Thank you Santa and Bunka

Well, the presents have been opened and the Egg Nog is gone... another Christmas to add to the memory book. Jack is enjoying his boxes of Legos and Macy LOVES her Care Bears. I am still anxiously waiting for Bob to find that bag he hid... My dad (AKA Bunka) came in handy this year for helping put together all the toys that came with 100+ pieces and directions written in everything but English.

Butch with his assistant... for those of you who know my Dad you know this process involved a couple "God Damn It" outbursts.

BUT... it was all worth this smile!

OKAY ...WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE?

A Blue Bear with purple balls...a bit confusing really.

Am I traumatizing my child?

I'm dreaming of a white day after Christmas. We get a bit excited for the first snow... even if it is 10:00 p.m. Who needs a bedtime?

Odds and Ends

I am so excited it is Christmas Eve. I finished and submitted my research project last night. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Since my next course doesn't start for another week I feel like I can enjoy the rest of my vacation. My dad is here for a few days and for this I am truly grateful. Bob has spent the last two days on a scavenger hunt of sorts. It seems he bought my Christmas presents about a month ago and he can't remember where he hid them. Happy hunting to him. On another note, we put our train up around the tree two nights ago and Jack has been in the engineer seat ever since. He has train brain in a bad way. As for Macy... I'm beginning to wonder...

Macy has spent the last three days in her Halloween costume... She is taking this Care Bear thing too far!

Another unusual occurrence this week is we had date night.

Bob and I went to the Nutcracker with a group of friends. The only way we pulled it off was by going to Tapas before hand and drinking LOTS of beer. The husbands were good to go after this. I must say, seeing the Nutcracker with a little bit of a buzz was highly entertaining. Afterwards we went to a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. Sorry I did not get any pictures of this. Let's just say I am glad Bob will never see any of those people again. I definitely will be having one of those parties some holiday season- great fun.

Evidently, Bob and I never dress up... George (Bob's dad) took several pictures of us before we left. You would have thought we were going to prom (alas no corsage). Another clue that we never dress up is the fact that I had to Google "How to tie a tie" in order to get Bob ready.

Still to come... Christmas morning pics of the infamous Purple Care Bear!

BELIEVE

To begin this week's sharing.. here is our annual Santa picture. Our daycare provider invites the Jolly Stranger in to confuse the children.... I must admit having the kids sit on some fatman's lap goes against everything I teach my children. It is an odd tradition. Notice Macy is not in the picture as she has already fled the scene, opting for the preschool bookshelf.

After traumatizing the girl on Friday night.. we decided to go another round. Actually, she did amazingly well. Tonight we took the Polar Express to the North Pole. OK it was a mile trek down the tracks from the Sacramento train museum (and as Jack pointed out to everybody... we were actually travelling South ...GEEK). We had a fabulous time and I would recommend it to anyone with children. While they encourage you to wear your pajamas aboard the trip, we chose not to as we went out to dinner afterwards. Next year however I plan to bust out the jammies. Other high points of the excursion include hot chocolate and cookies, a read-aloud of the book, the conductor punching tickets with a "B", a visit to the North Pole, characters from the book visiting each train car, and Santa passing out sleigh bells to the children. This event can make the biggest skeptics believe in the magic of Christmas. In all, it was great family fun.

Ali, Jack, Marlene and I anticipating departure

Macy cuddling up with Grandma and Papa

Jack showing off the conductor's letter"B" punch... as shown in the movie it stands for "BELIEVE"

When we came to the North Pole, Bob had to brag to all the small children on the train that his name is on Santa's List. Indeed Robert is written on the sheet. I pointed out that this was probably not the good boys and girls list.

Macy was enamored with the North Pole.... so magical...in the two year old world.

For those who have seen the movie, this is the scary hobo...equally as creepy in person. It was a nice touch though.

Remember, if you hear the the ringing of the bell, you still believe!

Snow Ho Ho

Today the Stapleton, Leddy and Little Families took a trek to the mountains to find our Christmas trees. It was so much fun to play and sled in the snow. This was the first time Macy really enjoyed the wintry outdoors. Jack spent a good three hours sledding-I'm sure he will sleep well tonight!


If there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that making memories is the biggest gift we can give our children. I hope this adventure will become an annual tradition that our family can look back on fondly. Enjoy the pictures!

Getting ready to leave... Macy growled at me when I told her she needed to wear pants with those boots! I'm the meanest mom ever!

The children and Papa George getting in some sledding fun!

The parents enjoying some holiday cheer!

Dan, Pam, Jill (trying to escape) and Tom

An impossible feat to get everybody looking at the camera at the same time!

