California Christmas, Part Two

Redondo Beach. Some say the best place on earth.

 Grandma and Mom. :)

 My pretty sista.

 This is my favorite piece my Grandma has made.  It's painted and collaged with beach scrap items for texture.

 Hmm... I wonder why I love stained glass.  This is one of the three hanging lamps like this in the house.

The picture in the background is also Grandma's handiwork.  I love being in that kitchen.

 I can relate to Santa in a new way this Christmas.  But my belly doesn't quite wiggle like a bowl full of jelly.  It kicks and pokes from within.

 I know you're singing it in your head... sisters, sisters...

This is our annual walk down Manhattan Beach Pier after breakfast at the Kettle.  We check out surfing, take weird pictures, and laugh.  This year we missed Kaylee though!

 Being Cardinals.

 Excited Aunt Beth!

 That night we walked along the canals in Naples and looked at amazing Christmas lights.  

Followed by delicious In-And-Out Burgers!

 Last day lunch in Palos Verdes.  A perfect day.  Absolutely.

 Stopped by the Trump golf course to walk the public trails.  This is the clubhouse.

 This about says it all.

Until next time!

California Christmas, Part One

We flew out on 12/20, which turned out to be quite the blizzard.

The non-Minnesotans on our flight flocked to the gate window to photograph the snowfall.

We were delayed an hour getting on the plane, and spent a total of 6 hours on-board, for a 4 hour flight!  

The adventure begins.

 The first 2 days were spent with Bert's family in Huntington Beach.

I am kicking myself about not taking pictures with his grandparents etc.

 Then we took a day for ourselves and drove down Pacific Coast Highway to explore Orange County.

There had been record-breaking rainfall there, which we got to witness.

 Finally the sky starts to clear after our lunch on the pier in San Clemente.

 Fun to stay at a hotel for one night!

 Our excursion to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano.  We listened to an 'award winning' audio tour, which was quite good.  It was a great place to visit.

 Bert took the photos this day.  I love this one!

 California poppies are my favorite!

 Bert was excited to partake in Chik-Fil-A for lunch.  Yum.

Small Group Christmas Party

Another year of small group life has gone by and we continue to be blessed, challenged, and encouraged by a wonderful group of brothers and sisters in Christ.  We recently got together to celebrate the season and it was a blast!  There was delicious food, a suspenseful white elephant gift exchange, and lots of quality time enjoying one another.  Thank you Lord for a great small group!!!

Loot is displayed from the kid's white elephant gift exchange

Hope and Roman read together

 Christmas Sweater Friends: Bex and Olivia

 Leah hangs out with Ian

 All of us, minus Shannon

 The must-have silly shot

If we had done a Christmas card, this would be it...

Eikum Family 2010 Top Ten:

10. 5am Panera Bread Bakery Openings for Beki

9. Bert's snowshoeing, quinzee building, winter camping excursion

8. Three years of marriage celebrated at a Stillwater B&B

7. Extended family times in CA and Battle Lake, MN

6. Adventurous BWCA trip with friends, including 3 hungry-bear run-ins

5. Home renovations: backyard, gardening, bathroom, kitchen etc.

4. Starting a new Small Group through our church Sovereign Grace Fellowship

3. Dreamy Mexico Vacation

2. Oakley, the newest, softest and sleepiest member of our family (our cat)

1. Baby Eikum, Due April 2011, Lord willing!

May your new year be filled with grace, hope, and joy!

New Kitchen Floor!

On Saturday, Bert and our friend Eric installed our new 'old walnut' laminate flooring.

We are loving it!

Here are some shots from the workday on Saturday:

They did such an amazing job!  Eric was a big help.  

He was also here a month ago helping Bert with the new cabinet construction.

Thanks for all your hard work Eric!

...It's overwhelmingly dreamy to think that soon there will be new counters too!  I expected it to be much more stressful to remodel kitchen while expecting a baby, but things have been going really smooth lately.  Thanks to Bert's diligence, snowy Saturdays, and lots of God's grace.

Remembering.

Something about this picture...

Brings me back to this picture.

This was almost exactly four years ago, just after we'd gotten engaged.

I guess some things never change. :)

Have I mentioned that Beth is an excellent photographer?!

During both of these shoots she was having great patience with me, as I am a picky portrait subject.

There's No Place Like Home...

We celebrated Wilson family Christmas on Monday night - so we wouldn't have to bring any gifts to California. :)  It was wonderful, as usual.  Mom cooked a great meal, Dad read Luke 2, and Beth graciously took some Christmas photos for me and Bert.  It is crazy to think this is our last Wilson Christmas without Baby Ike's appearance.

 Beth is resident DJ, if you can believe it.

 Gus is always the target of our crumpled up wrapping paper. :)