Surprise!

We threw a Surprise Party for Mom's birthday a few weeks ago and it was great! We actually surprised her which was shocking. A bunch of her friends and our family came to our house for the party and everyone had a fun time....especially Mom.

Scott with Stu, Barbara, and Mary Jean

Uncle Mike and Jackie

Amy's Visit!

Amy was a very brave girl and flew out here from NC with 3 month old Mia. I was so happy she came and so excited to spend time with her...and finally meet that beautiful baby! She came in early December and was here Monday-Friday. We managed to fit a lot of things in during that time! We hosted a playgroup at my house so that Amy could meet my new friends. Scott was Super Husband and watched both kids one night so we could go see New Moon. And of course we went wine tasting! Scott and I prefer Amador County, but wanted to take her to Napa because everyone needs to go to Napa at least once. :) The week she was here was probably one of the coldest weeks ever! So much for mild CA weather. :)
We had a picnic at one of the wineries. It was so pretty there!
We decided to be adventurous and take the babies on the ferry to San Francisco. Scott and I had been wanting to go on the ferry but hadn't had the chance. I was really proud of us for braving the cold weather that day! We took the ferry to Pier 39 and spent our time there. It was a lot of fun!

Amy and Mia on the ferry
She has her hands full with these two! It was not cold on the ferry, but C insisted on wearing her mittens and hat. :)

Caroline loved having Amy and Mia here. She called to them and looked for them in the guest room for about a week after they left. When she got a new doll for Christmas, she named her Mia. Such a sweet girl.

Caroline was done with San Francisco.

Waiting for the ferry to take us home!

Amy got C Elf on the Shelf for Christmas. I had never heard of this but it is so cute! We are so excited to start this as a tradition next year!!

Kisses

We had such a nice visit. I hope she (and Jimmy!) can come and visit again soon!!

Extended Christmas!

Scott's Dad, Chen and Frankie came for Christmas and then Sarah came for a short visit after Christmas. We had a fun time with them all here. Chen, Sarah and I went shopping one day (with no kids!), Chen made us a fantastic Chinese dinner one night, everyone (except C and I) went to Tahoe to play in the snow one day, and we went to tour The Jellybelly Factory. It was a fun and busy week!

Caroline actually did really well on the tour. She liked waving to all of the people in the factory and some of them waved back!

Before Sarah left for the airport she spent about 45 minutes coloring with the kids. I don't think Caroline has ever stayed engaged in one activity for so long! Yay for Auntie Sarah!

Waiting for everyone to FINALLY be ready to go. :)

Silly girl

More Christmas

After we open presents and have breakfast, it is our tradition to go to Stuarts house. Since we moved to Benicia it is only a ten minute drive! Going there for Christmas dinner is one of my favorite traditions.

Poor Frankie was a little bored with all of the adults. :)

Caroline and Grandpa
Playing with Uncle AJ. He was so sweet with her. She is wary of new people and he worked all day to get her to play with him!

Mmmmm....pie!
A long day of opening presents and eating makes everyone tired!

Brothers! :) Frankie likes to call Scott his twin...so sweet.

Christmas Morning

I want to start by saying that we have been without a laptop for a month which is why I haven't updated in forever. Now I have a ton of pictures to catch up on but I wanted to start with Christmas!


This year was amazing! I really thought Caroline would be too young to really enjoy presents but I was wrong! She really got into opening her gifts (and also gifts that were not hers!). Santa brought her a play kitchen and a Big Girl chair just for her. She was so excited when she came downstairs and saw the kitchen. It was so much fun to watch her play. I am amazed with how big she is getting and all that she is learning.
We had Gary, Chen and Frankie visiting for Christmas. Frankie is at a great age for Christmas and he was so patient with Caroline taking forever to open presents (we made a rule that only one person can open at a time so that we could see what everyone received).
It was such a fun morning!
Loving her big girl chair (but forgetting the rule of no standing in it) :)

Frankie and ChenShe put her glasses on all by herself!

Notice the fancy bracelets
After we opened presents with Grandpa, Chen and Frankie, Mimi and Papa came over and we got to do it all over again!