Christmas

The night before Christmas, we went to a friends "little" Christmas party were Santa showed up with a giant sack filled with toys for everyone there, with their names on each toy. It was quite impressive. I commented to Jack that it seemed pretty cool that Santa had a gift with his name on it and he looked at me (like I was crazy) and said, " Momma, it's Santa, of course he knows my name." Silly me. After we went home we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and the kids put out cookies and soy milk for Santa (Brian told the kids that Santa has really taken a liking to soy milk lately). So off they went to bed as fast as I have ever seen - we told them Santa only comes when kids are sleeping. They were asleep within minutes. Too bad Santa can't come every night.

We had a wonderful Christmas together! We were by ourselves this year as we are in the middle of a beautiful nowhere. Friends and family were missed, but we had a lovely day in our cozy home. The kids did not get up until 8, which was nice and then we spent most of the day opening a gazillion presents and playing with each in between the opening. It was quite a day. We had some delicious cinnamon buns made by a good friend of ours. And then ate a delicious meal prepared by yours truly. It was pretty yummy, if I do say so myself!!!

I must say that my biggest sadness of this Christmas was not having our annual Christmas Story Party with our dearest friends. Brian and I watched it together and had in on in the background most of the day, but it was not the same with out Grandpa Ralph and his little figurines and Uncle Dan and Cindy and Beedi and Grandma Polly, the Spinales and the Henn clan. Jack got this cool Joke telling thing for Christmas and is quite enthralled with it, above is one of his new Jokes. Molly doesn't quite have the hang of the joke telling, but she is not afraid to give it a whirl.

At the end of the day we started to wind down and chill out after the days big events. The kids began singing for the camera and it made me laugh, so I thought I would share with all.

Jack learned at school this year about all different ways people celebrate around this season, including Kwanzaa, Jewish, and Christian traditions. It was pretty cool. And being like his grandpa Jim, he LOVES languages!

Okay, this last little song is Molly singing Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Molly is very into reindeer right now. She either pretends to be one or pretends that the deer in our meadow are reindeer. It is cute!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and have an excellent New Year.

The Kids 1st Ski Day

We took the kids skiing for the first time on Saturday! It was a perfect day, the sun was out and it was in the mid 40's. Perfect day to learn to ski. The kids bundled up in their new ski suits and hats, sunglasses and skis and made their way to their lesson. They both loved it! By the second day, they had both moved up to the second kiddie hill and Jack was learning how to stop (comes in handy at times) and Molly was busy learning how to turn. What a thrill to see them up there learning one of my all time favorite activities. Their lessons were two hours which gave Brian and I a nice chunk of time to do some skiing of our own on the big hills! It was fabulous!!!

I had to stick in this picture (left) of Half Dome with snow that Brian took. Isn't it beautiful!!! Also the picture to the right is of our drive through the crazy snow to get up to Badger Pass (ski area). It was so pretty up there.

Winter Program at Yosemite Valley School

Jack had his winter program last Thursday night! It was so cute. His class of K, 1st and 2nd graders were all penguins. They sang a cute penguin song and we all had a great time. Molly liked watching Jack on stage.

Bracebridge

Brian and I got to go to the Bracebridge dinner last night and it was absolutely amazing!! It consists of a seven course delicious meal and professional opera singers singing incredible songs and some Christmas carols. And all the performers are dressed in period clothing and your backdrop for all of this is the main dining room at the Ahwahnee hotel. It was beautiful. I was brought to tears and a few occasions during the evening. In the two pictures, Brian and I are standing in front of the official Bracebridge Christmas tree.



That was my take on the festivities, but here is what the Yosemite website has to say about the event...

