Getting Ready for Bed

A quiet evening spent in bed...Lindsey reading pop-up books and Tyse playing with Bruce's phone.

Christmas Cake Creation

Karol bought some fondant and the kids made a masterpiece...cake boss, here they come!

Christmas Morning

We were all spoiled again this year. So many nice gifts! Grandma made hats and scarfs for all the grand-children. Grandpa made pen and pencil sets with his lathe and made Tyson a fantastic train. All the grand kids got Giants t-shirts. Go Giants! We enjoyed the traditional Christmas Brunch...egg dish and the works. Santa also brought Just Dance 2 for the family and the kids had a ball shaking and twisting and boogieing to the beat. It was a fantastic day full of family, food, fantastic gifts and lots of fun. Thanks to everyone for making this such a great Christmas!

Hello...it's for who?

Megan has been told that she can have a phone when she is 16...and not a day earlier. She has watched her friends get them and her friends have even mentioned that she is the only one her age without one. But I had to stick to my guns. What good is my word if I don't stick to it? But the "Big Man" completely caught her off guard. She came in Christmas morning to find a box with-in a box that lead her on a treasure hunt. The final clue took her to the living room (where everyone was checking out their Santa gifts). She began looking but couldn't find the next clue. Almost as if on cue, a ring came from Grandma's artificial tree. She mentioned that someone's phone was ringig and pulled the phone out of the tree. What happened next was priceless. She looked at it quizzically and then it registered. She looked at us and then started jumping up and down. I only wish I had it on tape.



Santa also brought Tyson a marble game that must have taken hours to put together by the elves, Lindsey got a digital camera and a CD player and Kyle got a remote control car. Thanks Santa!

Christmas Morning

All the Grandkids (with the exception of Tyse and Jack) slept in Grandma and Grandpas room Christmas Eve. The floor was pretty much bed to bed from the bedroom door through to the vanity area in the bathroom. The kids woke up quite a bit before the rest of the adults, and bless Grandma and Grandpa's hearts, they keep a bunch of excited kids penned up until the rest of us got going around 7:30. Megan thought this picture showed their many feelings: excited, tired, anxious, tired of waiting and ready to get out.


















Finally it is time!

Ready, Get Set, Go....

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we helped Grandma and Grandpa deliver the cinnamon roll wreaths. Tyson, Macy, Logan, Max, Lindsey and I all walked home from Jenke's through the fog hand in hand singing carols all while keeping an eye out for Rudolph. The kids put on a fantastic rendition of the first Christmas for the adults before leaving reindeer food on the lawn and drinking "sleeping potion".

Muir Woods

Playing in California

We had planned on going to California for Thanksgiving, but things got complicated for Bruce at work. He was given the green light to go for a full week vacation if he would wait until the end of December. Megan and Kyle had basketballs games on Saturday so we packed the car, watched the games and headed straight out after the games. We drove to Reno and stayed at the Reno Worldmark. We got up and had planned to go to a Reno sacrament meeting when it started to snow and reports didn't look good. We quickly packed up and headed out fearing the pass might be closed. Good news...we made it over after the bother of putting on chains. We arrived in Lafayette just after lunch time on Sunday. Eric, Macy and Max had arrived a few hours earlier and the Fontaine's came over that evening. Kris and Max joined us the next day and we had a great time being together. The kids used the hot tub almost every day, we made cookies and did crafts, we played football and did some track up at Campo and played basketball at the Church. We went to Muir Woods and visited the Lafayette candy store. We had a pizza cook-off, orderve night, and enjoyed all of Grandma's great food. We visited the dentist and everyone got a good bill of health. Tyson almost ended Blackie's life on more than one occasion and made everyone a little nervous and stressed when they were together. We did puzzles and played on the zip-line and swing in the backyard. It was a party from beginning to end!

AFS Christmas Party: Hollywood Connection

Each Christmas, AFS hosts their Christmas Party @ Hollywood Connection. We enjoyed unlimited rides, golf, rollerskating, magic show, seeing Santa and a movie. This year we also got to go the following Saturday with the Angel Hands Foundation. So we enjoyed all the fun twice. The second time the kids enjoyed pizza and Lindsey got her face painted. The kids all got ski hats topped with red and white fur.

Inside fun

To kill some time one evening, we filled the bottom of the big bathtub with shaving cream and made our own ice-skating rink. Before long Lindsey and Tyse were cover from head to toe with the shaving cream and being super silly.

More Snow

We have had a lot of big snow storms this year. Good news is that both Tyson and Lindsey are loving to bundle up and play in all the powder. I'm not so sure that Bruce is enjoying the shoveling that goes along with it. He is seriously considering purchasing a snowblower.