Back-up Santa

Look out Santa, there is a new St. Nic in town. This year AJ had fun deciding which Santas were real and fake. She decided Santa was too busy in December so he had some helpers who ask kids what they want, then call Santa on his cell phone. So here is the break down:

Mall Santa–Fake
Church Party Santa–Real (but wearing a fake beard)
Gas Station Santa–Real
"A Christmas Story" Santa–Fake
"Polar Express" Santa–Real
"Elf" Santa–Real
News "Santa Tracker" Santa–Real
"AFV" Santa who falls off the golf cart–Fake
Santa that visited her school–Fake

So there is the official list. You can plan your subsequent Christmases accordingly.

You did WHAT!?!

I donated blood this morning and when I came home AJ asked about the bandage on my arm. So I launched into an explanation of donating blood and how they got it and where it was going. I was feeling pretty good about teaching my daughter a lesson in civic duty until she looked at me with an expression of utter disgust and said, "You let them???"

Slash Jr.

Christmas was awesome. I'm sure I'll post more pics and video, but the absolute highlight was Jack on guitar.

He got this mini electric guitar from my mom and it was all over. He didn't want any more presents. This is his debut performance–the first time he played it. Check out his moves. Apparently rockin' out is in his blood.

The wisest Wisewoman

AJ was a "Wisewoman" in the primary nativity play. She was so cute. All the CTR 5s dressed up and performed for the primary.

There is something so special when the little kids do the nativity. They were so reverent even with a slight "wardrobe malfunction" Mary had. It was the kind of moment when your heart is in your throat and you can't speak for fear of crying–I KNOW you know what I'm talking about!

Trail of Tears is more like it...

Austin has this big light display called the Trail of Lights. It is a mile long running beside town lake. We have seen it several times on TV and driving by and we kept meaning to go, but the month was passing quickly (it is only open from Dec 1st to Christmas Eve.) So finally we decided we had to go, or we'd miss it.

So on the second to last day, we bundled up and headed out. We should have known from the start it was going to be miserable. For those of you who haven't noticed, we are still in shorts and tank tops. This winter has been more like a mild summer–in other words gorgeous. So we picked the only miserable day in December to attempt this outing.

It was cold, it was windy and seeing how it was closing in 48 hours, it was very crowded. So the trail of lights was more like me holding Jack and Brett holding AJ while we jogged to the finish line, the kids crying all the way. Needless to say, this was the only picture I got!

It was really pretty, what I saw of it as we hustled by!

Lori Hernandez is stalking us...

So I was making dinner the other night and I could hear this voice on TV and it was driving me nuts, because I recognized it but couldn't place it. When the shot returned to the anchors I said, "What in the world, that's the anchor from Visalia!"

Sure enough it was Lori Hernandez formerly of KSEE24, NBC Fresno. She must have just really missed us. I know the central valley is just not the same since we left, but apparently old Lori just couldn't live without us.

The Newlywed Game Champions

This weekend we went to a friend's Christmas party. All the couples competed in the Newlywed Game and of course, we won. It was made all the more sweet by my prophetic declaration of, "We are totally going to win this game!" when we found out we were playing. Yes, Brett and I have the sometimes uncanny ability to channel each other's brainwaves. (As was also proved in our awesome win at the Newlywed board game we played at the Hayes's.)

The most impressive question was, "What movie title best describes your husband." I wrote down "The Princess Bride" because I have a notoriously bad memory for movie titles. Now, stick with me here, knowing Brett would know this, I chose to write down my favorite movie instead. And he totally got it–how awesome is he. So the gauntlet has been thrown down. I daresay we are the King and Queen of Newlywed Game Land!

Simon 2002-2007

Well, we think it is official. Simon has been missing for a month. We put up countless posters and fliers, responded to "sightings" and walked and drove through the neighborhood for hours looking for him.

He was a wonderful friend to AJ and a very special cat. AJ choose him out of dozens of cats at the pound when she was 2, and they had a special bond. He will be deeply missed. I hope cat heaven is full of lizards to chase.

Gingerbread!

Fall Leaves

This was the cheapest 2 hours of fun ever.

They would have played all night.

Our old fashioned Christmas Tree

If you read our earlier post I told how I couldn't find our ornaments so we have decorated the tree with acorns, popcorn, dried orange slices and Christmas berries. I have since found the box of ornaments, but I think the tree is adorable. We'll leave it as is.

Bethlehem in Burnet

I mentioned earlier that we went to a reenactment of Bethlehem in a town called Burnet. Here is a slide show with some pics.

It was really beautiful. The Baptist church there has built a huge "town" complete with characters in dress, shops, a marketplace, stables, "the" inn, and throughout the maze of streets you can see a large shining star leading you to the baby Jesus. This is a full scale structure that is only used 2 weekends a year. I was amazed.

It was dark and crowded and really hard to get good pics, but you can get the idea.

Over the river and through the woods to Lowe's we go...

We braved the winter weather (a gorgeous 80 degrees) to get our Christmas tree Friday. Since our garage is filled to the rafters with boxes we are "storing," I couldn't get to some of our decorations. As a result we didn't have any ornaments. No problem. We have an oak tree in the front yard that is dropping HUGE acorns (about the size of an egg) so we hung some of those up with sparkley string and are working on a popcorn garland. We bought a pack of Texas star ornaments and lights of course. We have a huge "Christmas Berry" bush in the backyard, so we are going to hang some of those as well. It is actually the cutest tree I've ever seen. I'll post a pic when it's done.

In a gas station...really?

Yes, really. We stopped at a gas station on our way to a live Bethlehem reenactment in a town called Burnet (I'll post on that later!) and sure enough, Santa was there–at the gas station–taking pictures with kids. You could come pick up your free picture the next day. Now that is Christmas spirit.

When did Brandon get his own video game?

I was perusing one of Brett's tech mags and I was a little upset no one thought they should let us know that Brandon was the star of his own video game–Uncharted "Drake's" Fortune. I always knew there was something going on with those guys–they are just too cool to be the "All American Family" they try to pass themselves off as.

Senorita Amelia

Amelia's school is doing "Children Around the World" where each classroom represents a country and everyday they visit another classroom to learn about other cultures. She made a boomerang in Australia, a necklace in Kenya, a fan in Japan. She "visited" Mexico today and came home with a big flower in her hair and this dance. It's awesome.

Lake Travis Ward Christmas Party

Tough Guy...

Just FYI: a Jackie whuppin' is a flick!

(And he is a really weak flicker. It usually ends with the "victim" dying with laughter.)