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Ladybug

Tahoe in January

I'm a Tiny Dog

Little Skier

Backyard

 Julia made a bird feeder at school the other day and was so excited to see birds eating from it yesterday!

 We also found this camelia hiding at the bottom of the bush.

More camelias on a different tree.  

Recognize the Dress?

Mom sent this dress a few months ago.  She had saved it since I was little.  I had Jules try it on the other day.  As you can see, she is much cuter in it!!

Tahoe with the Gandys

We had a fun weekend up in Tahoe with the Gandys a few weeks ago.  They came up for part of the weekend and joined us for skiing and other fun.  As you can see, apart from the mountain there isn't much snow at all.  We need snow/rain so badly.  Hopefully it will come soon.

Pics by the Christmas Tree

Christmas!

I'm not sure how these didn't get posted earlier, but here they are!  The kids had a fun Christmas and loved seeing the skis which Santa left for them.  They loved all of the presents which everyone sent.  Thanks so much!

Fun in Tilden!

 At the carousel.

 Visiting the botanical garden, as Alex and Julia requested.

 Jules enjoying the rocking sled part of the carousel.

Selfie with sillies at the botanical garden.

Thank You!

If you have not yet received a thank you, one will be on the way soon.  We spent time a couple of days this week trying to get them done.

We Love the Dentist's Office!

These two kids love the dentist more than any other kids I have ever seen.  It is crazy!  I actually think that they look forward to it.  We went again last week and both are in great shape.  No cavities and our brushing, while not perfect, isn't bad.  Whew!  Thanks to Dr. Lety and her staff for being so awesome with the kids!

California Lefse

This is what lefse looks like when you have no special tools, just a regular rolling pin, a countertop and some flour sack towels.  Not super thin, but it actually tasted quite good.  We ate it with chile verde, like tortillas.  Multicultural Christmas meal at its best.

Looking for Cranes

We went to Lodi on Christmas to look for the Sandhill Cranes.  There were not as many as in previous years in the location where we usually go, but we did manage to see some and heard lots of others going to neighboring fields.  We upgraded from our annual McDonald's and hit up Denny's instead.  Movin' on up!

Christmas Morning!

 Two happy kids who found that Santa brought skis for them for Christmas!

Cookies for Santa

Hope Santa likes sprinkles!

Christmas Eve Walk

Naptime

Nope, not tired at all.  

Christmas Program

Eating a cookie after her Christmas program performance.

Ladybug

Julia's friend who is a big 5th grader, gave her this ladybug costume.  As you can tell she likes it quite a bit, even if it is big!

Lucky Ducky!

The marshmallow beater licker.

Marshmallows

Another of the treats which we make lots of for Christmas gifts.

Lights!

This house is just down the hill from our house and the kiddos love to go and see it during Christmas.  This photo does not do the beautiful lights justice.

Cousins

 Hungry, Hungry Hippos!

 Not easy to get a shot of three kiddos.  At least they were enjoying their raisins.

There we go!  Not a bad photo of the crew.

Jim, Rena and Kai had us over for a nice lunch prepared by Auntie Helen a few weeks ago.  It was nice to catch up with Auntie Helen and Uncle Anthony, as well as Rena, Jim and Kai.  The kiddos had a good time playing and we had fun chatting and eating some yummy food!

Alameda Lights

We went to Alameda to check out the lights on Thompson Avenue again this year and the kids were not disappointed.  Plenty of lights to see and the weather was nice, so it was a very pleasant walk.  We headed over to Angel Fish for sushi afterward which was a very nice treat, despite a lengthy wait.  Yummy stuff!