Christmas Day

Christmas Day was really fun and kind of low key, which was nice. The kids woke up and on their way down the stairs Daddy saw Santa walking down the street outside. The kids ran to the door, and waved at him, and he waved back! They were so shocked they could hardly speak! After a short while, Grandma Debi and Grandpa Chin showed up and the present opening began. After all the unwrapping was done we went to Chinatown for some delicious dim sum, and then we came home, took naps, and relaxed while the kids played with their new toys for the rest of the evening.

Checking out the new sofas from Grandma Debi and Grandpa Chin

Colin got this sweet dragon from our mysterious Secret Santa who leaves gifts on the doorstep every year.

Excited!

Jack had a little trouble getting through his gifts. Once he opened this one, he wasn't interested in anything else!

Matching jammies from Grandma Susu on Christmas night.

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We stayed in Philly for the first time since we've moved here and Mike and Debi came to visit. Here are our photos from Christmas Eve.

Colin and Jack looking at coloring books Colin-style- laying down with a pillow! Colin is such a relaxed little guy!

We decided to do our big dinner on Christmas Eve. I didn't get any photos of the table before dinner began, but here's one we took while we were serving the food. All the food wasn't perfect, but the meat turned out good so that's all that counts! Mike's dad was the first to dig in!

The kids waiting for their food at the table that Amelia decorated. Amelia was wearing a special new Christmas apron that Grandma Debi brought. I got one too!

Decked out in new matching jammies and ready to go to bed on the big night.

Santa loaded their stocking!

Caricatures

Mike's department had their holiday party this week and for entertainment they had a caricature artist come. Each of the kids got their pictures drawn, and they were really excited about them. I think she did a good job!

Christmas Portraits - Jack

The kids got their portraits taken in Elfreth's Alley, a wonderful historic Philadelphia site. They were done by the incredibly talented Katie Dudley, a photographer based in the Salt Lake area. www.kdphotography.org

Christmas Portraits - Colin

Christmas Portraits - Amelia

Preschool Christmas Pageant

Today Colin got to be in his preschool's Christmas Pageant. It was a great show, as usual, and Colin got to be a sheep. He's such a good little cooperator, and despite his instincts telling him not to sing, I think I actually saw his mouth moving a little! He really loves the song, "Happy Birthday Jesus" and was pretty happy to sing that one. Overall, he did a great job and managed to look adorable in his costume.

Standing next to his buddy Sam, the Wise Man.

The whole class.

The Nutcracker Ballet

Amelia was fortunate to be able to participate in her ballet studio's version of The Nutcracker. she got to have two roles, a party girl and a little lamb. She did a wonderful job and had a great time. We couldn't take photos or video during the performance, but I got a couple of pictures of her in the dressing room.

In her fancy party girl dress.

As a sweet little lamb for the marzipan music.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Philly this year. The holiday kicked off with Colin's preschool Thanksgiving feast. Colin could choose to dress as an Indian or a pilgrim, and he chose to be an Indian. Here he is wearing a sweet paper bag vest.

Jack liked the look of the paper bag vest, so he grabbed a paper bag for himself to wear.
Colin made this adorable craft at his party. On another craft he got to choose one thing that he was thankful for, and he said, "My baby brother."

The big day started with a big event for Amelia. She lost her first tooth! It's very hard to tell in the photo because her adult tooth was already almost entire in behind the baby tooth. The tooth was a bottom tooth from the middle.

The big day involved some major cooking and a fabulous dinner with our friends, the Willises. I didn't get a good photo of the beautiful table setting that Tiffany put together for the adults, but I did get a photo of the kids at their pilgrim themed table. The meal was phenomenal! Thanks, Willises!

Amelia's First Piano Recital

After only one month of piano lessons Amelia got to perform in her first recital! She was very nervous, but she did a fantastic job! We were really proud of her, and proud of her willingness to practice each morning. Thank you, Jenny, for making it so fun!

Colin's Lastest Song

Colin busted out a new song that he recently learned in preschool while we were in the car driving the other day. His singing is so adorable, and very rare at home, so I grabbed the camera to document.

Papa's Visit

Here are some photos of our adventures during Dad's visit a couple of weeks ago. We had such a blast! Jack now thinks that every man he sees in public with dark curly hair is Papa!

The Cape May Lighthouse

Playing in the sand on the beach in Cape May. The temp was in the 50s and we were wearing coats, but it still felt good to take our shoes off in the sand.

We spent a day downtown at the Liberty Bell, on the Penn campus eating tortas and visiting a gorgeous library, and touring the US Mint.

Trick or Treat

I was planning to make the kids' costumes this year, but at the beginning of October I realized that there was no chance of it getting done. I'm sort of transitioning into the taxi mom stage, and my adjustment to all the driving to all the schools and activities left me with little time for anything else. So we loaded up the car and hauled to the Disney Store to purchase our costumes this year. Maybe I'll get it together next year...

Trick or treating was really fun. It was kind of crisp outside and we got to go with my Dad, so it felt really festive. Most of my photos turned out a bit blurry because it was getting dark by the time we got around to taking them. Here's what we got:

Jack was Mickey Mouse. His ears had squeakers in them so Amelia and Colin tortured him with the squeakers endlessly.

Colin dressed as Lightning McQueen. Here he is posing without his hat (he's had the hat for a couple of years, it was a Disneyland souvenir).

The whole crew getting pumped up to get candy. Amelia was Tinkerbell.

Colin's outfit had a button that would make lights blink on his costume.

I love his ears being pushed down by the hat.

Halloween Parade

Amelia's school does a parade before Halloween, and families are invited to come to the school and watch the kids march around the grounds. We packed up the boys and headed over to the school just in time to see Amelia's class go by.

I got this shot of her right when she first spotted us. She was so excited she nearly lifted off the ground!

She immediately starting motioning for the boys to run over and see her.

Jack took her up on it!

It's Pumpkin Time

We carved up a lovely set of pumpkins on Halloween this year. It was especially fun since my Dad was in town. We actually roasted some seeds and ate them, too! These are our results:

My pumpkin. Jack's- it's inspired by his smile, and he rubbed some slime on it. Then Colin's- he actually drew the face and tried removing some seeds, and Mike carved it for him.

Amelia's pumpkin- face designed by her and carved by Dad. She was totally into the slime (practically bathing in it). Dad's pumpkin- the squirrels attacked it right after I bought it, but Dad liked that it looked as if his had been in a fight. This is the face that Dad has carved every year of my entire life. After 30 tries, he's good at it!

Jack checking out the process.

Colin going for seeds.

Amelia before she started throwing slime.