"Celebrated annually since 1927, the Bracebridge Dinner transforms The Ahwahnee into a 17th century English manor for a feast of food, song and mirth. The inspiration for this yuletide ceremony was Washington Irving's Sketch Book that described Squire Bracebridge and English Christmas traditions of that period.
The Bracebridge Dinner is an elegant and artistic four-hour pageant of classic carols, Renaissance rituals and entertainment of the Middle Ages. Over 100 players create the roles of the Squire and his family, their servants, the Lord of Misrule, minstrels and other performers. The Ahwahnee Dining Room serves as the Great Hall and stage for the festivities and is decked with magnificent wreaths, an elaborate Squire's table, large banners and traditional Yuletide decorations. The centerpiece of this revered event is a seven-course banquet of rich and wondrous dishes prepared by The Ahwahnee’s world-class culinary staff."

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Well, it is not really frightful, it is actually gorgeous here. Still amazes me what an absolutely beautiful place we get to live in. It snowed for the first time this morning. The kids were so excited I practically had to hold them down and help the get dressed before they ran out in their pj's. They kept saying that it was Christmas (b/c the only time they have seen snow is when we are at my parents for Christmas). So this is all new and they are loving it. I must say that I too am thrown back into a childhood wonder of the first snow. It is all so new and perfect and beautiful. God never ceases to amaze.

Well the three of us (Brian is out of town) were so excited by the snow that we decided to walk to school in it. It was fabulous!!! Jack yelled the entire way there about all the things he saw that he just couldn't believe were covered in snow ("LOOK THE CROSSWALK HAS SNOW ON IT", "AND LOOK, THE TREES HAVE SNOW" etc). About half way to school (school is about a mile away) Jack says, "I am sorry I am being so loud, but I am so excited about the snow and it is more beautiful than I ever imagined". Okay, so he will never stop making me laugh by the big thoughts that come to his little head.

These are some pictures from this morning in our backyard before we left for school. Jack wanted to get a picture of Half Dome, but it had disappeared into the clouds.

Molly's 1st Haircut!!

After the wedding was over, Molly had her first haircut.

It is so cute!









Molly at Chuck E Cheese with her new haircut!

A Beautiful Wedding!!

We got beck from New York on Friday after an exhausting yet absolutely wonderful week. My dear brother got married on Sat November 17 to my new (and only) (Okay, I have to put in here a little note about the "only"sister in law line. I actually have another sister in law that I have had for almost ten years. Yet, I don't think of her as my sister in law, I think of her more as a sister. So, my dear Steph, I love you to pieces and I did not forget about you. And a thank you to Lori for pointing out to me that Jamie is not my only sister in law - I am a bit of a nut. Love you all!!!) wonderful sister in law Jamie!!! So very happy for them! It was a beautiful wedding. She was glowing and they both looked so happy!!!! And our two little munchkins walked themselves down the aisle with a grace and poise I did not know they possessed. As our friend Amanda said, it was definitely a proud parent moment!!! They did great! Molly was soo excited about wearing her beautiful dress and having her hair all done up like a princess. And Jack was beside himself with pride that he got to walk my mom down the aisle with Brian and then walk Molly down while carrying the rings! It was great!

Their wedding colors were beautiful fall colors and our dresses were a dark brown, very very pretty! I must say we made quite a pretty wedding party!! :-)



Mr and Mrs Josh Rosales!!!! This is the happy couple in the limo heading to the reception.


Okay, so this is actually pretty funny. When my brother was little he used to sing this song to my mom all the time and so he picked it for his Mother/Son Dance. It was very sweet, yet much to both their surprise, it was much much longer than they remembered and this video is shot toward the end of a very long dance when Josh has begun to improvise a bit on the floor. Look close and you will see Jamie laughing hysterically in the background at one of the tables. Love you guys!!

