Family Time

We opened our family gifts Christmas Eve. Here are a few shots.

Abby, in perfect oblivion to everything happening around her.

William, obviously aware that Santa has FINALLY come! Turn around, Big Guy!

We got him two more Duplo sets, to complement the sets he already had.



The panda had to check out the fire station.



Of all the toys he got, he really likes the tea set Aunt Nell got for Abby.


We got Abby a few outfits, but I didn't bother wrapping them, since I'd just have to unwrap them. I will say, though, that they are very cute!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! (Did it go by quickly for you, too?)

More Presents

When we got back from our little trip we opened gifts with J's side of the family. From Aunt Gina and Uncle Andy William got Chuck, a dump truck that says over 40 different things, and comes when you call it. I'm currently training it to bring me my book and M&Ms, as William really doesn't like it yet. Whenever he says "Chuck", the truck charges ahead, right toward him, and he runs the other direction. Ha! I'm sure he'll like it soon enough.


And here's Abby's gift from UA and AG - a womb bear, as I call it. It's actually called a Slumber Bear. It has recorded noises from the inside a womb, and it's supposed to help a baby sleep. I'm SO excited about this gift that I shall devote an entire post on the bear. But it will have to wait. I'm enjoying the quiet that the bear has brought...a sleeping child!



After we skyped with the TN folks, we got on with Grammy and Grandpa Num Num.

The glow worm is Abby's gift, but William has taken it over. Good thing she's little and doesn't mind, because William doesn't let it out of his sight.

Boo! We almost lost Abby in all the wrapping paper!

Thank you all so much!

Yosemite!

Last minute J and I decided to take the kids to Yosemite. I found a great hotel deal, and the weather promised snow. Yeah! The kids did awesome in the car as well as the hotel. I vowed not to freak out if William decided that he didn't want to go to sleep until 11pm, and that made everything much more fun. Very little stress. About an hour into the trip up there we discovered that we forgot the pack n play, as well as his bedtime animals. That was a bit of a bummer once we needed to put him down to bed, but we was cool with having Abby's blankie instead. On the second night William decided on his own, around 9ish, that it was time to go to sleep. Score! The makeshift bed in the dresser drawer worked for Abby for a few hours, but ultimately she slept in the king bed with us.


Yeah! Snow on Christmas! What more could we ask for!?!



William, sporting his new boots that really did nothing in the way of keeping his feet warm. I looked all over, but apparently there aren't any winter boots in our neck of the woods.


On the trail (which was 5 miles round trip, I might add!) from Happy Isles to Vernal Falls. There was lots of ice on the trail which made for rough going.


On the second day we went to Hetch Hetchy and saw the dam and hiked (another 4-5 miles!) to almost the base of the waterfall. A landslide had closed the trail partway.

In the car on the way home everyone was quiet, then suddenly William burst out, "DAM. Dam. Dam." John and I looked at each other and just had to laugh!

So, if you ask William about our "frip", he'll tell you "Watch tv" and "dam". Oh...the things kids remember!

More Christmas

Here are a few shots of the kids opening presents from AJ and UK. I don't want to admit openly that I peeked, but....I knew that I wanted William to open his gift from Aunt Joanie before we left for Yosemite.

Both kids got new sippy cups. William desperately needed some new ones....Abby....well, she was less than thrilled about her new cup, but William sure wanted to try it out! Thank you!

Disney Pancakes

How cute are these things? William absolutely loved these!!

Love this shot...William grabbed one just as I was snapping the picture. Couldn't keep his hands off them!


Yes, our son has his first "laptop". He was in love with our neighbor girl's Barbie laptop that they gave him one for Christmas. Now he's just like Daddy! Thank you!!

2nd Christmas Party

This time via Skype, with my folks in Michigan.


My mom "wonderfully" did the Oma thing, and got him a rather large chocolate snowman, and huge bags of fruit snacks, his absolute favorite snack. Every time we see Oma she gives William those things.

He also got some Duplo and clothes.

Abby got lots of cute clothes, but I opened them for her.

Here she is sporting one of the outfits. It's blurry because I took it with my phone. My camera was nowhere in sight, and I needed to capture the moment immediately.

Thank you for the gifts!

Miss Claus

All dressed up and ready for church. I do realize that going to church dressed as Miss Claus does seem a bit contradictory, but I thought she looked quite cute in the hat and dress! The matching booties simply didn't stay on, so she wore her new black shoes.


She started off in her car seat, then I realized that she was TOO cute and in need of a more "formal" shot...so I took her out and placed her on the couch.


But she was too enamored with her shoe and dress to really pay attention to me or the camera.




After a few failed attempts, I got the perfect shot!

Then I realized that I had TWO kids...I grabbed William for a sibling shot!


But he wasn't really interested in getting his picture taken, and Abby...well, one just never knows with her.


Whew! BOTH kids smiling AND looking at the camera - at the same time!