We spent Thanksgiving out of town with Ryan's side of the family. Almost everyone was there and we had so much fun. My sister-in-law is from Santa Barbara and she and my brother-in-law moved back there about 2 years ago. We really miss having them closer to us here in Colorado, but it sure is nice to have an excuse to take a beach vacation :)
Ryan's mom rented a beautiful home in Montecito and it was just the right size for all of us to stay together and have lots of fun cooking, talking, laughing and eating. The girls had so much fun spending hours on end with their aunts...who are teenangers. They were all in heaven! We also got to see some of our good friends, The Wangs. They came up from LA to spend part of a day with us.
We flew into LAX (the girls were all awesome on the plane and everything went as smooth as it could) and then drove up to Santa Barbara. The drive was beautiful and we were so excited to be spending a week away. We hadn't really left Denver since the spring, so this trip was a much needed vacation for us. The girls were so excited to see the ocean. It really was beautiful, and the weather was perfect all week!
Here is a view from the loft of the house (I should crop out the roof, but I don't want to take the time :)

We spent time at the park, at the beach, in and around the house (it really was a perfect house for a family get-together with lots of outdoor space as well), turkey-trotting, and eating, eating, eating.





There are a lot of Howell girls. We have one other Howell cousin and, of course, it's a girl. She is the cutest thing and had so much fun with all of our girls.


We went to the beach twice. The first time without suits...mistake...but we still had fun. The water was FREEZING but the girls still had so much fun!







If you have little kids and are in the area, you have to eat at the Padaro Beach Grill in Carpenteria. The food is good and affordable and they have the best outdoor eating area for the family. You don't feel like you are bothering anyone. It is right on the beach, although there is no beach access from the restaurant. And, the kids can play in the sand pit for hours! We went two days in a row and the kids were in heaven.







Hayden had fun, too. She just didn't get out of her stroller much. Maybe next time.

Another highlight of our trip (which I apparently didn't take any pictures of) was staying the night in LA before our flight home and visiting the Los Angeles temple. It was a Monday evening and for Family Night we decided to walk around the temple grounds. It didn't cross our minds that the temple might have Christmas lights, but it did. It was beautiful. The Visitor's Center was very nice as well. We had a fun evening being there and feeling the spirit with our family.
While we were in California, we got the news that my grandma had passed away. The last few days we were trying to finalize our plans for attending the funeral, which was going to be three days after we got home. We decided to go home as planned and then Ryan, Hayden and I would fly to Reno (leave the rest of the girls with his dad, here...thankfully), rent a car and drive to Fallon for the funeral, drive to UT for the burial, then fly back to Denver from there. This was basically a busy, jam-packed 48-hour trip, but it was another wonderful reunion. I'll post pictures later.
For now, life is getting back to crazy :) Christmas is in a few days and we are all excited. I can't believe it's nearly 2012.