If we don't have your address...

here is your Christmas card - hope 2012 is a spectacular year for all of you! (Click on the pic/letter for a larger view.)

Naughty or Nice?!?

Off to Mall 205 we went this afternoon to see Santa with Hunter and Blake (Amy's soon-to-be-niece).  Surprisingly, today there was a line so apparently he is becoming more popular but after a short wait both Ethan and Hunter had a good chat with Santa and no tears were had.  Even baby Blake only had a minor lip quiver but she also did great. Mall 205 Santa is the best!

Dear Santa...

Tonight Daddy helped Ethan write his letter to Santa.  Hope Santa is able to get all he is asking for and knows that we are going to be at Grammie's house this year, as they forgot to write that in their letter.  Silly boy, when Daddy asked him the last question, said...you can call yourself Jeff. (You can click on the letter to enlarge it.)

Zoo lights

Dry but cold weekend weather so we were zoo lights bound...

  Serious boys by the tractor

 Turkey with a Turkey

 Mommy's boy

 Breaking the law...but a cute picture on the train

 Someday we will get to ride the train, but the lights on it are really cool.

Girls weekend/Amy's getting married party!!

Olivia Beach, Lincoln City, Oregon...8 awesome girlfriends...shopping...laughing...hot tub...beautiful weather...casino...dancing...need I say more?!?

 Jill, Gentry, Amy (Bride-to-be), Carly, Darcy

Kate, Amy #2, Summer

 Amy #1, Amy #2, Kate & Carly

K, A#1, A#2

22

Packing and To-Do Lists are made, bags are laid out, and shopping is done.  Jeff makes fun of me for my list making and packing skills, and we are complete opposites when it comes to both, but my skills have yet to fail us and so it begins.  Almost all the gifts I ordered online and shipped to my parents house so we won't have to pack them there but I have extra bags to bring things home.  This is a new experience for us with flying rather than driving this year, with its advantages and disadvantages, the biggest plus is not having to spend 36 hours and 4 days in the car.
 

(Yes, that is the futon laid out and covered in bags)

The upcoming 22 days are going to go fast with several things planned to keep us busy and yesterday we started off the busyness with lunch and gift exchange for the boys & Olivia met at Red Robin.  With Ethan and Peyton being on a different school schedule than Hunter it has been harder to get the three of us together for play-dates but we make the most of our time when it happens.  

And to continue in the holiday spirit, Ethan and I tried out a new recipe yesterday afternoon, red velvet & white chocolate chip cookies.  It is Girls weekend at the beach starting tomorrow so Ethan helped me make and test out this recipe before taking them.  Ethan loves to help in the kitchen, especially the tasting...

 

Olivia's baptism

The Springer family has been a part of our lives for many years now and we were honored to be invited to see Oliva baptized this afternoon.  She is a beautiful girl with a contagious smile.

 Springer Family (Nicole, Peyton, Olivia and Brandon)

 Uncle Randy and Aunt Amy are her godparents.

 Grandpa Prazeau with his girls!

 We also took the opportunity to have Amy take our family picture, as it is a rare occasion.

When he plays a character...

He plays a full-on character...as usual he plays the most recent character that he has seen, i.e., Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Batman, Mario, Snoopy, etc.  So of course today would be no different after seeing Puss in Boots yesterday.  Last night he went to bed in his "orange jammies" and this morning he woke us up with his boots already on, his hat on sideways, and needed help putting his (batman) belt on to hold his sword that he made out of tinker toys.  He then told me that we needed to look outside to find a yellow bird that lost one of its feathers so he would have one for his hat.  He even got himself a cup of Leche (milk) to drink like in the movie.  The only thing he appears to be missing is a tail.  You see the resemblance between the two, right?

A day of laughs from the boy...

This morning we were watching some music videos on Youtube.  Jeff clicked on Katy Perry's video, The One That Got Away, and near the end of the video the guy gets distracted while driving and ends up driving off a cliff.  Ethan then blurts out, "I guess that was the end of the road." and "I guess he didn't want to go to work."

Then this afternoon we took E to see Puss in Boots.  After we picked out seats, I asked E if he needed to go potty before the the movie started.  He replied with, "No, but if you need to go potty I will watch the movie for you while your gone."

He keeps us laughing!!

Let the countdown begin!!!

Ethan kept asking us how many days until we get to go to Grammie's & Papa's houses? (our parents only live a few blocks from each other). So we decided to start a countdown so he would know when it is time for us to go to the airplane.  Across the top of the TV is 44 pieces of candy, with the last day being a gigantic jawbreaker, which will be entertaining to watch him eat.  We are very excited to get to fly home for Christmas this year and be with both of our families, with an added bonus of not having to spend 4 days in the car, and I am equally excited to get to see one of my best girlfriends get married the day before we leave.  I better get busy, the fast approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays will be here before I know it!!

And with all 44 pieces of candy, E decided he better run on the treadmill to keep his slim figure...and Phineas and Ferb are always a great watch...silly boy even put his water cup in the drink holder (he can't reach it mind you, but he was trying to be like mommy).