Papi's Birthday & New Years

Dave's dad's birthday is December 28, so we celebrated with him on his special day. Gracie fell in love with unwrapping Christmas presents ("Mis-mus peasants"), so she was excited to help Papi open his presents. He got some gardening tools and a gift card to the pet store so he could get some more fish/coral/etc. for his saltwater fishtank.

And, since he loves fish so much, Kristine and I made him a complex coral reef cake (all edible, I assure you) to enjoy on his day! It took a lot of time, but it was SOOO much fun to make!

On New Years Day, we went to Yosemite National Park for the day. We had only ever been during the summer, so it was amazing to see it covered in snow, and it was beautiful! Here are a couple of pictures:

The last two winters, Gracie did not like the snow at all, but this year she loved it. It could have to do with the fashionable winter clothing purchased for her by Nana & Papi:

As soon as we got there, Gracie took off with the grandparents to see the sights while Dave, his siblings, and I all went ice skating on the outdoor rink for 2 hours! I didn't think I would make it the whole time (it was only my 3rd time skating ever, and the last time was when Dave and I were dating), but I did! And I didn't fall down at all! I was pretty proud. Anyway, here is a picture of the King siblings (minus Mike, who's on a mission) skating their hearts out!

By the end of the day I was freezing. Then I saw this poor tree and couldn't help but feel it must've been colder than I was:

Brrrr!

We were all pretty tired by the time we started home,

but we had a great time! Maybe this will become a New Years tradition!