Cataract Falls

Words don't do this hike justice. We thought we were in Hawaii it was so lush and green everywhere. This was one of our faves because it was only one mile each way and there were about ten different gorgeous falls along the way. This hike certainly packed a punch. Oh, I miss it up there already.

Point Reyes Lighthouse

We tried to view gray whales from the lighthouse but sadly were unsuccessful. I'm pretty bummed, but it gives us an excuse to come back again! We are loving it here!

Hike to Chimney Rock

My legs are sore and we have another long hike to go tomorrow...but, it's great incentive to keep going when the scenery is as breathtaking as it has been. Wow.

Happy New Year From Point Reyes National Seashore

Two days in Point Reyes National Seashore and we're having a blast. Today we hiked a total of 12 miles of the most amazing trails; redwood forests, ocean vistas, waterfalls, lakes, and top of Tamalpais mountain overlooking San Francisco underneath the fog. These are just a few of the photos...I'll post more soon. We want to crash tonight after filling our bellies with California Pizza Kitchen to carbo load for tomorrow!! Happy New Year!

Christmas Day

After a nice morning opening our presents and spending time together at home, we hiked to Ortega falls on Christmas Day. It was raining, but it was really fun. The trails weren't really trails and so we ended up taking a detour. But, we found our way to the lower falls and had to rock climb our way up over massive boulders to the upper falls. We went home and cleaned up and headed over to Scott's parents house where we had more gifts to open. They were very generous and they gave us a lot of nice things and money. I have the greatest in-laws! We had dinner and enjoyed our evening with the family. We are all very blessed and absolutely loving this wonderful time of year.

Tis the Season To Be Jolly

Tis the season to be jolly...

Here are some of the other festivities we've been up to:

We went to a Christmas concert last week at the Sergstrom Concert Hall called "Tis the Season", which was phenomenal. One more annual Christmas tradition to add to our calendar for next year. Seriously, it was amazing and definitely put us in the Christmas spirit.

We also went to Fashion Island to see the 115 foot tall real Christmas tree. Wow.

After Five Crowns on Saturday we met up with Scott's family and headed to Balboa Island to watch the boat parade and walk around to see all the houses decked out with lights for Christmas. It was totally crowded, but really worth braving crowds and the cold. Sorry no photos, but think of Chevy Chase's house in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation...yep, there were some contenders for sure. I hope they know a good therapist.

And Scott just about O.D.'d on my clam dip...Mom, it was a hit. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Yet another tradition in the making. ;)

My work holiday party was dinner and dancing at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel. We fell in love with the real Christmas tree in the entrance and the huge gingerbread castle in one of the lobbies that took multiple hotel chefs a total of 400 hours to create. We'll have to go again and take some photos to post. Incredible.

Our ward Christmas party this year was centered around a service project for some really poor children living in Tijuana, Mexico. Every family bought backpacks and filled them with school supplies, gloves, hats, umbrellas, jackets, blankets, scarves and the priesthood leaders delivered them to a school that is very needy down there. We were able to provide a filled backpack for each of the 250 school children. I sure love our ward and especially our bishop, bishop Grossen. He is an amazingly spiritual and generous person and this was his idea to do a service project in lieu of a party. We all brought our backpacks to a breakfast and put them under a couple Christmas trees and they filled the whole side of the room. The whole experience was so touching. That's what Christmas is supposed to be. I hope we can keep the spirit of service in our lives all year round.

Five Crowns Corona Del Mar

Scott took me to Five Crowns on Saturday night for a splendid dinner. We loved the old English decor and the festive ambiance which was accented nicely by the carolers that sang tableside.
Scott ordered the roasted goose special, which he absolutely loved. And I got Beefsteak Neptune which is a filet mignon butterflied with crab legs, asparagus and bernaise on top. Yum yum yum. And to top it off we got their famous chocolate souffle for dessert. We've decided to make this our annual Christmas season splurge. Dad, you would love it! Next time you visit us we'll have to take you there. Actually we have so many places we'd like to take you, Dad...can't wait for your next visit.

Montage Laguna Beach

Sunday morning is our favorite time to head to the coast and take in the gorgeous scenery. Today was warm and sunny and so beautiful. We love to go to the Montage Resort & Spa and walk around the grounds. One of these years we'll have to get a room.
Today we really just wanted an excuse to use our new TomTom GPS system in my car. It is really cool and we're getting excited for our upcoming roadtrip to Point Reyes National Seashore which we'll do over New Year's weekend. According to the books Scott has read it is supposed to have some of the most amazing hikes and wildlife including my favorite - whales. I can't wait!

Christmas Decorations in Our Little Apartment

We love our little apartment here in Ladera Ranch. We are definitely enjoying the Christmas season. I can't believe Christmas is next week! We have had fun with our advent calendar by putting little surprises inside for each other. Scott did the even days for me and I did the odd days for him. So far we've had a lot of chocolates and candies, a little crystal with an elk etched into it, a Straight No Chaser CD, and a coupon for a foot rub. Fun times. Happy Holidays to all of you.

Quick Utah Trip

We flew to Utah for the weekend and had so much fun. We packed in a bunch: a visit with my parents, grandma, Jaelyn, Mark & family, Chris, Tiff & new baby Eliza, went to the Christmas concert with Melissa, walked around temple square to see the gorgeous Christmas lights and hiked to some falls near my parents house. It snowed big beautiful flakes for us and the mountains were covered and beautiful. It was a great little holiday get-away!