Christmas in the Park

A few weeks ago, we joined some friends and their kids (all boys!) for dinner and a lap at Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. After years of driving by the festivities during the daytime, I figured with Brody around, it might be a little more fun this year seeing things through the eyes of a child. Okay, so he might not exactly be old enough to remember things, but it was definitely fun.

Brady and Logan before the mini-donuts!

San Jose State Christmas Tree

Aside from the dinner on Brody's face,
I think that this shot is priceless...seeing "snow" for the first time.

Our fam...keeping warm on a COLD night!

My Little Helper

Brody loves to play with his toys. Right now, he seems to love anything that has wheels, books with flaps (he's now started tearing the flaps out of all of his books), his stuffed Winnie the Pooh (he actually mauls it...it's quite funny!), and balls (he's got a good throw down...well, not really). But, he will drop all toys whenever he sees me coming with the LAUNDRY BASKET!!! Yes, can you believe it? While he is fascinated with the basket itself, he's much more interested in what's inside the basket. See for yourself the progression of how laundry gets finished up in our house:

What have we got here? Mom's purple sweatshirt!


Cool, and something else that
has sleeves!


Come on, I can get it out of the
basket!


On second thought, why don't I just
pull everything out?


Wait, there's still more!


Ah, the look of satisfaction!

Now, if only I could teach Brody how to FOLD clothes... :-)

Thanksgiving in the Desert

Brody's first Thanksgiving was spent in beautiful Arizona. We stayed at my folks' place in Surprise, AZ, and then drove up to Anthem, AZ to visit with Brody's cousin, Carys, Aunt Alissa, Uncle Ryan, and to have a wonderful turkey dinner at Grandma B's. Aunt Beverly from Virginia was also visiting, so we all had a great time as a family this year on Turkey Day. Brody tried turkey for the first time (wasn't too interested), and mashed potatoes (definitely NOT a favorite of his). Perhaps his favorite things to do this trip were hanging out with Carys, playing with golf balls at Grandma B's house, and tossing around my mother's ceramic pumpkins. Yes, he actually "tossed" one, and sure enough, it broke!

With Grandma B, Carys, and Aunt Beverly at PF Chang's

Playing peek-a-boo in Carys' tent

Carys finishing another masterpiece drawing

Brody having fun on the putting green at Grandma B's

Carys and Brody dancing in the kitchen after dinner

Playing with Grandpa

Hmm...what else can I break?

Perhaps Brody will actually want to help
with the dishes in the future!