Venus and a sliver

Clear, cold air makes for good stargazing in San Clemente.  This happens to

be a sliver of the moon and Venus to the left right after sunset.

not as many stars as we see in Hawaii, but still nice.

Homeward bound...

we're at LAX waiting to go home.

aloha, Cali, see you soon!

Home= warmth!

All by himself...

no more training wheels!

Geoff and Bri decided to let Greyson try to ride his bike w/o training wheels.

They got taken off and off he went! The first time!

No holding him back now.

He's pretty proud of himself.

The look of concentration cracks me up!

Way to go Greyson!

San O in December

 The day after Christmas and a short trip to San O for Lauren to try and surf.

The surf conditions weren't really that good (for anyone), but she gave it a try.

It was a good day for just hanging out in the sun and since the tide was so low, finding 

lots of treasurers in the huge tide pools and exploring the bamboo.

Christmas sparkle and shine...

When we moved I split up my set of Waterford crystal between our children (couldn't

see using while eating outside).  After the grandparents passed away, Traci

got a couple of special things that had been her grandmothers.  A large Waterford

bowl and a set of silverware.

It's nice to see them being used at special family times like the holidays.

Christmas Day Festivities continue...

for lunch we headed over to Geoff and Bri's house.

Lots of new toys to show Poppa how they work,

Bri's grandparents were also there, so it was nice to take a photos of 3 generations

Then in the early evening everyone came back to Traci's for dinner.  It was 

fun to see Emme playing with a doll high-chair that had been Traci's and 

a dolly that had been Lauren's.

more Legos for the boys,

 some special new earrings for Lauren

 Intense Lego building

Some special cupcakes from Sprinkles for dessert

All in all it was a Christmas full of the love of family

and all that makes it special.

and then Santa Baby brought me something I've wanted for a very long time....a new

camera!  I take 1000's of pictures and have longed for something that would

make my pics look even better.  

So as the day continued I got to take 300+ photos ....

the "after" mess...

Legos to put together,

posed pics

 new skateboard action shots,

burning rubber on new bikes,

Oh Santa Baby, thanks so much! I love you!

Early Christmas Morn...

Our Christmas morn started very early...6:30am! Lauren had wanted us there

early.  As we drove the 1 1/2 miles from the MH to their house, we watched

the car thermometer go from a very chilly 35 degrees to a warmer 50!

As we pulled up the kids were leaning out their upstairs windows

waiting for us. I had time to shoot a couple of quick pics of the "before"

they let Traci take a quick shot on the stairs, before they ran down.

There was a blur of activity,

and some excited surprises!

A special gift, a Jamie Swim print of beloved honus

then...