My friend Tammy helped me make these pajamas for the kids. They all loved them and wore them every night for days. The kids always get new pajamas on Christmas eve, but this is the first time they were homemade and matching.








Aunt Camille and cousin Rachel baking cookies for Santa.










After the kids had unwrapped all of the presents, we were hanging out in the other room and Ken said, "What's that present over there by the table?" (A Christmas Story technique) They unwrapped it and it was the Wii video game player that the kids didn't think they were going to get. On the from tag, Ken wrote "Ratella" (pet rat). The kids think it's funny to tell their friends that they got a Wii for Christmas from a rat.

Christmas singing

Here is the video of the girls singing in the Christmas show. They are the second one singing in each song.

Natalie's stage singing debut. She sounded so sweet! When I figure it out, I'll get a video on the blog.

Elizabeth also had her singing debut and she did a great job, but the picture didn't turn out. Here she is in one of her dances.

The girls' cousin, Olivia, was in the show, too. They were so cute doing their dances.

Elizabeth was so sweet with Natalie. Natalie was nervous and Elizabeth helped her to not be scared. She took care of her backstage and they had a great time together.

What is that thing? It's a major award!
I laughed and thought of my family when I saw this house. There are other "A Christmas Story" enthusiasts out there. It even has the word FRAGILE on the side of the box. Merry Christmas!

During the reunion, we went to Coronado beach. Nick, as usual for him, laid in the sand and was covered in it. Elizabeth joined him.


Kate got knocked over by a wave and had to take a cold shower to wash off all of the sand. Poor little thing. Grandpa helped her warm up again.




Amber built a sand castle and had quite a time keeping the kids from touching it. Cameron, Sarah, Natalie and Nick are watching her here. We love the beach, even though the sand gets EVERYWHERE.

After our day in Disneyland, we went to San Diego for the reunion. On Thanksgiving day, we went to a church building to eat, since we didn't fit at my brother Kevin's house.





We stayed in KOA cabins and enjoyed lots of time with family. Natalie is holding her new cousin Nathan as cousin Rachel waits for a turn.






We rented bikes at the campground, including this 8 seater bike. It was a lot of fun and quite a workout.

We went to Disneyland for my family's reunion two days before Thanksgiving. We were able to stay with various combinations of extended family members pretty much the whole day. The only time we were just us was when we were actually in line before the park opened, something I've always wanted to do. We rode a few rides before we met up with everyone. In this picture, we're filling a boat for It's a Small World.

We only had one day to pack in the rides, but we made time to pose with Minnie Mouse, because, hey, it's Minnie! The extra kid is my brother Kevin's daughter, Sarah. :)
I loved the Christmas decorations, especially the beatifully decorated castle.
Nick was just barely tall enough to ride the big rides. He's on space mountain here with his cousin Andrew. He was nervous, as you can see, but he liked it a lot. Natalie went on the big rides for the first time, too, and loved them.
It started raining at about 8 pm, but we were prepared. It poured on us as we walked the mile long walk back to the hotel. It was 11:15 when we made it to the hotel after being in the park since 8 am. The kids were in a daze. We got our money's worth. :)