Derby Day!

Today was our Cub Scout Pack's Pinewood Derby! It was a lot of fun. It was Brandon's first time building a car as we had to miss the one last year. He and Jerry had a lot of fun building it and Brandon loved watching it race. In 8 races, of 4 cars each race, he came in 2nd every single time. So he ended up 17th out of 67. Not bad. Jerry says next year he'll work on the axles...he didn't have time to mess with them this year. Good job guys!

My Big Boy...

Nate moved into his big boy racecar bed last month...he loves the Lightning McQueen sheets we got for it. I love that his legs don't get stuck in the crib slats anymore. I don't love that he can get up and come visit us in the middle of the night.

A New Addition...

We also had a new addition to our family over the holidays...a 75 pound German Shepherd/Husky mix named Shasta. She is a very nice dog as far as it goes...(I'm really not that wild about pets). But the kids love her and Brandon is no longer afraid of dogs!

Christmas 2009

Ok, I'm back. Our computer died just before Christmas and even though we got back online quickly, I just haven't felt like blogging...but I better catch up or I never will!

We had a great Christmas this year! My parents, sister, and grandparents all came to celebrate with us and it was fun to be together. We went to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve and then had our traditional evening of stories and songs. The next morning we had a mountain of presents...there were 10 people after all! Brandon and Zach's favorite gift was Band Hero and Lego Rock Band. Brandon especially loves this and is usually giving some sort of concert. Zach is also quite partial to the Lego Indiana Jones wii game. They both also love that Grandpa and Grandma got us 2 more wii remotes so we can all play together. Nate loves his Bat Cave castle that Grandpa and Grandma got for him and his plasmacar.

Darda Racetrack

This might be a little late for all you organized people out there, but I thought I'd share something my boys got for their birthdays from Grandpa and Grandma that would make a great Christmas present. The Darda Create a Course building system is available on Amazon and you have 5 more days to still use free super saver shipping :). It is really great. You can build a million different layouts and then you just rev the cars and let them go...no batteries required. From our one set, we currently have 2 tracks built. A big shout out to Brandon for being my demonstrator in the video. Check it out!

The boys have played with it a lot since they got it in August and we've set up 5 or 6 different courses. I definitely give this one 5 out of 5 stars. Happy shopping everyone!

Junction Holiday Sing

Junction put on a great Holiday show last night! Each grade sang 2 songs complete with hand actions...they did a great job. Brandon and the other 2nd graders did "Frosty the Snowman" and "All I want for Christmas". That was perfect for them since most of them ARE missing their two front teeth. Zach and the Kindergarteners sang "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph". Sadly, the sound system ran into a glitch for the Kindergarten and they had to sing a capella. I think that threw them off their game a little, but they were still so cute! The evening was topped off by cookies and hot chocolate and a visit from Santa. What a fun evening! Too bad we did NOT have great photo angles on either kid...





Brandon has the Santa hat on with the black and red shirt.


Zach has the black and red pajama top towards the top,
behind the kid in Cars pjs.


Nate and Zach with The Big Man. Brandon was off somewhere...

Christmas at Disneyland

Disneyland is so amazing at Christmas! We love the way Small World and The Haunted Mansion get completely redone. The parades are great and it even snows after the fireworks! We had a blast down there for a few days after Thanksgiving. It was fun to meet the characters all dressed up for the holidays. Nate is so big now...he got to go on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Where did my baby go? Only 4 more inches until we're all on Space Mountain together! Here's a few shots of the trip (and yes, the first 2 our camera was in the wrong mode).