In between holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas)

After Thanksgiving, my parents could not wait to see Kaitlyn any longer, so they came to visit.  I didn't take any pictures with them, but we took some of Kaitlyn while they were here.  We had so much fun even though the weather decided not to cooperate.  It was the most rain we have had since we have moved here.  All of our plans for outdoor fun were ruined, but we still had a great time.  

On Friday, we drove up into the beautiful mountains and my Dad has an amazing ability to drive straight to nice golf courses that we didn't know were there.  On Saturday, I had previously signed up to help elementary aged girls run a 5K, so we all drove up to San Fransisco and I ran a 5K in Golden Gate Park in the rain.  Then we drove around and got a great view of the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Then we went to Fisherman's Warf and ate at Boudin's.  We had amazing fish and chips, clam chowder, and of course, Sourdough bread.  I would eat that bread every day if I could. Then because we were not full enough, we walked to Ghirardelli Square and shared a delicious ice cream sundae.  We finally had to go home and for dinner we ate more sourdough bread and some yummy cheese and fruit. 

On Sunday, we went to church, and on the way home from church, we went to find my great grandpa's apartments in Menlo Park.  We found them and my Mom reminisced about the summers she spent in the apartment pool with all her cousins.  She also told us about how her Grandma used to pay her a nickle to paint the stairs.  Only now did my Mom realize that she was probably given a paintbrush and water to paint with.  We also found my Great Grandpa's old house that he built.  It still has the same ugly stained glass front doors.  

I found out that this same Great Grandpa, Orion Packer, built the church building that we go to on Valparaiso Ave.  I told some ladies in Relief Society this, and they pointed me to one of the oldest ladies in our ward, June Soelberg, who can't really hear or see anymore.  I went and talked to her and she remembers him.  In fact, I couldn't remember his first name, but she knew it off the top of her head, as well as some of the names of his daughters.  She has a gift with names.  She even knew the street that he used to live on.  Amazing!

We also walked around Stanford campus to show my parents the sights.  My parents left that night and Stan, our brother-in-law came to stay the night because he had an interview here.  It was so fun to have all the family and Kaitlyn loved having family in her own territory.  She was much more relaxed than she was at Thanksgiving (and Christmas for that matter).

Now here are the Kaitlyn pictures.

After getting walked around so much in Ellensburg for Thanksgiving, Kaitlyn just wanted to walk.  She would go back and forth and smile and laugh when she was falling.  I think its crazy she thought that falling was so fun.  I guess she never actually fell without being caught.

 Grandma and Grandpa Gibb sent us this Nativity and Kaitlyn loved it!  She knocked everything off and scattered the pieces until you put them back and she would do it again.

 

 We went to Yosemite for a day after Jeremy finished finals to go cross country skiing.  Since there wasn't enough snow, we just went hiking.  Aside from the fact that Kaitlyn won't nurse in a car so she didn't get a ton to eat (only a little solid food), she was pretty happy until she got too cold.

  She always wants to walk.  Especially over obstacles like big rocks.

 

After the first short hike, we learned a better way to keep her face warm and she was much happier after that.  We tucked some fleece pants into her shirt and she wore it like a scarf.

All bundled up... like A Christmas Story.

This coyote walked right up to our car...

At our ward Christmas party, Kaitlyn got her first picture with Santa.  She wasn't so sure about him.

We went to see the Oakland Temple all lit up.  So beautiful.  We also went to a sing along of Handel's Messiah that was fun even if we couldn't sing and we had to leave early because Kaitlyn was done.  It was probably better we went to this informal one where Kaitlyn could make a few noises without anyone getting upset.