winding down

Jonathan and Simon spent most of the day putting their Lego sets together (well, Jonathan put them together while Simon waited).

diligently working...

Meanwhile, Adrienne gave Kana and Lydia lessons on how to "heel" in their new "Heely" shoes. Adrienne is an old pro, having had her pair of Heelys since October ;).

the girls again...

Even though she got some neat presents, Annie would rather play with my kitchen stuff. Maybe I should've gotten both of us some more Tupperware?!!

Christmas Day

Shortly before the frenzy began...

Kana tried to keep the wrapping paper neat and all together, while our kids just shredded it!

Opening more gifts...

Simon and his Lincoln Logs

Aaron and Lydia opening the gifts Kana brought them from Japan...we all loved the delicious candies and crackers she brought us!

more still!

Jonathan & Simon with the nutcracker at the Christmas display...

Annie at the Chico city plaza

the kids hanging out at the Chico city with their candy from Powell's Sweets Shop

Here they are making Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve

More Christmas pictures!

Here they are making gingerbread houses

Adrienne & Kana are almost done with theirs

For the first time I took everyone to a locally famous Christmas display in Chico, which they enjoyed...

the girls & Simon

Simon was really impressed with the model trains at the display!

Here are some photos of our Christmas adventures!


Here are some of our kids at the tree farm (the rest of us were there, just not in the picture!).
Still at the tree farm...

Adrienne and Kana decorating the Christmas tree...

Annie with a Christmas tree ornament--we think she had good intentions, she just got a little carried away!

Adrienne and Kana decorating their gingerbread house....

to be continued...(sure wish I knew how to override the 5 photos per blog!)

Christmas highlights

In lieu of sending out Christmas cards (which I always think I'm going to do and then never get around to), I'm posting a blog about our Christmas holiday :). Although this Christmas was more chaotic and last-minute than Elijah and I would've liked, it was still good, and we had the wonderful blessing of spending with a little ten year old girl from Japan. Kana got here on Dec. 19th, and stayed with us until this morning (the 28th). Despite her lack of English (and our lack of Japanese!), we were able to communicate to some degree, and all the kids (but especially Adrienne) really enjoyed playing with her. She shared Adrienne's room with her, and I heard them up giggling at night as they played with some of the neat toys Kana brought from Japan, and checked out the window for snow before finally going to sleep. Even though Kana was only here for ten days, we are all so sad that she's gone, and are also extremely thankful for the opportunity to have had her in our home.

Cats & kids

Here is Gizmo the kitten, so named because he reminds of us of that little animal from the movie "Gremlins".

Simon petting the kittens--we're impressed with how well he's done with them...

Here is Tux (yes, we're corny; he's named that because he looks like he's wearing a tuxedo).

Adrienne reading with her bedfellows :).


Annie loves cats, although the feeling isn't always mutual ;).

starring Annie!

Annie loves pancakes!

Picking a bite...

Bull's eye!

She also loves colanders...

And they're so versatile!

more pumpkin patch pics

Here is Elijah helping Simon feed the goats at the pumpkin patch's petting zoo.

Elijah is watching Annie terrorize the goats with friend Micah and his daughter, Lydia.

Simon and Lydia on the hayride.

The Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin (with Annie sleeping in the Ergo!).

the pumpkin patch

Here are Elijah, Annie, & Aaron on the train, with friends Randy & James in the next car :).

The kids goofing around...


Annie as "Mayor Goatree"


Adrienne, Simon, & Lydia with friends in the pumpkin patch...

Jonathan & Simon clucking their wings at the chicken show

football pics

OK, I thought I'd post the pics here so you guys wouldn't have to get MySpace accounts if you didn't want to. So, above is a picture of Jonathan after a game...



In this one, Jonathan is the one walking on the sideline with his arms crossed (of you can also locate him by looking for #77!).

Look how fit he is now!!

This was taken after a game.

OK, here is Jonathan rumbling on the field, albeit from far away! He is the player on the end, pushing against the kid in the blue & black uniform (maybe only a parent cares that much, but I thought I'd post it anyway!).