Connor's Preschool Christmas Concert

Connor and Sam are in the back toward the left side.

 The 2 little angels.

 The director Miss. Susan has been with the school for 25 years. Here she is telling the story of Jesus' birth with the kids.

All of the kids did great! It was so fun and sweet both Chris and I teared up.

Good job Connor! We love you.

Santa Barbara Parade of Lights - 2011

YAY Fireworks! This was Connor's 1st time watching the fireworks and he loved it! He was hooting and hollering with excitement. We watched the parade of lights from the breakwater and then walked back to the harbor and watched the fireworks from the lower section of Brophy's with martini's and a sleeping baby. Everything was just great.  

Crazy eyes... HA!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

We are very excited for Christmas this year, Connor is looking forward to seeing Santa and making him some special cookies! The other day he said he wished Santa would deliver the presents really slowly so Connor would have time to get up stairs and see him. So cute!

 And we are so happy to celebrate as a family of 4! 

Picking out the tree is more of a challenge when you have a living room full of baby gear, so this year we opted for a smaller tree. 

 Connor was thrilled when we ran into Todd and the kids while picking out the tree.

 Practicing their funny faces...

My goodness this girl is a cutie!!!

And the finished product.

No, I do not let anyone help decorate the tree . . . yes I have issues. 

But I do let Connor put the star on :)

San Francisco - Exploratorium

After Thanksgiving we took Connor to San Francisco for the 1st time. It was a good way to break up the drive home from Sacramento (baby Jess does not do well in the car) and a chance to have a family adventure. We stayed at the  

Hotel Carlton, a Joie de Vivre Boutique Hotel. Chris read a book by the owner/founder and really wanted to check it out. It was a neat hotel, at check in they gave Connor a blow up globe, the walls of the elevators are covered in world maps and postcards which we thought was pretty cool. Also you have a zero carbon footprint when you stay there... I especially appreciated the unlimited filtered water ... instead of charging $10 for a bottle of water they leave a glass picture in your room and every other floor has a filtered water dispenser with cold and hot water. That was great for making baby bottles.   

The hotel was located about 10 minutes from the Exploratorium and walking distance from China town. So we walked down and took Connor for a great dinner in China town. He has quite an adventurous appetite for a 4yr old. It's fun taking him to new restaurants because he loves trying new things. 

The next morning we headed to the exploratorium. 

 I've heard a lot of great things about the Exploratorium and it did not disappoint. 

Connor is our little science guy. Recently he took an 8 week long nature series at the Natural History Museum in SB and he loved it. So I knew a science museum would be a big hit with him. At the exploratorium there were so many great hands on experiments for him to try as well as demos to watch. One demo was the dissection of a cows eyeball which he thought was gross and so cool.

 We spent more than 4 hours at the Exploratorium. Really he could have stayed all day but Chris and I were ready to escape the crowds and get on the road to our next destination...

Monterey Bay.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Sacramento, CA

This year we spent Thanksgiving up at Grandma's house in Sacramento. We had such a nice visit. Connor is so lucky that he has 6 cousins to play with. They all played so well together. It was great to watch them all having so much fun together. 

 Grandma let the kids decorate her tree. They had fun and felt pretty special getting to pick out which ornaments they wanted to put on. At our house only mom is allowed to decorate the tree. 

 Katie, Connor, Jessica, Andrew, Natalie, Gracie & Will.

 Jess and cousin Will.

Auntie Andrea help the kids make yummy Christmas cookies.

 Cousin Gracie is such a big help. She feed baby Jess her whole bottle.

Great job Gracie!

Katie, Connor & Gracie all dressed for Thanksgiving.

 Andrea, Me & Annemarie

The beautiful Natalie and Katie.

 William

 Daddy and his little cupcake.

Stephen was the man in charge of the turkey.

That's a good lookin bird. 

 Auntie Annemarie was so good with baby Jess.

The men: Chris, Matthew & Stephen

 Gracie holding Jess. . . Grace is going to be a great babysitter.

My little rose bud.

Jammie time with the cousins.

We had so much fun cooking, catching up, taking pictures, watching the kids and just spending time together.

We are thankful for such a great family.

Grandma and Grandpa visit Santa Barbara

YAY! Grandma and Grandpa came down and did what grandparents do best... they showered Connor and Jessica with love. Grandma did lots of holding & hugging & loving. We walked to breakfast and then down to the Veterans day parade, we made a cozy dinner at home, played games, read books, celebrated Chris' birthday and had a great visit. Here are some cute pix of their visit.