Nate comes to CA...and Holidays begin

I got lucky with my in-laws. Matt's siblings are awesome and it was really easy for us all to become brother/sister without some awkward transition. We always have a good time together and since moving to CA, Matt and I have both really missed our "Family Sunday dinners" and get-togethers. SO when Nate said he was coming for Thanksgiving we were beyond excited! Here's an update in pictures since I don't have time to write about everything.

We took Nate to Pebble Beach to visit some of my family. Nate tried out his skills as a cliff-hanger haha.

Iconic tree from the Pebble Beach golf course.

 Handsome Cookies:)

Seriously, how gorgeous is this picture?! Pebble is definitely one of my favorite places to visit. It is so beautiful and serene.

On to the Golden Gate!

We of course had to take Nate to the Embarcadero to see where Matt works. Walked around the Ferry building, and saw the ridiculously small Christmas Ice Skating rink that had a huge line with a wait time of over an hour. Ummm no thanks.

This is our only picture from Thanksgiving dinner! Matt snapped it while I was mashing potatoes haha it looks like I'm having a great time. We really had a great day. Football, dinner with family, movie night, and of course Matt and Nate faced off in another epic Madden Battle.

 At Pebble I got to see my favorite little ladies! It's been hard living states away compared to a two minute walk. But even one day was awesome and Matt and I had such a fun time playing with them. They are SO big and so smart!! I was blown away.

This past Sunday we got to visit with more family. My cousin Preston and his wife Jamie and kids made the drive from Folsom to hang out with us. We had dinner, watched Christmas cartoons, and went to the Oakland temple to check out the lights and live Nativity!

Ethan and Noah

Cute Stauffer Family photo!

I love how the lights at Oakland are so completely different from those at Salt Lake. There's a tropical theme and the lights are all blue, orange, and green. PLUS it was almost 70 Saturday and Sunday which made for a very warm evening out!! LOVING California weather.

Finally, I have been a machine in the kitchen lately. Baking and testing and creating new Holiday treats! It's one of my favorite things to do. I can't wait 'til we have a place with real counter space!

 Peanut butter blossoms

 Cornflake Candy

 Homemade Peppermint Patties

AND the man who makes it all possible....Mr. Cook.
He lets me turn the kitchen into a disaster area, and then does the dishes for me!! How great is that?! It's a trade off, I make the treats he likes and he cleans up after me. It works:)

Busy, busy, busy life lately, but we are loving it.