Extra, Extra

Here are some extra pictures and some extra people we got to see over the Christmas holiday.


Believe it or not, we actually got snow this year at our house. The last time that happened Josh was two years old. We didn't get to see it falling but woke up to a little tiny blanket of snow.


It didn't last long but before school Josh made a snowball and stuck it in the freezer. That lasted a little longer but was hard as a rock.


Carley LOVES to have her friend Ari over. One day Walt was on the floor for some reason and the girls crawled on. What a good daddy to give them a ride.


My brother and his son, Leyton, came down the day after Christmas to hang out and let the cousins play together. It was great to see them!


Carley and Leyton are only 4 months apart in age. Even though Leyton is "all boy", he puts up with Carley pretty well. In fact, this looks like a brave knight rescuing a distressed princess to me.


Pretty smiles.


"Smells like a fart" smiles.


My cousin, Heidi, was home for Christmas. Since she joined the Navy over two years ago this was the first Christmas she was able to spend with her family. In fact we celebrated Christmas in April with her because she was supposed to be in Afghanistan over these holidays. Luckily that's not what happened. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. It's been wonderful to see her. She's now stationed in San Diego which is so much closer to home.

Christmas Day

We had a nice, quiet, non-hectic Christmas. It was low key rather than over the top.

Carley was the first to wake up. At 5:45. I heard her trying to wake Josh, who for the first time this year said "it's too early, go back to bed!"

No one did.


Before gifts could be opened, we took our annual picture on Christmas morning. The dogs never know to look at the camera.

You can see pictures of Christmas' past in my post from last year.


After the picture we opened gifts from Santa, family and friends.


There was lots of excitement.


Then enjoyment. As you can see, it's still dark and Carley is already eating candy.

Candy for breakfast a couple times a year isn't too bad, right?




In the afternoon we drove to Nevada City to have dinner at Jake and Shannon's new home. It was nice to get together with the Thiels again.


Dinner was fantastic. Jake made the juiciest turkey we've ever eaten.


And Jessica made some wonderful bread pudding for dessert.


Carley preferred whip cream on gingersnaps.


Then there were more gifts for the kids.




Seeing Jasper pose with his giant ears was gift enough for me.

Wait. Never mind.


Seeing Emma Grace giggle was gift enough for me. She's such a doll.


Thanks Jake and Shannon for bringing us together on Christmas with great family and delicious food.


Merry Christmas everyone.

Stop Looking, I Found It!

The camera battery charger that is.

And here's proof. We're making gingerbread cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

oh no!

I've been so busy with school and life this semester that some things aren't functioning as well as normal. One of those things is my memory.

And because of that....

I can't find my camera's battery charger!! And the battery is dead, dead. What ever am I going to do if I can't take pictures on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!?

I'll probably die.

Well probably not. But I might not have any pictures to share and the Christmas post will just be filled with boring words.

Like this one.

Send good 'finding' thoughts my way. A little over 24 hours until I'd typically start snapping away.

Back in Band

Josh is currently in Intermediate Band. It's his second year playing. I had to prod him to play again this year but it didn't take much negotiation. I'm glad he did. He's pretty darn good. And if he actually practiced he'd be so much better.

Intermediate Band only has 6 students unlike the 30 student Beginning Band. None of his friends from last year's band continued with him. All of his other friends are playing in Beginning Band because they couldn't start a year early like Josh. It makes band less fun for him.


They had their first performance on Thursday.






He even played a trumpet duet. They each had their own part of the song. He'd played his perfectly at home but messed up a little during the performance.

He's not fond of being the center of attention for an audience he doesn't know. But he did it.


Give him a round of applause.


Well done, Josh.

Weeks Later and Still Posting About Thanksgiving!

How is it possible that I hardly post anymore AND it takes me nearly three weeks to post about a holiday? We're closer to Christmas than Thanksgiving but I have nothing to post about it. Unless you consider semester finals Christmasy.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we gathered with the rest of the Thiel clan at Sarah's house to eat a wonderful meal and give thanks for our family.

We don't see the 'country Thiels' very often. Sarah and Jessica each have a beautiful baby of their own to keep them busy now. When get together though, it's just like it was yesterday that we saw each other.

That's one beautiful thing about family.


This is baby Emma Grace. She's Jessica's. Walt got to meet her for the first time.


Josh loved her, of course. Because she's a baby.


This is Gia Rose. She's Sarah's. And nearly two years old already! Carley likes playing dolls with her.


And Kiele Rain. I already knew she was big but she get so much more grown up each time I see her. She'll be a teenager before I know it. Her hair is getting long again and I love it.


Sarah is such a wonderful, happy host. Her home is beautiful, warm and welcoming. It was terrific to visit with Laura as well. I don't see here as often as I'd like.


Dinner was superb. Loads of natural, local, organic foods. And Sarah's sister-in-law (not pictured) is a trained pastry chef and yum-mee, she makes some killer pies.


Kid's table. What's a big family gathering without the kid's table? It won't be long before Kiele and Josh hate sitting at the kids table. For now they still love it.


And after dinner horseplay is always necessary. Brooke, Laura's husband, was so nice to oblige the kids with the horseplay. No one else was having it.


Courtesy of Josh, a photo of Shannon, Jessica and myself. Hopefully Josh grows quickly because this angle isn't at all flattering.

Between the Run to Feed the Hungry, dinner at our house with my friend Christy as company and a family dinner at Sarah's, this years Thanksgiving festivities turned out joyful and fun.

And there you go.

On to Christmas.

Fun Friday aka Black Friday

Walt works every Friday after Thanksgiving. That means I can't fight crowds for the mad sales unless I drag the kids with me. I usually opt to stay home.

This year Josh insisted that we shop the stores on Black Friday. We only hit a couple and only hours after the mad rushes were gone.

I figured Josh would use some of his saved money to buy toys at a discount. Instead he took a notepad and made a detailed list of the specific things he wanted for Christmas.

I couldn't do much shopping for presents because the kids were with me and they're pretty much the only ones we're buying for this year. I did get a nice set of sheets (700-thread-count with extra pillow cases!)for only $30 and a couple of desperately needed SD cards.

The kids were so good in the stores that I decided to take them for a little local fun. We went to Fairytale Town and the Sacramento Zoo. It helps that they're both across the street from each other.

It most definitely helped that both places were free admission on the Friday after Thanksgiving.


Fairytale Town is a unique place here in Sacramento. It's based on Mother Goose Rhymes and other childhood fairy tales.


Like the Farmer and the Dell.


And the one about the Crooked Man.


And Three Billy Goats Gruff.


No matter how old the kids get, they still love going to Fairytale Town to climb and run and slide and pretend.


There's McGregor's garden to water.


You can even be Dorothy!


The Sacramento Zoo is almost as fun.


There isn't as much climbing though. It's most looking.


We didn't stay at the zoo as long. The kids had me worn out with the shopping and playing.


I did treat them to a (non-free) carousel ride before we left though.


Josh picked the Chimpanzee to ride, of course. He has a thing for monkeys and monkey-like creatures.