The first weekend in December, we all went downtown to look at the L.A. Auto Show. I thought it would be horribly boring, but I was mostly wrong - it was kinda cool. There were a bunch of ridiculously expensive cars on display, along with new models of more conventional cars. Elise really liked the Porsche (note the sign on the handle saying "do not touch".) 
Afterwards, the kids had a great time goofing around on these weird concrete cylinders in the courtyard. 
Winter came to Los Angeles! Traditionally, winter is confined to the month of December, so we broke in our new fireplace - notice our terribly safe fire screen. We did replace it a day or two later with a real one, lest you be too concerned. 
Joy School did their annual Christmas Pageant at the family party - it was adorable (as always). Connor got to be the shepherd, and did a great "surprised" look while pointing at the star. Since Elise had been present at almost all of the rehearsals, she firmly insisted that she be included as well, so she was given the job of third Wise Man, and did a great 2-year-old job following the big kids. Our camera ran out of batteries right after this picture was taken, so this is all we get.
They repeated the show two days later at a nursing home, but we didn't get to attend. That's because I was busy that morning getting Connor's early Christmas present - a shiny blue cast! He and Elise had been running around like crazies the night before, crashed into one another, and Connor fell on his arm wrong. He cried and cried, telling me that it hurt "so much", which I took as a very serious sign, since he'd never acted like that before. His dad thought he was faking, and was only convinced at 5am when Connor was still waking up crying from the pain (we didn't sleep much). The pediatrician on call had advised us to try to get him to sleep rather than wasting time in an ER all night, so I did my best first-aid splint, which helped a little, and tried to keep him happy until offices opened in the morning. Ryan was also able to give him a blessing before he left for work, which was really cool. Actually, Connor didn't complain of pain at all after that. It turns out he broke both bones in his forearm, just a little down from his elbow. Poor kid. It hasn't slowed him down much, though. 
The following day was the ward Christmas brunch, which had a really cool marionette troupe as the main entertainment. Both kids loved it, but Elise was absolutely delighted. 
They also got their first picture with Santa Claus! 
Two days later, the kids and I started our 3-week Holiday Family Tour, which kind of impacted blogging, so sorry about that. More updates will surely follow!
Afterwards, the kids had a great time goofing around on these weird concrete cylinders in the courtyard. 
Winter came to Los Angeles! Traditionally, winter is confined to the month of December, so we broke in our new fireplace - notice our terribly safe fire screen. We did replace it a day or two later with a real one, lest you be too concerned. 
Joy School did their annual Christmas Pageant at the family party - it was adorable (as always). Connor got to be the shepherd, and did a great "surprised" look while pointing at the star. Since Elise had been present at almost all of the rehearsals, she firmly insisted that she be included as well, so she was given the job of third Wise Man, and did a great 2-year-old job following the big kids. Our camera ran out of batteries right after this picture was taken, so this is all we get.
They repeated the show two days later at a nursing home, but we didn't get to attend. That's because I was busy that morning getting Connor's early Christmas present - a shiny blue cast! He and Elise had been running around like crazies the night before, crashed into one another, and Connor fell on his arm wrong. He cried and cried, telling me that it hurt "so much", which I took as a very serious sign, since he'd never acted like that before. His dad thought he was faking, and was only convinced at 5am when Connor was still waking up crying from the pain (we didn't sleep much). The pediatrician on call had advised us to try to get him to sleep rather than wasting time in an ER all night, so I did my best first-aid splint, which helped a little, and tried to keep him happy until offices opened in the morning. Ryan was also able to give him a blessing before he left for work, which was really cool. Actually, Connor didn't complain of pain at all after that. It turns out he broke both bones in his forearm, just a little down from his elbow. Poor kid. It hasn't slowed him down much, though. 
The following day was the ward Christmas brunch, which had a really cool marionette troupe as the main entertainment. Both kids loved it, but Elise was absolutely delighted. 
They also got their first picture with Santa Claus! 
Two days later, the kids and I started our 3-week Holiday Family Tour, which kind of impacted blogging, so sorry about that. More updates will surely follow!
