let there be lights...

Jeff puts on a pretty great light display on our house every year but we decided to go and see the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden - Garden d' lights. We ended up going the day after Christmas since I thought that the crowds would be a little smaller and boy was I wrong. The place was hopping and it was a little crowded to see the displays but luckily there are so many lights that you have views all around you. Plus, if you have kids under 4 they get in free!

ho ho ho...

We had a fabulous holiday this year. Both Jeff and I had the week off from work and Ethan was out of daycare so we had a bunch of fun family time. We got to visit with a lot of family and friends and Ethan was so excited for Santa to visit. We had to make sure that our fireplace was not blocked so that Santa could come down the chimney and eat our cookies and milk that we left out for him. We had a great Christmas morning opening up presents as a family and playing with our toys after the craziness was over. Then we headed up to Bellingham for dinner to visit with Grandpa and family. Thanks again for the wonderful dinner and hosting us all dad and Jackie!!! And thanks Alison and Sid for hosting us on Christmas Eve!!!

 (Hanging out with his cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Herron's)

 (Ethan's present to me. He picked it out himself because he wanted his mom to have a girl dump truck and magic wand to play with.)

(Castle from Grandma and Grandpa Allsop.)

(Our Christmas Tree)

the san francisco treat...

This past week I took a trip down to San Francisco to visit some friends and attend a conference for work. I arrived on a Saturday and stayed with my friends Jill and Greg at their very swanky apartment in the city. Thanks guys for letting me crash at your pad. We took in the Cirque du Soleil show Totem and ate at some very yummy restaurants in different parts of the city which was a delight.

They also took me on a drive into the Santa Cruz mountains to go wine tasting. We drove up and up and went to a winery at the very top and then made our way back down stopping at a few other wineries along the way. The weather was a little cool but we were able to have a picnic outside at a winery that had their very own peacocks. I ended up getting a few bottles since there was no way I could go home empty handed and I knew that Jeff would love the wine as well. 

The rest of the time I spent in the financial district attending training for work and it was in the perfect location, right across the street from my new favorite place the Ferry Building. If you are in San Francisco I highly recommend that you check this place out and make sure you visit hungry. 

*Special thanks to Jeff as well for being a single dad for a week.

a house built out of candy...

Instead of hitting the malls in the wee hours of the morning, Ethan and I constructed a house out of gingerbread and candy thanks to a kit we bought at Costco. Luckily, Ethan didn't end up eating all of the candy like last year a bunch actually made it onto the house this time. He definitely has a knack for decorating and the house turned out great.

Let the holiday festivities begin!

a bit to be thankful for...

We had a wonderful turkey day at the Kalles household. Dinner turned out great and everyone left with full bellies. We have been talking a lot about Thanksgiving and what we are thankful for in our house lately. Before dinner we went around the table to discuss what we were thankful for. Ethan decided that he was thankful for Popsicles. We had asked him this same question the day before and his answer was he was thankful to get to live in places like Disneyland and Hawaii. We are taking this as a sign that we travel a little to much.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ended the evening with full bellies.

roll tide...

Last weekend our friends Chris and Joni had a Alabama football party to watch the big game against LSU. We were tasked with bringing the dessert for our group of friends. I could not decide what to make but wanted them to be Alabama themed. Jeff suggested that I make red velvet cupcakes with white frosting. I thought that sounded like a great idea and then I also added to the theme by using red sugar sprinkles that were Ethan's choice and then printing out the Alabama logo and creating a cupcake decoration. They were a big hit at the party! I never was that big of a baker before but I love me some cupcakes and I love to decorate them even more.

The game ended up going into overtime and unfortunately they lost but we all had a blast and left with full tummies.

happy halloween...

It was a busy time at the Kalles household this Halloween. We ended up carving our pumpkins with our neighbors and Ethan was a little scared of the pumpkin innards but loved cutting the pumpkin. He was not the greatest cutter, plus our safety knife broke so I ended up doing most of the work.

Ethan's daycare also had a Halloween parade where the kids got to go and trick-or-treat around the nearby office park. Everyone was parading in their costumes and it was a site to be seen.

We also ventured out and trick-or-treated around our house and visited a nearby house that always has the best decorations for every holiday and Halloween was no exception.

And we actually grew our own pumpkin in our garden this year as well. As you can see below, we will not be winning any prizes for the biggest pumpkin.