Delightful December

December was delightful! Half the month we were at home doing many of our Christmas festivities and the other half we were in sunny San Diego with Hans. 

The month started out with lots of fun at home with friends and cousins!

School time at home with these cuties!

Dance class at home has been hard for the girls, but nice for me. No driving and I get to hear and see them practice and make dinner while they dance. We turned the dining room into our temporary dance studio while on zoom.

We got lights up in November some time...they looked so pretty and I love having Christmas lights up outside!

 

 

We love having Christmas decorations up! We were able to decorate for Christmas early too.

I was amazed that this fushia bloomed till November! I accidentally let it dry out otherwise I think it might have lasted till this year.

We went to the pump track one very cold but dry day. To ride bikes with friends. My girls like it there as long as some of their friends come!

Our roof finally was fixed during the clear days in December! Yay for that!

I put out Samson and Delilah's stockings and Sammy was super excited to get his new toys out! They must have smelled good! It was fun to watch him attack his stocking and get it off. I was sad we weren't home for Christmas with them, but was glad that they liked their treats!

The girls got sleeping bags from the Grandma Mary and Grandpa Eric. So we opened their early because we didn't have room to haul them to San Deigo. The girls loved them!

On Saturday the cousins came over to make and decorate sugar cookies and share some cookie making time. What a fun time we had!

They turned out so cute and were so yummy! What a fun day we had!

We played drawful a lot with Hans over zoom. This night we had Auntie Anna too! It was super fun and a good way to connect with Hans while he was away. This is a fun game if you have never tried it you should!

Anna made these for the girls. They were so cute!

This amaryllis came from friend Sarah and it was so pretty! I was so glad that it bloomed before I left because it was so tall there was no way we could have brought it to San Diego with us.

I always like to get Christmas pictures in the girls dresses but it was hard this year with all we had going on and no real times to dress up in their Christmas outfits without having any Christmas parties or dinners. But Raelyn did oblige me and got some pictures after church one day in a couple of her outfits. She is such a sweetie pie and such a cutie!

Cute little kitty hiding in the curtains!

Something else I got done was finally getting too small of clothes sorted through. It is always hard for me to put away the clothes for the last time that the girls have outgrown. Many I have had since Olivia was little so it is just hard for me to know I will never dig out these particular clothes ever again. So I take pictures of the different outfits so I can remember them when I look back. It helps me to let go. Sniff, sniff...

More pics of the cutie pie before we head to San Diego.

And then just like that...lol! Well with a lot of work, we were packed up once again and on our way to San Diego driving down for the second time this year. 2 days of driving....1200 miles! It is crazy, but doable and it was overall a fun and mostly uneventful.

On our way down we stayed at possibly the worst hotel I have ever stayed at in Redding. It was so creepy and I was so worried about my new van being broken into and the place was dirty so I hardly slept. Loud noises from the interstate and hotel kept me up half the night. So we got up early and hit the road. The girls didn't like the hotel either probably because I was all freaked out. So they thought it was fun to get up early and see the sun rise! We got Starbucks on the way out of town and ate some home made muffins and it was great to get on the road early and see the sun rise.

As we drove through LA we saw so many signs of homelessness and just how out of hand it is here in LA. It is really sad to see the junk everywhere and just the large amount of homeless. The girls were sad about it too.

And sunset was seen that evening as we neared San Diego. Another long day of driving in the books but we made it!!

San Diego isn't super warm in the winter, but we headed to the beach anyways. The wind was cold and we didn't go in the water. But it was still fun to be in the sun and the sand.

I wanted hand/foot print pictures in the sand. So here they are...

Aubrey made a chair in the sand!

We made gingerbread houses one day! This year Claire and Raelyn worked together and Olivia and Aubrey. Here they are! They ran out of patience part way through.

And we had to decorate the place a bit which made it feel a little more like home and a little more like Christmas. It was still hard being away from home for Christmas.

Little cartwheel girl

And the pool was still great especially in the morning when the sun was warmest at the pool area and usually the breeze had not picked up yet. Also this trip the hot tub was open for one family at a time so it was  nice to be able to get in the hot tub and warm up. The girls did wear their wet suits some to help them stay warm as well. I loved being able to read and soak up some sunshine.

The dog park was always a favorite outing too. To get out and run and play was good for everyone.

On this night we came to look for the Christmas star. See if you can spot it. You have to look really close!!

See it in the top 1/3 middle of the picture?

More pool time!

At this day at the beach we built some sand castles and the girls were playing behind the sand hills spying on us, because it was much warmer back there out of the wind. The ocean has a breeze or wind all the time and when it isn't that warm out then the wind makes it even cooler!

One night we had to go to the Hotel Del Coronado. It is a beautiful hotel and they had it all decorated for Christmas.  We got a few pictures and enjoyed all the lights and the sand castles built on the beach.

It was nice this time to have the hot tub open. The girls would warm up in the hot tub  and then do some swimming. I mostly sat in the sun but put my legs in the hot tub some.

