happy new year!!

Hi friends!! Hope everyone had a great holiday season... I know we did. We had a great three weeks in nor-cal but are definitely glad to be back! Southern California ALSO got a ton of rain while we were gone so we were glad to see that our little place was still standing. Once we got out of the grapevine yesterday there were signs of mudslides EVERYWHERE! super scary. not to mention that it was snowing and stormy while we were driving through it. My poor brother was driving a couple hours behind us and they ended up closing the grapvine before he drove through. He was taken on a detour down hwy 1 and it took him 12 hours door to door to get home. NOT what he was hoping for and we kept trying to convince him to leave the same time as us... and speaking of Michael, he turns 21 tomorrow!! we are going with a group of his teammates/roommates and some of Gavins teammates/friends (that Mike has also gotten to know) to Taco Tuesday and to get him a big margarita :) I cant believe he is 21... crazy!!
What is even crazier... all of the changes that Kenley went through while we were home. I feel like she is coming back to Riverside a whole new baby! She is a busy little girl and has me on my toes all the time. She grabs EVERYTHING, is getting very strong and has actually sprouted lots of new little hairs!! Enough to blow in the wind!! haha She is now sitting up completely by herself. I can walk away while she sits and entertains herself with all of the new toys Santa brought. She is also eating solids and LOVING it by the way. I am making all of her baby food and she has seemed to love everything so far. I got a great all natural baby food cookbook for christmas and havent put it down since... not to mention all of the new cookware that Santa brought that are making cooking that much more fun (and easy).
and YES!... Kenley has a lot to say. She has added "B" , "M" and "D" to her little babbling. May seem like nothing but O-MY-GOSH, I cant get enough of it!! It is starting to become more and more clear what her little voice is going to sounds like. She is CONSTANTLY "talking" and I am constantly sitting and listening :)
As I type, Gavin is off at his first day of classes to start the new quarter. He has his work cut out for him this quarter while he juggles 13 units, being in season & oh ya, daddy duty! He did SO well last quarter and we are all SO proud of him. He passed all of his classes with flying colors, had a great fall season and as usual was amazing with Kenley. I would love to know the statistics on how many parent-student-athletes make it all happen... he is my HERO!!!
Well... I would be lying if I said I needed maybe just a little more time at home. At no point were we sitting and looking around for something to do. We were always on the move and trying to see as many friends as we could... and I STILL didnt get to see all the people that I wanted to :( I feel like I spread myself a little thin and it caught up with me right after Christmas. I had a lot of people expecting a lot from me and I simply cant be two places at once!! I am only one person and so is Kenley. As much of a trooper as she was with all of the traveling, it definitley took its toll on me. All of the packing and unpacking got a little out of control and I dont plan on packing an over-night bag for a VERY long time. I am so happy just being in my own space right now and I havent been this relaxed in weeks!
Soooo... if I had to chose a highlight from our trip home, it would definitely be Christmas at my Uncle Martins cabin in Arnold (south Sierras). We got up there about noon on Christmas Day. All of my moms family was there! We were a little dissapionted that there was barely any snow on the ground, but believe it or not, it started DUMPING snow around 7 pm. All 10 grandkids had a huge snowball fight and played out in the snow until we were frozen to the bone. We took my Uncles canoe out of the garage and "sledded" down the street hahaha I am laughing just thinking about all 10 of us jumping in there as we pushed it like a bobsled down the hill. After we came inside we all participated in the most hilarious game of "white elephant" that I have ever been a part of. My family is crazy in all meanings of the word.
We woke up to the cabin being blanketed in the most beautiful, white, sparkely snow. We let Kenley touch it and she was so curious! We also got lots of cute pictures as usual of course.
Well, like I said, its good to be back and as promised I will be blogging more!
love love love, Jess