Happy New Year!!!

Fake Christmas

We had a fake Christmas a couple days before we went out of town to Florida. We opened gifts from out of town relatives. Julien received almost everything he could wish for: knights, books, barbarians, a polar express, etc. He was very happy. Sebastian, surprisingly, was also very excited by the opening of presents.

Santa's Voice

The other day we were listening to Christmas music when Bing Crosby's white Christmas came on.
J: Mommy this sounds like Santa...is this Santa?
A: I don't know, do you think it's Santa?
J: Everybody has a different voice, and this voice sounds like Santa, so it must be Santa!"

Crescent Man

The other day when i picked up Julien he had a yellow construction paper mask with blue crescents on it on many triangles taped up and down his legs.
"Who are you" I asked.
"Crescent Man, the Turkish super hero!"

Rousing the Kids

It was not easy rousing the kids for the early morning trip to the airport to return home. Julien, as usual, traveled well, but Sebastian fussed most of the way. It didn't help that we had turbulence for the entire flight and couldn't walk around!

Hot Tub

We spent a day in Sacramento visiting Grandmars and Grandad great as well as Uncle Allen, Aunt Kathy, cousin Laurel and the posse of cousins. It was nice weather for a dip in the hot tub.

Relaxing

Our visit with Grandmum and Grandad was very relaxing. Julien listened to his Grandmum read about the castles of Loire Valley in France and built intricate set ups. Sebastian enjoyed playing with his feet and watching his brother.

Taking off Grandad's glasses

Oak Trees

We then drove up to Napa to visit Richard's parents. We went for a walk at a local park with Kathy. I love the oak trees! Julien was very busy collecting sticks.

Tree

Next to the tree you can see one of Uncle Shelby's paintings.

Hike

The terrain was a little rocky, and it was colder than we expected, but boy, was it beautiful! It is nice to remember how truly beautiful California is. The day after the hike, on the drive up to Napa, Julien decided that we should hike up a mountain everyday. He also declared that we should move to California.

Susannah

We got to see Susannah one afternoon, but we missed seeing James. She gave us a crazy gl;owing blue baby lamp. Very cool.

Hanging Out at Willem and Shana's

Zoe

Julien was very excited to hang out with his cousin Zoe. He hadn't seen her in a long time and at first he was surprised by how much she had grown. But then he warmed up to her. Zoe was really good with him.

Sebastian really wanted to be part of the action.

Tattoo

Richard and Rick got tattoos together. Willem set them up with Jimmy, his tattoo artist. Rick's tattoo (the nautical star) matches Willem and Shana's tattoos. I designed Richard's spiral; it is based on a spiral galaxy shape. That day we had the best fish tacos I have ever had!

Ginger

After a little warming up Julien had fun playing with Ginger.

Redlands

We found half price tickets to California so we went there for Thanksgiving. We flew in to LA and spent the first several days with Willem and Shana in Redlands. It was wonderful to see them; we have missed them so much! We flew in on Thanksgiving day so we had Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. Kathy and Rick and cousin Zoe were there too.