The Earthquake

Well, in all the craziness surrounding Halloween I forgot to tell you that we had our first baby earthquake last week. It was weird. Brian was at dinner with a client and I was home with the kiddos (who were sleeping) and the house shook, just for a second. I mean it was so quick, that I thought maybe I had just imagined it. I looked up and the blinds were still moving back and forth like the wind was blowing inside. So so weird. So, being from Florida, I know exactly what to do in a hurricane, but not a clue what I should do in an earthquake, so I went online to learn. Turns out there is not all that much to do, you stay inside and away from doors and windows (much the same as in a hurricane). But that was all we felt and the night moved on. Brian and his clients felt it at dinner as well. We checked it out and it was located near San Jose. After we talked to some of our friends that have been here for a while, they said that is as big a movement as we ever get here (very consoling for the me). So we are quite glad that is all we get!

Check out the link for info...
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/5.6_earthquake_strikes_California

Halloween!!!

Hello to all. Halloween here is a blast. Better than any place I have ever been! We had such a fun day yesterday!!!!! Molly and I trick-o-treated 3 times. At 10 am Molly (Cinderella) and I (Cinderella's mouse friend) went with her preschool to all the offices in the park (National Park Service, Delaware North, etc) and everyone had decorated their offices like one would decorate a house. It was a hoot. Then Jack's whole school (30 kids) went to all the offices at 1pm and Molly and I went with them. Then last night all four of us went with a bunch of our friends and their kiddos to all the houses. It really was a great time!! I love Halloween! Here are some pictures of our day and of the cutie Halloween cookies I made to give out.

You can click on the pictures to see them bigger!!

GO RED SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WORLD CHAMPS!!!
Pretty darn cool! What a great series! What a team!!

I will be writing in red today in honor of the Sox!

Now that the Series is over, we have moved into high gear for Halloween. Molly and I are busy today making Halloween cookies to give out Wednesday night and Jack is quite busy flip flopping what he wants to be. One minute it is a pirate (big draw this year) the next it is a super hero and then out of the blue this morning he said he would like to be a leaf. So who knows. Molly is going to be Tinkerbell again for trick or treating but she wants to wear her Cinderella costume for her school parade. Brian and I haven't decided yet what we will be, so you will have to wait and see the pictures Thursday morning.

The picture above is a plate of baseball cookies I made for one of the games! (they weren't hard, just tedious) Love you Beedi

Jack, The Singing Sensation

Okay, so this is a little video of Jack singing some songs that he wants to sing for his sharing day at school on Friday. He has been practicing all week and he is very excited! I am not sure where he learned the first one, but the second one he made up and the third is obviously the ABC song. I told him yesterday that I would tape him singing so everyone could see him and he said "Um, how about if we call ABC World News and have them come and tape me". Seriously, I could barely keep a straight face. A little shot on the news and suddenly he is a star with demands. Makes me giggle!!

Yosemite Facelift - Jack, the Big Star!

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3704872&affil=wsyr

Check out this link! It is Jack on ABC World News from last night (October 8). We just had Yosemite Facelift and Jackson and his school were a part of it. WE got to help clean up the park that we now get to call home! It was neat. Jack thought it was really cool to see himself on tv. He said to us after we watched it "Wow, I was GREAT, I am a star!" I was there when they were taping the segment and it was really fun. If you look closely you can see Molly in the background wearing a hot pink sweatshirt.

We miss everyone terribly! Can't wait to have some visitors out here soon!!!

I am so very sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. It has been very busy here. My parents came and were here for a week and we had a great time. We went hiking and biking all over the place and went to the high sierra country and saw amazing views from up there. Then Beedi came the following week for a long weekend trip and we had another great time. We actually went camping (which I don't really love) at May Lake one of the the High Sierra camps with friends from work and it was very very cold. Brian hiked up from our camp with a group of people to the top of Mt Hoffman. The picture he took are amazing and I will post some soon (I have to go get Jack from school).



So now we are settling back into our routine and doing quite well. Molly has started preschool and she loves it. All her friends from along our meadow go to school with her and so she thinks it is wonderful. Today she made donuts and last week they made carrot cake (carrots being one of Molly's favorite things, she was quite pleased with the whole thing).

Brian and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary today!!! So, Yeah for us!!