We did a lot of puzzles over the break. Our place had quite a few puzzles there so it was fun to do some new to us puzzles.

One day when Hans was home he and the girls went out on the kayaks and paddle boards.

And we played frisbee in the park a lot! The girls loved doing that!

Christmas Adam (the day before Christmas Eve) is our traditional day to get a new puzzle for the family. This year we got a star wars puzzle. And some pictures of another puzzle we had already done of Noah's Ark.

On Christmas Eve I felt sad to not have a Christmas Eve service to attend like we would have if we had been home. So we made the best of it and got dressed up and watched a Christmas Ever service online from a church in Kalispell that my cousin attends. We sang some and listened to the preacher and lit our candles. It was fun, but definitely not the same as getting to be with our church family at home.

After our online service we did some pictures in front of the tree, before opening our Christmas Eve presents.

Finally, time for presents!!

I made home made cinnamon rolls for the first time in a long time!! They were so good!

Christmas morning!  Always a joyous time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. What a blessing to be together as a family even though we were all sad to not be in our own home it was still nice to be together as a family.

Stockings are always first! And sometimes they have some of the best gifts!

After breakfast and opening gifts it was time for the pool. I got a book to read for Christmas so I was excited to get some sun and reading time.

And we had to take Claire's new drone to the park to test out!

The next day (Dec. 26th) we went to the beach to try out the RC car and drone. It was a great day to be at the beach, but not a great day for flying a drone at the beach. Too windy!!  Even the little breeze will catch your drone and make it impossible to control where you want it to go. We almost the drone into the ocean! The little car was fun to run around the beach though!

We played with the drone just a bit, but the wind caught a hold of it and almost blew it into the ocean. So we were fortunate that we were able to get it down and retrieve it.

The only drone picture we got at the beach

That afternoon Hans and I had gone into town to do a little shopping and we stopped by the beach on the way home to try and get a sunset pictures. The selfy didn't work in catching the sunset. One of my favorite things about being in San Diego was being able to see the sunset each night, since I rarely get to see the sunset in Washington.

On the 27ht we had the Star Wars puzzle done! It was a fun puzzle to work on.

On the 28th we had a pretty good little rain storm come through. It was fun to see the rain clouds move in pour down rain and then leave.

Later that day we rode down to the park again to play.

On the 29th we went to play with the drone in the park in the morning.

That afternoon we went to the Cabrillo National Monument to see the low tide animals and the monument. We had gone here a few times back in 2016, but Hans had never gone with us.  So it was a fun place to go especially since we had a free 4th grade pass to get in. It was a windy cool day and it was a pain because we brought Stella and she could only be out of the car in certain areas of the park. 

The parking lot at the tide pools was full so Hans dropped the girls and I off at the beach and then drove up to park in the upper parking lot and then walk down. Since Stella could only be on the beach we couldn't all walk down. It was windy and we were suppose to wear masks. Which we kind of wanted to wear because it was cold!! 

We walked up to the light house and viewing area after we left the beach. Such beautiful views up there although still cold and windy!

We were up at the lighthouse just about sunset. Amazing views and I got to see the sunset. YAY!

The moon was coming up as we were leaving and it was gorgeous!

And as we drove by the military graveyards I couldn't help but snap a few pictures as it was so beautiful and I just felt thankful for the service of the many men and women who have given their lives for our country over the years.

And we drove by Sea World which we were sad was closed and we didn't get to visit. We had bought passes, but then they closed for the whole time we were there and we were unable to go. It was really quite a bummer.

And another fun picture headed into Coronado. Such a beautiful skyline!

We had another warm morning so we headed to the pool and hot tub to play for a bit. This was December 30th.

After swimming we went for a scooter ride and walk by the bay beach.

And that afternoon we went to Imperial Beach to see the pier and beach there. It was windy and cool but we got some ice cream and drinks.

 

When I was looking for somewhere to get dinner I found Louden lane on the map and we had to stop and get a picture of my with the sign. Louden is my maiden name so it was fun to find this sign.

On the 31st we packed up and headed to Palm Springs a 3 hour drive from San Diego we had rented a really fun house with a private pool and hot tub. On our drive there we actually saw snow! It was a windy mountain road we were on and Raelyn felt a little car sick.

The place we stayed in Palm Springs was so fun! It had gorgeous views, was really private and had a great little hot tub and pool.

We watched movies, had yummy snacks, played games and toasted in the new year.  2021 started out pretty great for the Tolf family. Not the best pictures, but they are all I got...lol!!

And just like that the crazy year of 2020 was over. It still seems so surreal this last year and even now (I am finally writing this post in April 2021). It has been hard yet there are so many blessings and silver linings and we are growing more in Christ (each of us) as we process through this past year and read our Bibles and pray more than we ever have. We are all growing and resting in God and his promises and his sovereignty. Here is to 2021 and growing in the our  Lord and Savior more and more each day.