… but we still had a “real” Christmas, we think?

Remember when Mommy thought a photo w/ a Santa statue was as good as we’d get this year? Boy were we surprised when we stumbled on this guy at a walk-through lights event. The boys weren’t too convinced though and quickly labeled him “Fake Santa” mainly because he “wasn’t fat enough” (他不够胖). Looks like Mandarin immersion is good for something (aka talking ’bout Santa behind his back?). :D

The light scenes were really well done… We went early, stayed far apart from the few folks there and left right when more people started coming.

These two bugs!

Said it before and saying it again… Love our pod fam! They have been like our special SD angels. :)

Christmas star gazing… To think that a similar star followed our Christ child so many years ago to His birth centers us. The lyrics of “We Three Kings” come to mind:
Star of Wonder, Star of Night,
Star with Royal Beauty bright,
Westward leading,
Still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect Light.

Regardless of the times… He’s still proceeding… still guiding us to that Perfect Light.

We attempted a hike on Christmas Eve but it started POURING rain so we had to cut it short.

Our quiet, intimate little Christmas. :) We’re digging our simple “Charlie Brown” tree, hehe. One thing that we told ourselves after leaving Texas (and the more and bigger is better mentality) is that we really wanted to pursue a life of minimalism where we will value experiences over things. Accumulating lots of stuff in a huge house is not the lifestyle we want to live or teach our son. At the end of the day, we feel the things that you saw and did and felt will be far more remembered over what you owned. Rant over. :P And of course we are still going to buy things… but we always think twice (or thrice+++) about its usage, quality, necessity.

The rest of Christmas Day was spent building, playing, resting… Our living room became a Lego factory, haha.

This year’s Christmas card:

Since we only used two photos from our quick mini fall shoot, here are a few other takes that we liked:

It was almost foreign to be out of PJ’s, loungewear or hiking/outdoor gear. ;p

Sooooo, 2021, here we come!

Welp, most of CA shut down again so we’ve been mostly hanging around our ‘hood.

Beholden to one of our neighbors who has been inviting E to play in their new backyard playground. We share the same views on the virus so we felt it was fairly safe, staying outdoors.

Nice unexpected dazzle in the sky. The town bordering us put off anniversary fireworks.

Crossing off Peak #3 (North Fortuna) of the 5 Peak Challenge on the trails around our place.

Peak #4 of 5 (South Fortuna). This one was STEEP With lots of climbing. Mr. E has seriously become a billy goat… leaving Mommy and Daddy in the dust! Oh, just waiting patiently at the top for you guys. :P

Obligatory pic at each ascent. We’ve got 1 to go — the longest and tallest one. SOON! :)

Eh, is it really December? This Santa-dude is ready… But who knows if Santa Claus is coming to town this year. ;D

See if you get the title after going through this post. :)

These boys were pretty excited about stopping by Butt Cheek Rock on the trail up to Potato Chip Rock. (Potty humor going strong at this age… does it lessen? :|)

We opted for the short route via the fire road, which was still quite some elevation.

Plenty of stops and silly rough housing.

Once we got up to the top, E was the only one willing to get on the chip. :P That in itself was a feat as we had to scramble rocks and scooch carefully to the edge.

Mama convinced him to stand… if only for a sec.

Then H decided he wanted to give it a go. Almost chickened out but he braved through!

Daddy and Uncle Scott have become good buddies with lots of similar interests and topics of discussion.

H sat up. :) But didn’t dare to look down.

Another beautiful hike in the books topped off with a luscious sunset.

On Thanksgiving Day, we drove out to Palomar Mountain. Good to see some tall trees! Where is Mr. E?

The amber glow that will forever hold our hearts captive.

It was mighty peaceful up there with hardly a soul. Perfect for some contemplation, meditation, reflection and gratitude despite all that’s going on in the world…

After sunset, we drove up even higher close to the observatory and did some star gazing. It was freeeezing but being reminded again how small we are in this vast universe is always grounding. We had a simple meal at home afterwards and the turkey bird did not make an appearance this year. :) Actually, he’s been missing for a few years already? :D

Black Friday was #optoutside day!

E’s longest hike ever w/ trusty hiking partner, J.

To the eagle! Totally worth it…

Snack break and feeling accomplished.

Playing in the crevices.

Daddy was happy to be hiking on the PCT. We’ll be back to do more on these trails. :)