed at on Newport Beach the first night we were there.  Really, a girl could get used to this!  I didn't mind at all waking up to blue skies and sunshine in December...and it was semi-warm! 60 degrees ain't too shabby for December! :)

New Year's Eve day we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway {gorgeous!!} to San Diego!

We stopped in Laguna Beach on our way and sipped Starbucks while we people watched, and then hit downtown San Diego and the Gas Lamp District.  What a beautiful, clean city!  Again, I could get used to it. :)

That night we met up with Matt's friend Eric and his wife Krista...they flew in from Wisconsin for the Rose Bowl!  We partied it up with them and had a great time downtown LA!  There were tons of Badger fans everywhere we went, so it really got us pumped for the big game the next day!!

And finally...the Rose Bowl!!!

This was simply amazing.

An opportunity I'm so glad we jumped at...it was an experience of a lifetime!

If you're a football fan, you can appreciate the history and the honor of playing in the Rose Bowl.  It was so awesome to see nearly 100,000 people pack the stands!  And even more awesome to experience firsthand the spirit and camaraderie of a big college sporting event.

We had a fabulous time!!