Post-Chrismas Catch Up

Whew! Talk about a couple frenzied days, and once again I'm behind with my posting. Here are Sean and Ashton playing "Santa" passing out the presents at my parents' house on Christmas Eve. That's always been our tradition, to go to church and open presents the day before, then check our stockings in the morning. The boys did an awesome job reading the tags on the gifts- not something they could do last year!
And my grandma, in full holiday spirit. :)

Let the frenzy begin! (Just kidding- it was actually very organized, everyone taking their turn. The boys were very good- super patient for 6-year-olds!)

A Leapster with a Wall-E cartridge- that was a great surprise! Thanks Grandma!

Next, it was Scott and Sara's turn- here's Sara modeling the new cold-weather running cap I got her. Which I went back and bought for myself after Christmas. Hee hee! I needed one too, I decided, that covered my ears properly, and that sported a nice pony-tail hole in the back. Ever do that? Find something really cool for someone else, and then end up getting it for yourself too? You know you have!

Scott and Sara are taking a trip to Patagonia in a couple weeks to celebrate her completion of her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Berkeley. Yeah, I know. Wow! Here is a link of to a clip of a video that was on the History Channel on which she was interviewed about her research on how things burn in outer space. If you've got a few minutes, watch it. It's fascinating. Yes, she actually works for a branch of NASA. We're so proud of her! :) Anywho, back to presents and Patagonia. Most of the stuff they got were for their trip, including ours. Here's Scott opening our gift- one of those multi-purpose scissor/knife/plier sets.

My mom and dad opening their presents:


And a two pictures taken by Ashton- I think I might need to get this kid a camera for his next birthday. My parents and grandma,

And Kevin, Me, and my brothers Scott and George.

Finally, one of all the "kids."

The next day dawned with snow, and a drive down to Gardnerville to spend the day with Kevin's parents and some fresh homemade tamales! Superb. Greatly enjoyed by all- and I should have taken a picture to post. Oops! Presents were a little more spread out in the morning- in fact, we did some migratory present opening. Presents in every room- talking on the video cam to Boston with Kevin's brother and family and opening presents in the bedroom, and in the dining room talking on the phone to aunts and uncles in L.A. It was great this way, making the Christmas spirit last all morning. Here are the boys opening their first gift:

And the watches we got them- they are learning to tell time, and the digital watches I got them at the Dollar Store lasted a whole day, but both of them insisted on carrying around the stub of a clock face in their pockets. The ones I found for them have hands, and the minutes (by 5's) around the outside rim. Plus they are water resistant and sport Velcro wristbands. They won't even know they're learning.

Think they like them? :)

Elf Ashton trying out his new hat:

And Kevin's parents opening the wine charms I made for them. We even got a chance to use them.

I love the surprise on Astrid's face. Makes it totally worth the time it took me to figure out how to make them.

I made Alice a flower necklace (which I had to take back home to fix- the thread came off the end link and I had to add a jump ring instead- think key chain). Yes, I was very crafty this year. Ha ha!

Me and my girl together:

And one last one of the man getting some opening time too~

Wow! That is a LOT of pictures! Enough to represent the fun and very special time we were lucky enough to share together as a family. Many tremendous thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts you gave us. Here's to a great New Year! (Sorry, had to end with a little sap there... :)

Pre-Christmas Catch-Up

Wow, I am behind with my blogging! I'll try not to make this too long. Backing up to Saturday: First off we went to cut our Christmas tree with Kev's parents up by the Mt. Rose Ski Resort. It was a beautiful crisp morning, and I would put up a picture of the sparkling snow, except it didn't quite turn out. So instead, here we are hiking out into the woods~

I put off my run on Saturday because my throat was a bit scratchy, but after the hike we got in, I don't feel guilty at all! Here are the boys taking a breather~
And Ashton peeking back at me~

"This one?" It was my pick, even though it looks a little small with the tall trees behind it, and bare at the bottom. But actually we were able to save a couple feet for firewood for camping, and made the perfect sized tree for our living room all trimmed down.

And the trek back to the truck, which included spotting a small grove of several awesome trees close to where we parked that we plowed right past in our excitement.