We miss everyone, but we are making some great new friends! Hope everyone is well!

A Nice Visit

Hello All,

We had a great time with my parents. They really seemed to enjoy themselves. My dad became Mr. hiking man while he was here. It was nuts. We did all the crazy little touristy things there are to do here and it was a blast. I learned a lot about the park that I didn't know before. We also went out to dinner a lot and that is always nice. The picture is of us at the Awahnee Hotel right before we ate.

We hiked in one day to see the Sequoia Trees. They were amazing. Then we went up to Glacier point where you can see our meadow and our house (if you squint and know where to look) :-)

All in all a very nice time. We drove them back to San Fransisco on Sat and spent the afternoon there. We saw the trolley cars - which my very dear sister in law to be calls "Rice a Roni Trolleys" (I am calling them that now to b/c I think that is the greatest name ever!!)

Things continue to go well. Jack is now in his second week of school and is still enjoying it. Molly still misses him, but the two of us are keeping busy. I am one of three parents on the school's committee to decide what the curriculum will be and what changes need to be made from last year. It is good. Molly and I will be going to a co-op preschool about 45 min from here staring in September. And I think she is going to start Kumon like Jack did back in the day. Brian is working hard, but still has such a nice amount of time at home. We are all busy beavers.

This is a a picture I took of Half Dome from our front porch. Every morning Brian and the kids say good morning to Half Dome, Glacier Point and the Royal Arches. Those are the three granite walls we can see from our house.

This week we have been working on getting pictures hung up in the house and everything put away. My parents are going to be here for a week arriving on Friday. The kids are very excited to see them and to see Izzy (our dog) who has been visiting my parents while we moved across the country.

Pilates starts tonight for me, so that will be lots of fun! I can't wait. Molly and I have been bike riding in the mornings after we drop Jack off at school. I also have found the Race For the Cure, which I have done in Orlando the past few years, is in Fresno too!!! I am very excited about running again (took a break over the summer in Orlando - to darn hot) :-)

Brian and Jack have been working on some bike riding lessons and it is going very well. Molly just likes to run behind them yelling instructions at Jack. The whole thing is pretty funny!

1st day of 1st grade at Yosemite Valley School

Jack had his first day of 1st grade yesterday and he loved it. He is going to the Yosemite Valley school and it has only three classes. He is in the first class that has the kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. He had a great time and met lots of nice friends. There are about 13 kids in his entire class. He is having a hoot. He was very excited to go back again today! Tomorrow (they have half days on Thursdays) they are going for a walk at lunch time down to one of the meadows here to have lunch. He was talking about that all last night and all morning today - can't wait!!

Molly missed him yesterday and was a bit sad this morning when she finally woke up (she is not much of a morning person - similar to Aunt Sissy and Beedi) to find that he was already gone. But she is now having some breakfast and watching the Backyardigans, so she is content for now.

Jack was telling us last night at supper that he loves Florida and Brian looked at Molly and she said, "I just love Pizza". So that kinda sums up Molly's thoughts on the state of things. As long as there is pizza she will be happy enough.

We Have Arrived

Yeah!!! We are here in Yosemite at last! We have been here for about two weeks now and we are all having a great time! Our first weekend we walked down to the river (The Merced) and let the kids throw rocks, it was a lot of fun!


Since then we have done lots of bike riding (b/c that is the best way around) and lots of hiking. The kids have really gotten into it. Jack got some new hiking shoes and thinks himself a rock climber now. And Molly has Jack's Timberland boots and has declared herself the Mountain Princess. So we are enjoying ourselves quite a bit.

I feel like I am at summer camp every day. It's great. We have met lots of really nice people and we are excited to see and do all there is for us to do. We miss you all so much. We were actually doing alright, hadn't cried to much and then last night Bri and I were watching tv and the Launch Experience commercial came on (for those of you who don't know, Brian worked at Kennedy Space Center for 10 years before we came to Yosemite). We both looked at each other and we couldn't believe how homesick that commercial made us. Sad for us. We truly do miss you all and can't wait for you to come visit!!

