This years vs. last years Christmas Tree

Last years tree - still decorating it.

Just to get an idea of the height - those are vaulted ceilings!

Picking out last years tree.

Peek a boo!
This years tree - a better fit!

Setting up the tree - and the geotrax train track!


This years tree vs. last years tree.... Last year was our first year in our new house, and when we went to pick out our tree our eyes were bigger than our living room - seriously! The tree wouldn't fit in our living room, so we had to put it in the front family room (or however that goes). It looked really pretty there right in front of the window, but we are hardly ever in there, so this year we decided to get one that would fit in the living room, and that was a lot better, and it was way easier to decorate! Those few extra feet make a big difference!

Doll

Abigail got her first doll for Christmas (actually she got her first 3 dolls)! She really seemed to like them. With the first one she got she just held in right in front of her face and was kind of cooing / babbling at it. The she was holding the little dolls face in her hands, and touching it's little hands, all the while talking to it. She seemed to know what to do with it right away - it was very cute!

Picking out our Christmas Tree.

We went to Cobb's Ranch to get our tree again this year. That is THE place to go! It is always so much fun, and they have great prices!



Enjoying his candy cane treat!

Practicing smiling. :)

Waiting for Daddy to buy the tree.

Picking out the tree.

Pooh's friend?

The other day we were all in the car, and Doug stopped at the neighbor's house so I could go ask them something. Noah asked: "Where is Mommy going". Doug replied that I was going to Al's house. Noah asked: Is the Pooh's friend? He was refferring to Owl's house -- and they do sound pretty much the same - Noah was probably thinking how privileged we were to live on the same street as Owl! :-)

More Thanksgiving

I am trying to catch up!! Here are a few pictures from the great Thanksgiving weekend we had. My cousins from San Diego came up and they stayed at our house for 4 nights (1 of which we weren't here!). I already posted the Yosemite pictures, but here are a few more. We had a LOT of fun playing a bunch of different board games. Watch out for Paul and Mutsuko though, they drive a hard bargain in No Thanks! And Uncle Paul taught us a fun new game called SWIPE. We all thought he liked it so much because he could beat us every time. You should have seen Julianna in Bohnanza, she put us all to shame!! The pictures of Abigail and Aunt Grace were at the last night at Teppanyaki. Even though my cousins are 1/2 Japanese they had never had Teppanyaki!! Mutsuko said it was very "Americanized", but they still liked it.

Christmas at Grandma Dee's

We did Christmas in Los Banos with Grandma Dee and Rick the Sunday before Christmas because Rick had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We all had a wonderful time with the family.

Playing piano

Grandma Veve giving the kids piano lessons.


They were both very good students - paying attention to the finer things in life.


Trying it on their own.


Abigail is always looking up to her big brother.

Restaurant.com - now even cooler

Tip of the day. :-)

You may have heard of the website Restaurant.Com? Basically, you can buy 25$ restaurant gift certificates for only 10 bucks. Sounds like a pretty good deal right? Well, it just got even sweeter. When you go to Wow Coupons (cool site as well), they currently have a coupon code to where you can get that 25$ G.C., for only 3$!!! No joke! We have done it, and it really works. We ate out at some nice restaurants when we were in Carmel, and this made the bills really reasonable. We have also bought a few for some restaurants in this area, but haven't used those yet. The current code is "ONLINE", and it is only valid through tomorrow, the 11th, but there will likely be another one after that, or soon, but maybe not for 3$. Enjoy!

Quick and easy Christmas Treats

Here is a link I found when looking up a recipe. The thread was titled Quick and Easy Christmas Treats. The opening post says: "Let share some quick and easy Christmas or other Holiday treat ideas/recipes for those of us who don't have time to make lots of cookies. Please only include ideas/recipes that take less than 30 minutes to make."

They are simple, fun, and tasty. Just my style! I had fun looking through the different recipes and I got some great ideas! (There is a compiled list on page 53). Enjoy!

Growing up fast

Abigail is growing up so fast. She has her top two teeth just about all the way in, one is still breaking through. Very cute. She is very steady with sitting up now, and is getting better at rolling over. She does this little thing where it kinda sounds like she is laughing at herself. It sure makes us laugh. We usually say that she is telling jokes in the back seat.

She has been eating all kinds of things too. She even had turkey for Thanksgiving. She had bananas a few times this week. That was a bad idea. :-( Bananas are something that you would want to eat if you need to stop diarrhea, so this week we found out that the converse is also true. So, Abigail also got to have prunes and apple juice this week. That seemed to do the trick.

Sign Language

Abigail has been making her first sign in sign language! Can anyone guess the word??? Yep, MILK. :-) I often wonder if she thinks that my name is "milk" also. But hey, the sign for milk is a whole lot easier to make than the sign for mama. :-) We taught Noah sign language when he was little, and we found it VERY helpful. It is so fun to see them be able to communicate even before they are verbal, and it helps them to not be frustrated or have a reason to whine, because they can just tell you what they need/want.

Cute video

On the trail

Another little video on the trail in Yosemite

Noah going up the "mountain"

You will be able to hear Noah saying "I hink I can, I hink I can" (Just like the little engine that could - I think I can)

Yosemite Pictures