Christmas Musical

Saturday was the annual children's Christmas musical. It was sooo fun. I love watching Caroline perform. This particular performance came on the heels of watching the Nutcracker Ballet. Basically, Caroline became the Sugar Plum Fairy and danced her way through 4 numbers. On our way to the musical her shoes wouldn't stay on her feet. Thankfully I had her black ballet slippers. This triggered her little brain and danced the performance of a lifetime! Unfortunately we can't seem to find our video camera, so I had no video. :( Here is our little friend Ahnalin...so cute!

(Her mom Sivje makes all of her dresses!)

Here is one move I did catch. Something like Tai-Chi.

SILLY GIRL!

Our good friends the Bianchi's were there too. Here is a picture of some of Isabella's first steps!!

(She has past Jack up!)
Here she is rubbing it in. Jack felt a little sorry for himself.
Caroline and a couple of er friends.
Caroline & Angelena
These are some of the moments that I treasure the most. Our children grow so fast!

Cardiologist Appointment

Many of you have joined us in praying for Jack's heart. Some of you may not know that Jack was born with a minor heart defect (VSD). At Jack's one year appointment they were still hearing the "noise" in his heart. I was told that these things usually correct themselves by one year so when I was told it was still there I was concerned. After talking to Dr. Janos today he assured me that many times it takes 2-3 YEARS for this to clear up. That made me feel better and our little man is just fine. THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Just for the record, Jack is now 31 1/2 inches long and weighs 27.8 lbs. WOOHOO! (Little Aashini has a lot of catching up to do!)

Christmas Pics

Last week we had our family Christmas pictures taken at Empire Mine by the very talented Mariah Michelle! She is one of the students in our ministry and is one of the most talented aspiring photographers I know.

GOGGLE BOY!!!!

Thanks to my good friend Wendy who had her camera handy we were able to capture Jack wearing his sister goggles (which she wore with her dress to church this morning).

The Perfect Tree

Rick and I love the Holiday Season. We love it all. We could hardly wait for Thanksgiving to be over with so we could go get our Christmas Tree. This year we went to the Little Bear Tree Farm in Alta, CA. It was amazing. It was this tiny little place with hardly any parking but they provide such a fun experience.

We started the day off right with a quick drive through Starbucks.

As you can see Rick likes to inhale his coffee with one big gulp. Little Bear is also the home to the worlds longest see-saw (maybe).

Jack and Uncle Bubba had a great time.

Did I mention it was cold there??? This place sits in a hole. Here we are all bundled up.

Who let Rick have the saw?????

Travis was pleading for his life. and then he lost his head.

BOYS!!

Nana Phyllis came with us and decided to take a rest on what looked like a sturdy pile of wood. To her surprise the logs rolled out from under her and she landed in the dirt!! AHHHH! We finally found the tree.

The cool place about this tree farm is that they ask you to make the cut just above the first "whorl" of branches. This way the tree will regenerate itself and grow 2 or 3 trees off of the stump. It was really cool to see all the different stages of this process and should make all of the "tree hugging - fish kissers" out there happy.
They take you part way up the mountain to the tree farm in these renovated Willys trucks. Then you pile in and they take you back down to measure the tree.
Jack and Nana taking a lunch break.
There is a huge bonfire going so it makes the air a little smokey. I couldn't resist the way the light was cutting through the trees.
Rick and I in front of the water wheel.
"Dear Santa, define 'Good'"
Caroline the tigress took some time out to master the monkey bars...
while sitting on my head.
Loaded up and ready to go.
We could hardly wait to get home and start decorating. The problem is, none of us brought a tape measure to measure the tree before we cut it. So we ended up with a short tree. But it is still beautiful!
We have definitely started a new family tradition.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving it was my turn to cook. I have not had to do Thanksgiving for about years now. I was a little out of practice. Good thing I had plenty of help! Thanksgiving is always at my parents house but this year they decided to head to southern California to spend it with my sister and her family. In keeping with the tradition we still had Thanksgiving at their house...just without them!

(We sure did miss them!) Nana and Jack sharing a snack
Gill enjoyed his pear from the tree in the back yard.
Uncle Aug, Caroline and Rick

My aunt Sheri was a HUGE help. She made the gravy...which I had no clue how to do.
My Grandma Bel was there too! She helped me to keep a level head and reminded me that she loved me even if it wasn't perfect.The sweetest Grandpa in the whole world.
My husband...AKA TURKEY NINJA
I don't know if you can really see the progression of these pics, but it was really funny
And turkey was perfect!

Nana & Griff...FINALLY!!!!

After 6 long months, Nana and Griff FINALLY got here! The kids could hardly wait to see them! Here they are in the parking lot at the airport.

Nana and Griff coming down the elevator!
AT LAST!!!!


I think Caroline looks like her Nana in this picture.Tradition is that when you leave the airport you have to eat at In-N-Out.

It doesn't really matter what time of day or night.This my friends is a Double-Double, animal style.

YUMMO!And of course Nana and Griff came with plenty of gifts for the kids.

More pictures to come!!

The Fork

My Jack-Jack has a thing with texture. So I thought I would give him a fork. He loved it! He was even trying to stab things himself!! Check out that crazy hair!!!

I think this one is funny!