On Our Way...

Well, we are officially moved out of the house. It was sad to leave it and very hard to say goodbye to all our dear family and friends. We had an amazing going away party with our dear friends, and that was super hard, but we thank them all for being the best friends ever!!! Chris Henn, so sorry it has taken me so long to update, but thanks for checking :-)

We are on the road now and we spent our first sad night away from Florida in our second home in Etowah TN at our adopted parents. Thank you Ralph and Polly for your gracious hospitality and the most delicious food in all the world!!!! Fried Green Tomatoes ROCK!!!!!!

Today we are in Kansas visiting cousins! It has been a hoot- many laughs had by all. We will be spending one more night here and the tomorrow we are off to the Kansas Cosmosphere. After that the road is open before us with many options.

I will try to keep you all updated. I am sorry there are no pictures this time. We have taken quite a few, but have not had time to upload them yet. As soon as we do I will post them! Take care! We love you all!

Brian's First Few Days

Well. Today is Brian's first day at his new job. He flew out sat morning and went to church yesterday at our new little valley church. Brian said it was wonderful!! Isn't it the most beautiful little church in all the world!! I think it is so cute!

The kids and I continue to get the house ready and get Molly fully recovered. She had a rough weekend, but seems to be doing better now.

Talk to you all soon!

Goodbye Kennedy Space Center

Well, last Friday night we had a very fun but sad goodbye party from our wonderful KSC family. We had some great poems and songs about Brian's 10 years at the Space Center. It was definitely Brianfest 2007. It was hard to say goodbye and everyone will be missed. Thank you to all our dear friends at KSCVC!!

So the next week, Tuesday July 3, little Molly had to have her tonsils and adenoids out b/c she has sleep apnia. We had to be at the hospital at 7am and she was a very brave little soldier. I think it was harder on us than her! But she did amazing!! Brian and I stayed all day in the hospital with her and then Brian went home and I stayed overnight. She was released in the morning after a breakfast of pancakes on Wednesday (July4th). We had a quite day, but Molly was up running around a chasing Jack most of the day. So we are quite glad that is all over. And no more snoring and stopping her breathing :-)

Quite the week. Brian leaves tomorrow morning at 6am (Thanks to Uncle Dan who is taking him to the airport at 3:30). He will be out in Yosemite for 2-3 weeks. Then he will return for us. These next three weeks will be very busy here at home. Jack will have a friend from school and his little brother to play with next week. And we will be getting everything ready to head out.

Talk soon!

Okay, the people in the picture of the house are Brian and the housing lady from Yosemite. The actual address of the house is H-115, 9033 Tecoya Road, Yosemite, CA 95389, but if anyone would like to send us snail mail you have to send it to the PO Box they gave us which is PO Box 805, Yosemite, CA 95389.

I have a link here for you all to see. This link is the view form our front porch, it is a live webcam of Half Dome.
http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/AhwahneeMeadowCam.htm
Not a bad view to wake up to!! :-)

Now if you come to visit, the picture in the corner is what you will see as you drive in. It is called tunnel view. It is beautiful.

WE ARE MOVING!!!!

Hi everyone,

I realize that some of you already know this but we are moving to Yosemite National Park at the end of July. Brian will be the Director of Marketing for the Park. My dearest and best friend (Amanda K) just moved to Singapore and created a moving blog to keep us all updated! I thought that was a great idea, so I am doing the same. Check back whenever you would like, I will try to keep it updated.

We are all very excited to get out there, but we do have some things to do in the meantime. The moving van man comes today to help us figure out what size truck we will need. Then we have ot figure out what goes into storage and what will come with us. Our house is a bit smaller than we have now, but very cute and you can't beat the view!! I will get a view picture soon.

So, I hope you are all getting ready to come visit us! Talk soon!