Christmas 2010 Highlights

This year's Christmas was up and down. The lowlights included: an accident in Oklahoma kept my aunt and uncle from making the trip to Shafter, a death in our extended family, flooding at my parents house, and the Browns moving from California to Oklahoma.

But these things did not keep us from enjoying our time with the family. The highlights included:

Brenna napping with her Papa.

Brenna enjoying her first Christmas. Like the boys before her, she was more interested in the paper and boxes then the gifts themselves.

Connor finally understanding the idea of getting gifts. He was able to remember what people gave him and got excited each time we were opening presents.

Dillon getting an enormous amount of Legos. On top of what he got as gifts, I was able to find my old Legos that were being stored at my parents' house which will add to his massive collection.

Santa's little helper not wearing her Santa hat that went with her Christmas dress.

Jason really liking his Robin shirt Christina got him. So much so that he made Jonathan wear his Batman shirt so he could take this picture.

Uncle Larry giving me this Lakers warmup jacket. I know it pains him (as a Suns fan) to have to buy anything Lakers but he was a good sport about it.

On a side note, I don't have any pictures from Christmas with the Cummings because I left my camera at home and have not gotten the pictures taken with Michelle's camera. I will be posting those highlights after the first of the year.

Merry Christmas

Sneak Preview

Here is an early look at a present that Dillon, Connor, and Brenna are giving to their cousins Taylor, Kaleb, and Bradley.

One Proud Dad

Last night I was watching Ken Burn's updated Baseball: The Tenth Inning documentary and Dillon sat down next to me. I was already beaming in delight from him showing an interest without me prompting him, when Dillon turned to me and said, "Daddy, I want to be a baseball player when I grow up." It gave me a lump the size of a baseball in my throat.

Later that night, long after the movie was over, Dillon and I had the following conversation:

Dillon: "I like that baseball song."

Me: "What baseball song? How does it go?"

Dillon: "O say can we see, at the Dodgers we like"

By the way, I highly recommend the Ken Burns full baseball documentary if you are a baseball fan. It is very long, but very entertaining and informative.

Busted

The laundry basket was full when I left the room. I say Brenna was making a mess, Christina counters that she was helping her sort the colors.


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Now playing: Coldplay - Trouble
via FoxyTunes

Thanksgiving 2010

Every year as a family, we try to alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving between Shafter and Sonora. Thanksgiving this year was spent in Sonora.

We ate at the Cummings house, who also had a couple other families over for the feast. The guy in the green sweatshirt came all the way from Japan. He was James' host parent when he lived in Japan.

Connor enjoyed spending time with his cousin Trent. They spent some of their weekend watching Thomas the Train...

...while Brenna enjoyed eating all the mash potatoes she could handle.

We also celebrated Trent's second birthday. Aunt Christina made him a special Thomas cake.

And finally the boys helped Grammy and Papa put up their Christmas tree. A few ornaments were broken and only the bottom half of the tree got decorated but they sure had fun helping.

Overall, it was a great weekend, except for the flu and cold that Christina and I caught. We are better now and are ready for the next big holiday.


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Now playing: Caedmon's Call - Thankful
via FoxyTunes

Family Picture 2010

Brenna's First Snow

This morning we woke up to a dusting of snow, enough to play in. I am not sure how it went from 70 last week to snowing today but we all are enjoying it.

Brenna only stayed a few minutes outside, but it was long enough to memorialize the moment on film.

Dillon and Connor played for an hour in the snow. Connor was hesitant at first but loved when I got hit by one of Dillon's snowballs. Grandmas, no need to worry. Connor was wearing gloves most of the time but took them off right before I took this picture and we all went inside moments later.

Afterward, the boys had to cuddle under their blankets while Mom made them hot chocolate.

And here are the first snows for Connor and Dillon.


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Now playing: U2 - White As Snow
via FoxyTunes

Chart Toppers

On Monday Brenna and Connor had their 9 month and 2 year old appointments. Of course, if you do the math, each appointment was over a month past due.

Brenna weighed 23 pounds and 3 ounces (90th percentile) and measured 31 inches long (off the charts).

Connor weighed 31 pounds (75th percentile) and measured 36 and 1/2 inches (90th percentile).


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Now playing: John Mayer - Bigger Than My Body
via FoxyTunes

Comic Con (and Dil) 2010

Last week Grandma Sharon and Papa visited and Grandma Sharon took advantage of the after Halloween costume sales. Dillon loved running around the house in his hero outfits and would do so all day if we let him. Connor, on the other hand, only wore his for a few minutes.

These two Supermans (Supermen?) are ready for flight. Their Kryptonite? Nap time.

Spiderman showed off his spidey skills by climbing up the door jam.

Brenna was amazed at her brothers super human talents.

For previous super hero adventures look here for Batman and here for Iron Man.


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Now playing: Foo Fighters - There Goes My Hero
via FoxyTunes

Showtime

Last week I attended the Lakers-Kings game with a few coworkers. Our local Rec Department was able to score nice tickets at a very good price. I forgot my camera but thankfully my coworker Ree was smart enough to bring hers to capture the night on film.

I could barely hold my excitement. Of course I was going to wear Lakers gear to the game and to my surprise, about half of the crowd in Sacramento decided to join me in donning a Laker jersey.

We got to the game early, which allowed us to watch the Lakers warm up. But my time observing Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol stretch was cut short because our group was picked to be a part of the "high five line" during introductions. This meant that we would be on the court when the Kings came out to warm up.