We set up the tree and headed out for an annual concert that Kevin and I play in every year: Tuba Christmas! It's free, and this year was held at the Wilbur May Center in Rancho San Rafael since Parklane now has a new owner. Now, I do not play tuba, but I did play euphonium in high school and in college, but other than that, this is the only time I get to play anymore. Kevin brought home a sousaphone and a Wilson euphonium for me for this special occasion. Here he is, being his usual self before the concert:
And a picture of me- sorry for the Holy glint off my horn. :)

Here is a pretty good one of Kevin playing too:

The concert went really well, and there were a TON of people there! There were probably three times more people in attendance than I've ever seen at any of the previous concerts I've participated in. And I'm estimating about 40-50 tuba and euphonium players as well!

After all that excitement, we went home and decorated the Christmas tree- Kevin set up the lights and the train and the boys did the decorating, with a little help from mommy with the high fragile pieces. Here is Sean~

And Ashton~

And the three of 'em settled in for the evening watching the train go 'round and 'round and 'round...

And Max watching warily from the corner as well- until the train derailed and she high-tailed it out of there! Ha ha!

One last Christmas Blog

Wow! Christmas sure came and went quick this year, didn't it? I have some final 2007 photos to share with you, and a few words to say: . (Who can guess what book that is from? :) Also a note on how crazy this year has been- now that it's over it seems to have gone by quickly, but if I really ponder on it, I will have to decide that it did not go by all that fast. Too many things have happened- Sean and Ashton turning 5 and starting kindergarten, numerous holidays with family across the country, a response from an author to a book review I wrote (whoo-hoo!), sledding, climbing, triathlons and my first half-marathon at Tahoe! Plus, the addition of pictures (as a result of a Feb. birthday) to my blogs with the help of my new pocket-friendly digital camera (and hopefully the addition of video clips to come soon!). That's quite a lot. And slooooowly working my way through a master's degree drags somethin' aweful! Not that the work is too hard (most of the time!); just that I'd rather be playing with the boys or reading what I want to read, and not some boring textbook.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Cornucopia at my parent's house. First up, a showing of the very lucky twins, who received (by far) the largest haul this year. (Every year?)



Next, my happy brother oggling his brand new Kitchen Aide (top model, I might add- thanks Mom!). We've used that thing every day at my house since then, including that night when I begged him to make me his fantastic molasses cookies.



And our friend Frank, whom I've known since the 8th grade when we started swimming together for McQueen H.S. And then lifeguarded together for several years. He and both of my brothers have remained really close, and I like it when he visits me too.



One of my parents, even if I couldn't get them to both look at me (and not blink) at the same time:



And finally, one of me:

Visit from Santa

Saturday we cut our tree. Then the boys decorated it almost entirely on their own. They learned about not letting two ornaments touch ("They might break!"), but somehow managed to break the lights. Here's Sean concentrating really hard:



And them both together, Ashton reaching for the high bare places:



Sunday, we went to Kevin's church, St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Church for mass and a wonderful luncheon and crafts for the kids. And a special visitor came: Santa! He came with three sacks of presents, and all the kids gathered 'round to sit at his feet while he called out names and cried out a merry "Ho Ho Ho!" here and there (he was really good!). This year was the first time Sean and Ashton actually asked to see him- last year they pretty much freaked out when we walked past his little "house" in the mall. That makes a second milestone for them this year: in the spring, they were still afraid of the ocean and when we went to LA for Thanksgiving, they went and put their feet in with me. Yeah for being big 5-year-olds! I digress~ They were SO excited, and sure had a lot to say to Santa in between each child called, and they even got high-fives!



Santa called out Ashton's name first:



Then Sean- grinning from ear to ear!



And here is the finished tree, and the boys displaying their gifts from Santa. We did get a really old piano that was donated to the music program at Kevin's school, but they didn't need it, so it is living in our dining room now- quite dusty and needs a couple serious tuning sessions, but otherwise in great shape! It has a nice sound for a hundred (ish) year-old piano.



Finally, I want to share one last picture: the most in-shape Santa there ever was!



(This is actually my friend Chris from the library, and except for his secret pillow stuffing habits, he really is a great Santa!)