Monday, January 2, 2012

The Christmas Season Catch-All

Of course it has been a while since my last post, so here's a large one that covers our pre and post Christmas activities.

Here are the girls at the Christmas tree lot . . .

Ella put on the first decorations . . . two teddy bears, a flashlight, and a swiffer duster :) Notice Harry under the tree--the cats drank more of the water than the tree did!


Ella and Grace received their first Nativity from Grandma and Aunt Sandra. Here Grace is showing Ella one of the wise men . . . they mixed in some of their other figurines, so you might notice some unusual characters by the manger such as a toucan and a basketball player :)


Ella and Grandma made Christmas cookies again this year, so now Ella is a pro!


Especially at licking the beaters :)




To Ella, sprinkles are not meant to be sprinkled but to be poured on!


Breakfast with Barney streaming on the computer is becoming a habit . . . here Ella grabs Grace's hand to sing the "I love you. You love me" song at the end of the show.


In Monterey, no Christmas is complete without a visit to Candy Cane Lane . . . in the central park area they have lots of plywood characters and this sleigh.






Thomas and Sir. Topham Hatt were in someone's yard, so we couldn't resist the photo opportunity . . .


Ella "helping" rake leaves in Nonna's backyard . . .


Ella and Grace performing a duet at the piano at Nonna's house . . .



Some sisterly love in front of Nonna's tree . . .




Kurt and I got to run off to the Lions' game in Oakland . . . and we won!!!


Here are "the boys" enjoying their beers and the warm-ups . . . notice all the blue! We ended up in a little Lions section, so we had a blast celebrating with our new friends.


Ella got her first haircut just before Christmas at EJ's Little People--where Mommy got her first haircut too! Ella was too involved in the crate of toys to care about the haircut :)




A view of the back . . .


Her curls are almost gone, but her hair does flip up on its own . . .


Christmas Eve at Aunt Nancy's . . .


Grace is still doing her "cheeeeeeeese" face!


Christmas Eve dinner . . . we had a Tuscan fritatta and bay shrimp caesar salad . . .


Aunt Tracey and Heath in front of the tree . . .


Christmas morning and still the "cheeeeeese" face!


Opening gifts . . .











Ella checks out her new doctor's kit . . .


Grace entertained Aunt Erin while Daddy and Uncle Greg entertained themselves playing "Outlaw" on our new Atari Flashback . . .




Ella with her new Caillou tree house . . .


Aunt Tracey went back to bed after presents and breakfast, and Grace joined her :)


Christmas Day we went to the Garrett's for soup and fun . . . Grace and Sierra are buddies!


Merry Christmas everyone!!!