The downside of being picked was we all had to wear a Kings shirt. I was constantly harassing the Kings employee who was in charge of the high five line and joking I was going to trip Tyreke Evans as he ran through our line. (All you non-Laker fans get a good long hard look at me wearing this shirt because the picture will self-destruct once you leave this blog.)

Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson's seat was by where we were standing so Ree got her picture snapped with him.

I tried my best to behave while on the court but I made sure to hide the Kings logo any time a picture was snapped.

Eventually the Purple and Gold bled through (along with that goofy look on my face) for a picture. And yes, that is my old school Eddie Jones rookie jersey. Take a walk down memory lane with these Eddie Jones dunks and this finger roll.

Finally, I couldn't leave the court without photo evidence that the shooter's toe was on the line. The game itself was great as the Lakers won 112-100 and Kobe notched is 17th career triple double.

Happy Halloween

Batman wearing his costume made by Grandma Sharon.

This little pumpkin loved eating candy.

Our little ballerina is getting ready to walk on her toes.

And if your interested in their previous Halloweens, here are 2009, 2008, and 2007.


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Now playing: Spoon - The Ghost of You Lingers
via FoxyTunes

Happy 2nd Birthday Connor

Today, October 9, 2010

October 9, 2009

October 9, 2008

Oh Mobile Me, Oh My

On Monday Brenna started crawling. Her attempts at mobility started a week and a half ago when she would get herself into a baby yoga pose, on all four and her diaper sticking towards the sky. Then she learned to lunge forward, falling on her chest as she tried to grab items just out of her reach. Finally she put it all together, slowly moving her hands and legs at the same time.

Brenna has been the quickest to crawl of three kids, just under seven months. Dillon was crawling at 9 and 1/2 months and Connor took 10 months to crawl.

Something tells me that having three kids just got a little bit tougher for us.



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Now playing: Hootie & the Blowfish - She Crawls Away
via FoxyTunes

First Day of (Pre) School

I am a week behind in getting this post up, but Dillon started pre-school last Tuesday. He is attending Safari Learning twice a week, going half days on Tuesday mornings and full days on Wednesdays.

On Tuesdays he gets to take his lunch pail, which makes him feel like a big kid. And Wednesdays are pizza days so he gets one of his favorite meals. The curriculum is outstanding as he has already started recognizing his letters and their accompanying sounds. We have even caught Dillon trying to teach Connor the alphabet.

Dillon ready for his first day of pre-school.

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Now playing: Jackson 5 - ABC
via FoxyTunes

Brenna - 6 month checkup

Yesterday Brenna had her six month checkup. She weighed 19 pounds and 6 ounces, which put her in the 90th percentile. Her length was 30 inches, which wasn't just off the charts but "way off the charts". For comparison here are all three kids at their six month checkups:

Dillon - 15 lbs 12 ounces, 27 inches
Connor - 18 lbs 2 ounces, 28 1/2 inches
Brenna - 19 lbs 6 ounces, 30 inches

The picture below was actually taken when she was five months but we just got from the photographer.




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Now playing: John Mayer - Bigger Than My Body
via FoxyTunes

Vacation 2010

Below is a video I made of our vacation. Sorry, no bidets are in it.

SNL References

Sometimes art imitates life. Other times life imitates art. This last week on vacation I ran across the latter, twice.

The first happened when my Grandma was telling us about her trip to Georgia. The topic of Joshua's luscious locks came up. I joked that my aunt and uncle bought him the following:



Upon further review, I am now convinced that his hair IS a toupee. You can be the judge:


The second happened upon our check-in at the Madonna Inn. Christina and I had our first experience with a bidet in our room. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal and we would have viewed it as a nice touch in our room. However the skit below gave us a running joke for the week.



On an unrelated note, pictures and non-SNL details of our vacation will be posted soon.


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Now playing: Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is
via FoxyTunes

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we traveled down to Oakdale to have a BBQ at Bryan's house. The Evans joined us, along with James' dad and wife. Below are the pictures.

Auntie Cho (Michelle) playing cornhole with Dillon. Bryan's backyard runs up against the Stanislaus River, making for a great place to have a BBQ.

Connor and Trent wore matching baseball outfits. Glad that they were Dodger colors and not the Giants.

These two aren't quite old enough to play together, but they are good at running around.

No, James is not taking a nap. He is just notorious for having his eyes closed in pictures.

The three little ones couldn't resist sitting on the ATVs.

The mandatory group picture. Thanks Bryan for throwing a great BBQ.


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Now playing: The Cars - Good Times Roll
via FoxyTunes

Summertime

Nothing says summertime quite like sun...

...flowers...

...and watermelon.

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Now playing: The Sundays - Summertime
via FoxyTunes

Wagons, Water, and Wussy Throws

Last weekend we went to Shafter to celebrate Uncle Larry's 40th birthday.

The kids love playing in the wagon in Granny Barbara's backyard. At one point Bradley tried pulling the four older kids.

Uncle Larry brought water balloons and squirt guns to his party. He obviously knows how to get the attention of kids.

Connor loved the water balloons but had trouble throwing them hard enough to bust...

...and from the looks of this picture, Connor wasn't the only one with that problem.

Double trouble.

Once they tired of water balloons the squirt guns became all the rage. Eventually, the guns weren't getting them wet enough so they turned to just dumping buckets of water on themselves.

Brenna was content watching the action with Grandma Sharon.


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Now playing: Dave Matthews Band - Don't Drink the Water
via FoxyTunes