Santa Came!

The boys woke up to a Christmas tree loaded with presents! Among their favorites (the ones they specifically asked from Santa) were the bokugans, and transformers.

Dinner

We had a great dinner, with lots of good company! Keegan even licked his plate (his dessert plate, that is!).

Christmas Eve

We loaded up the kids, ourselves, and the dog, into the car, and headed over to Nana & Papa's for Christmas Eve! We were to have a sleep-over, and Santa would come to Nana & Papa's house. (Santa knew that because Keegan told him in his Santa letter this year.) So, we had a little fun that evening-- and a super dinner. We had the most beautiful sunset to enjoy during dinner. My dad has nice, "hip" glasses these days, but for some reason, he keeps his old ones around. The boys like to try them on and see how they look. Pretty darn cute I think!!

Christmas Eve Day Gifts!

Nonny and Pop got the boys big wheels for Christmas. They were watching both boys on Christmas Eve day, so they decided it would be fun to give the boys their gifts early, and go to the park and let them ride all day!! They love their big wheels-- thanks Nonny & Pop!

Gingerbread House!

Okay, so it may not be the best g-bread house ever, but it was super fun to make! They boys did all the decorations themselves!

Skype & WebCams

Okay, I have to say-- it's the coolest thing! Our boys have been able to sit down and have conversations, and sing to, their grandparents in Mass. lately. It's so cool! They got us our webcam this summer (THANK YOU so much), and we just got around to hooking it up. And it's awesome! Kristi has one too, so the boys and their cousins have had "face to face" conversations as well. It's so cute.... well, Rosie is still in awe that she can see herself on the computer, so she didn't do much more than smile and giggle. But Jack and Keegan and Tustin couldn't stop talking. It is so much fun. SO... if any of you have webcams, and are on Skype-- look me up! :-)

Santa Babies!!

It's that time again... but this year-- NO TEARS!! They were both very excited to see Santa, and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. It was a beautiful day today, probably 70 degrees, as we were sweating in our "winter gear." Yes, for us So Cal folks, winter gear stands for: jeans, long-sleeve shirt. After Santa, the boys had teeth cleanings and x-rays done. And, believe it or not, they were VERY excited to do that too. They love the "tickle toothbrush" when they get their teeth polished. And getting a new toothbrush, and a toy from the toy box often helps as well! Clean bill of health for both of them from the dentist.

Cookie Buffet

Here are the organizers of my office's cookie buffet, as well as some fun photos of the beautiful cookies that people made.

Cookie Baking Party!

Mom/Nonny came over yesterday, and we baked ALL DAY long! We made 3 different kinds of yummy cookies. Okay, honestly, when I say "we," I really mean "Mom baked all day." I... uh, well, let's see, what's the word? I Supervised! Ya, that's it! The boys can actually take more credit with these cookies than I should. Tustin mixed and stirred, and both of them put the sprinkles on the frosting (and in their mouths). This was all in preparation for my office Cookie Buffet (bring some cookies in, everyone mixes and matches with other cookies, and everyone takes different cookies home). Although, when 5 out of 35 people did the baking, it's more like "bring some cookies in, and let everyone in the office eat them all!" But it was still fun, nonetheless.

Dinner at Nana & Papa's

We had a fun pajama party at Nana & Papa's house this weekend! I had more fun playing around with settings on my camera; and Tustin had more fun playing around with his food! And thank you to Great Nana as well for a delicious dinner!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

We had fun getting our tree last weekend-- Chammy too. The boys were running so fast around the tree lot, you could barely see them! (Special effects with my new camera!) Tustin knocked over a few 7-footers in the process, but hey, what's a day with Tustin without SOMETHING falling over (although, it usually is him!). And then we came home and had fun decorating it as well.

Merry Christmas Shamu!!

We spent a chilly evening at Sea World with Nonny & Pop for Sea World's holiday season opening night (on the 4th). (Everyone else in San Diego was there too!) But, we managed to have some fun despite the crowds. We saw the Shamu holiday show, and watched the ice skaters and drank some hot cocoa.

Turkey Day

Here's a picture of Chris & Tif on this happy holiday. And, as a result of yet another fall of Mr. T's, a picture of Tustin's Thanksgiving Black Eye. (Wish I could say it was his first black eye, but that same eye, has had it before, with the lit cut in almost the same spot!) But, it's totally cleared up now, and not even noticeable.

The Boys' Baptism

I'm a bit behind, so let's backtrack to Thanksgiving-- before we get into all the fun Christmas pictures ahead! Thanksgiving was a big day for us-- we baptised the boys, and by "we," I mean Chris & I!! Under the direction of Father Dom (95 years old!), I said the words required to make it "official," and poured holy water over their foreheads. After that, Chris raised them to the heavens in an offering (which they got a kick out of). And then Father Dom talked to us about heaven and God, and how we should strive to live our lives, and by the baptism, we are promising to raise the kids with the best morals and values we know. (Although there is no official certificate, he said if we write everything down, who was there, the date, etc., it will be recognized in the church, if necessary, some day.) Chris and I aren't big church people, but consider ourselves to be spiritual people. We've wanted to get the boys baptised for many years now, but it's hard to find a church to do it if you aren't members of the church. So this was the perfect situation for us. And, I have to admit, I did get a bit emotional after our ceremony, listening to Father Dom. Thank you to Dan-Pa and Grammie for hosting this wonderful holiday for us, and for assisting with the baptism through Father Dom (Dominic).

Keegan's Winter Performance

Keegan had his very first school performance yesterday! It was all of two songs, but totally worth driving out to his school in the middle of the day to sea it. The kinders sang Douglas Mountain and Jingle Bells. I videotaped both songs, but for some reason, I'm not able to upload them right now. I'll keep trying-- it's SO cute!