Christmas 2007

Another year has come to an end. As years go, 2007 was not the best. With the loss of Grandpa Burt and Tisza, our family feels a lot smaller these days. But it was not all bad, and we were able to finish it up on a high note by visiting Uncle Bruce and Grammy in Morgan Hill. The 4Runner was a bit full with all the presents and such. I even had to break out the roof bag to hold some things. We were able to visit Aunt Loretta and Uncle Bo on our way (but forgot to take pictures... again).

Christmas morning started well. Andrew and Ben shared a nice hug before tearing into the gifts.

Not a lot of good pictures for gifts. The boys got mostly video game stuff. Andrew's favorite was his Roman Amphitheater. Here is a picture after the gladiators destroyed themselves Daddy did well. He got some cool cooking equipment and a new MP3 player amongst other things. Mommy got pretty jewelry we hope to someday see her wearing.

Oh yea, and Ben got a rat and all the accessories like a cage and toys and such. But of course Rat's are social so Andrew got to pick out a friend. Their names are Kyree and Star. Look for photo's soon. Right now they are still adjusting to things and I haven't gotten any good photo's. I must say though, they are very cute and fun.

Uncle Bruce got a Llama. Actually, he was given this stuffed Llama to represent the Llama that was purchased for a needy family in South America in his name through Heifer International (great gift idea for folks like Uncle Bruce that have everything they need: www.heifer.org.

After playing with our gifts we had our now traditional meal of Roast Beast. Here is the whole family including Uncle Bruce and Grammy at the table:

Uncle Bruce has a tripod and a timer, so he can actually be in photo's he takes!

We didn't spend the whole time inside watching the boy's play on their DS's, we did get out some. On one walk, Uncle Bruce snapped this great photo of the boys:

We also took some time to go to a nature preserve just North of Monterey called Elkhorn Slough (web site)(map). After some very annoying complaining, the boys got into it and we wondered around for some time looking for birds and such.

We also went into San Jose to the Children's Discovery Museum. Most of pictures didn't come out so well from there, but one of Andrew and Clifford the Big Red Dog did:
We drove back in one day... 13 hours. The children did great for such a long trip.
For New Years, we went to a friends house for their annual Ginger Bread House party. Everyone got into the game this year.
Mommy made the nicest house. If you click on the pictures and few it full size, you can see her fence, Adirondack chairs, fire pit and shrubbery. She had the nicest house although some of the other moms were giving her stiff competition. Look out for next year, I think they are all going to practice.

Daddy on the other hand, lacking any real talent, decided to go for humor. His "White Trash Gingerbread House" features a sofa in the front yard along with a car on blocks.
Happy New Year to everyone and here is looking towards a brighter and better 2008!

- Eric