2012 is here...but this is how we finished up 2011

The holidays seem to have flown by and we enjoyed every minute of it.  Well, I am not so sure that Addy enjoyed the multiple times we took her to see Santa.  But, B and Addy did enjoy the feast of St. Nicholas to kick off the holiday season.

My mom and dad came down the first weekend in December to watch B play basketball.  Mom brought gingerbread houses for the kids to make but as you can see the kids weren't the only ones participating in the fun.

We opted to get our tree from Home Depot this year.  (Can't say that we will go there again next year, the tree was a good price but it was dropping a lot of needles by Christmas.)  The kids spent the afternoon decorating the tree while Jeff watched the 9er game and I worked on my Christmas projects.

The Coldani's stopped by for a short visit on their way home from SoCal.  The girls enjoyed a some time at the beach including getting "soaking wet."

Addy's first Santa experience this year was at Snow Day in Los Osos with the Schafers.  We ended up having a pic taken of B and Mikayla cause Addy and Blake weren't so keen on seeing Santa.  A little bribery ended up working with Blake, but not for Addy.  She was more interested in the sledding that she insisted on going by herself.

A couple days later we met Michelle in Slo and this is the closest Addy would get to Santa.  She did give him a wave or two.

My good friend, Julie and her family, gave B a great gift that gave him the opportunity to learn that it is better to give than receive and the true spirit of Christmas.  His present was a gift card along with a note that said he was to spend part of the card on a gift for someone in need.  We had a couple discussion on how and who the gift should be to and he choose the local police departments toy drive.  So early Friday morning before school we dropped off the gift, got a pancake breakfast, and had yet another chance to see Santa.

With our ornaments in handed and prepared for our performance, we headed to Grandma Aurelie's Christmas party.  My Grandma's Christmas parties are some of my fondest memories from my childhood, so I am glad that the family traditions have stayed strong.  The parties are always filled with lots of laughter, the Christmas spirit, and a tad bit of sheninghans.

After spending the day in Prunedale, we made our way to Livermore to visit with Jeff's brother's family and celebrate.  Addy and B enjoyed spending time and playing with their cousins.

We spent the week before Christmas finishing up our projects.

At the end of the week, we headed to the Red Dirt Christmas Party for some ALOHA and yet another visit with Santa.

B and Addy made giant gingerbread men for Santa, exchanged their gifts to each other, and headed to bed because "the sooner and longer you sleep the sooner Santa will be here and the better the presents will be."

Santa made it!  And the kids enjoyed every minute of opening gifts Christmas morning.

After they finished opening gifts, my mom and dad arrived and they got to do it all over again.  We finished off our day with a "Linner" together.

There was even enough time to do a little sword fighting with Poppa.

Good Friends and Family and Good Food

November started as it always does with Cal Poly Softball Alumni Weekend.  There were definitely a fair amount of shenanigans, laughs and reminiscing...nothing better they getting together with your closest friends and their kids.  We took some time to go to the Avila Valley Barn with the Coldanis.  And big thanks to the Frietas family for opening up their house on Friday night so we could all get together and hang out.  Hopefully we all can find a way to meet up again before next year.

The month finished up with a great week with Jeff's family.  We went to Vegas to check out Jeff's parents new house.  It was a great trip minus the car ride of Addy screaming and low fog.

The Livermore Clarins made the trip down to the Central Coast and the cousins enjoyed close to every minute spent together.

Jeff bbq'd his first turkey and it turned out great!  We added a little Filipino flavor and Halo-Halo for dessert.

Addy really enjoys playing with her babies.  A couple of weeks back she put her baby on her back with a little help, so she could take the baby for a hike.

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins

It seemed as if every week we headed to a different pumpkin patch.  We met up with the Schafer at the Pumpkin Patch off of Los Osos Valley Ranch.  The kids had the most fun running up and down the hill.

Our trip with Michelle to the See Canyon Ranch where there was a little bit of everything.  So we got it all, apples, flowers, carrots and a pumpkin.  Addy and I enjoyed spending the afternoon with Michelle.

While up in San Jose for a softball tournament, we were able to meet up with the Livermore Clarins and go to a Haunted House and Carnival.  B was a big winner, he won a ninja sword to add to his costume and a giant lollipop.  We took the Good Fairy tour.

We finished the month off with a weekend filled with Halloween celebrations.  Friday was the neighbor carving party.

Saturday we headed to Pumpkins on the Pier where it was a warm 80 degrees.  The kids enjoyed the games along with trick or treating at local businesses.

B and Addy got dressed up to T&T at the Minton's house before dinner.  They got spoiled with a bag of loot.

Finally, Halloween arrived.  Luckily, B had a minimum day so packed in an afternoon of T&T.  The village in AG, the outlets, the New Life Festival, and lastly a pass thru the neighborhood.

In the end we donated over 5 lbs of candy to Operation Gratitude (an organization who sends the candy to the troops.)  Grandma Henri pitched in to add a little extra incentive for the kids to sell the candy.

B got his cast off in the first week of the month.  He said it felt weird to have it off.  The Dr took the wind out of his sails when he told to wait other week before doing anything extreme.  He waited the week and x-ray showed that he healed up just fine.