Here are our photogenic friends-
Jeff and Lisa with their girls Jaz and Ember

Pictures of cute kids.....

Christmas Spirit

While I haven't quite embraced the holiday season yet... this picture gives me something to Ho-Ho-Ho about. This is a picture of my nieces Anya and Ava, nephew Niklas, and the jolly guy who I hope you all recognize! Thanks for sending this our way Kevin and Gina!

Cool fire pictures

This Post - A work in progress

This rock is known as Sugarloaf, just above Kyburz. This was shot in May 2003 and the entire hillside will burn up in October 2003

Its now October 13, 2003 and the Fred Fire has consumed 5000 acres in about 14 hours. This view is at 7AM driving up Ice House Road by the SMUD yard.

Below: October 2005, Its been two years since the fire and Sugar-loaf is still there, but the trees are getting logged right now

See the helicopter way down there??

Here is some other cool pictures I have gotten from work ect.

Above: Angora Fire from Rubicon Bay

Air Tanker making a drop near the Foresthill Bridge.

Below: wing damage on the Cal Fire DC-10, after having a close call with some tree tops. Your frequent flyer miles should be tripled on this flight!

More later ... stay tuned!

I smell smoke!!

Burnin down the House 11-23-07

wow, I did smell smoke!

So its the day after Thanksgiving and we went to the beach for the day, we were just getting unpacked from our fun day when it smelled like burning garbage. I glanced outside and saw a poor fellow on the roof with his whimpy hose (sorry no picture of that) trying to water something. By the time I got back inside to get my shoes and camera, the firefighters were already there. Nothing like having these guys over for Thanksgiving leftovers, I'll take mine well done please.

Nothin' like havin' a good turkey fry!! This was for sure the highlight of the day for Jack. Where else can you ride your scooter around and watch some burly action heroes in action.

So lets see... we use the chainsaw to put the future skylight uhh, well how about right here. And then we will use the hose to fill up your attic with water, and HEY! look at that, we got us a steam-bath inside.

Well,looks like all the excitement is over now, good thing it's not contagious! So now that the house is trashed, lets throw all of the burnt stuff inside the house out on the lawn! But hey there are a couple of garbage cans around and the pick-up is tomorrow because of the Thankgiving holiday. I am thankful for that!

And thankful that nobody got hurt!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I must say I have enjoyed sharing our trip with you all... Today was Thanksgiving and in reality a very difficult day to get through without having my mom here to share it with. Before eating our nontraditional feast of steak, potatoes and asparagus we all took time to give Thanks... Jack shared "Do remember how good Grandma Judy's pumpkin pie was?"... It brought tears to my eyes. This truly is a day to give THANKS. Beyond what I have lost this year, I am so grateful for the treasures I have gained. I hope your day was filled with happiness!

Today we went down to Mission Beach for a little roller coaster and merry-go-round fun. We also spent time on the beach. Managed to keep Macy's clothes on.. a feat in itself.

TREE HUGGERS!

Annelise (Mitch and Cheryl's niece) picked Turbo up on Tuesday...much to

the children's lament. I miss having the "babysitter". He was so much fun to take care of...

but not fun enough to get another dog.

Macy LOVED the carousel... this is her before she pitched a fit at the end of the ride.

This picture is for Alison.. notice the technique.

A Little family Thanksgiving tradition.... Ready Whip Shots!

Note Jack's Thanksgiving decoration that he made at school-added for that extra holiday spirit!

Some of us partied a little too hard... hope she doesn't feel it in the morning!!!!

You have to whip the cream before the cream whips you!

DAY 3... Sea World

Sea World was another attempt to wear out the children so they would sleep through the night.... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. We all loved petting the dolphins and seeing the whales. Macy could have done without the bat ray who splashed her and I could have done without the eels who were just plain creepy. I was amazed to see how much marine life they had...did I mention the beluga whales? Although we have come to down to San Diego a few times, Legoland always won out as our fun time destination! We all agree that we will return to Sea World as it is interactive and has plenty for all ages to explore!

Jack getting adventurous... a big step for Mr. Cautious. He was so proud of himself!

CREEPY EELS!

Jelly fish... a challenge for autofocus on the camera. They just wouldn't stay still!

Jack with the map..."hmmm they say the whale should be around
here somewhere!!!"


NEXT STOP..... Bob and the kids take on Balboa Park (so mom can get her homework done!),

Life's a Beach

Day 2.... sand castle building. Child labor laws do not apply here. Macy felt the need to make it a topless beach and we let is slide just this once. Note that SPF was used! Bob gets into his work if you couldn't notice!