Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!  This year's card was designed by our friend (and one of our wedding coordinators).  We love how it turned out!

 And the back was written by Brian!  We think he did a wonderful job recapping the year! 

Hugs and love to you all!  Merry Christmas!

Trevor's Soccer

Trevor had his last soccer class of the season over at Aviano and boy was he on fire!! 

He seemed to really like this younger male coach. 

He ran, he kicked, he scored...over and over!

Goal!!

He did so great...and he had a lot of fun (which is all that matters to us)!

However, he did so good that the coach called him first when it was time to receive the end of season award!  Maybe he'll take after his Daddy's footsteps and be a soccer star!

Ashley's 1st "Pony"

Seriously, could she be any cuter??!  Her hair is getting rather long on top so we continue to try out different hairdo's with barrettes, headbands, and now even ponytails.  Based on this smile when she saw herself in the phone, we think she thinks she looks pretty darn cute.  Which she does :)

Santa at the Clubhouse!

The kids were so excited that Santa was coming to our clubhouse.  We tried taking a picture of both of them in their spiffy clothes but well, this is the best we got!  Trevor of course had a say in his clothes (we told him he could wear jeans but he insisted on black pants!) and well, Ashley was stuck again in the comfy yet cute outfit Mommy found at Macy's for $12!

 They had a train that went from the front of the clubhouse to the where Santa was located.

We are always so impressed with the way the line moves at the clubhouse and the fact that you don't have to pay for pictures.  This year was no different!  Trevor was so excited that he hopped all the way from the line to Santa!

Ashley thought Santa was pretty cool for about 5 seconds.

Then not so much!

Get me off this guy!  Please!

Funny how she could deal with him if she was on Mommy's lap.

She actually found him quite interesting.

When we were done, Trevor got a candy cane from one of the elves ;-)

This event coincided with our monthly bagels and brew so Trevor was even more excited.  This kid can put down more food at the event than anyone...bagel, donut, donut holes, muffin, strawberries, pineapple, yogurt and juice.  It really is impressive!

Ashley is starting to hold her own as well.  Today's favorite food was strawberries!

They had cookie decorating, live quartet singing (and dancing) to Christmas carols, a bunch of things really but of course Trevor's favorite (besides the food and Santa) was the train ride!

We discovered in our community's January newsletter that Ashley is a little Fireside celebrity!  She made the newsletter pics of the event looking all cute! 

She loved the live music and was perfectly content sitting on the sidewalk swaying and bopping to the music.  We are off to a fabulous start to the holidays!!

Before we forget, the night prior we attended two parties...it was Brian's last day of work until January 2 so we whooped it up.  Still amazed that we were up and at em to get to Bagels and Brew by 9am.  Not as early as some of our friends...who don't know each other but held down the #1 and #2 spots in the Santa line.  Early birds ;-)

Ashley's 1st Shoes!!

Ashley got her first pair of real Stride Rite walking shoes!  They definitely stand out with all of the silver sparkles but the real win is that she can't take them off (yet anyway).  She will be walking on her own in no time so it's good to get her used to these cute shoes!

La Casa Christmas Program

No school today for Trevor!  Just his annual Christmas program which is just cuter than these pictures can do it justice...but scroll to the bottom and there is a link to the program if you want to watch it!  You will see Daddy make it in at the last minute and rescue Ashley from her car seat after she somehow discovered how to turn on the music on Mommy's phone.  Nothing like hearing Rihanna compete with the beautiful piano tunes!!

 Trevor led the class in with Mrs. Mac.

There are two classes of 'mini-4s' if you watch the video.  Trevor's class is on the left.  His class waited oh so patiently while the other class came in and got situated.  They all look so cute in their holiday gear!

Trevor was all smiles!

He looked so cute in his Christmas outfit that he picked out.  He had to have a tie.  He said that's what 4 year olds wear. 

The teachers said that during practice Trevor was by far the loudest and most expressive kid.  And he would sing the songs everywhere he went....playground, bathroom, picking up toys.  He's just too cute and we know they are telling the truth because he belts out the tunes at home too!  All.the.time! 

The loudest part of the program was when the kids all yelled 'No room' (ie when the innkeeper told Mary and Joseph that there was no room at the inn)

 Silent night....sleep in heavenly peace.  So Precious!

Doing the actions!

Looking good :)

Gang signs???  Not sure!  He's pretty silly!  He did a great job at the program.  We were so so proud!  He wasn't the loudest kid and he wasn't the quietest and he definitely just stand there with a coy little look on his face like he did last year!  Such great memories!

After the program in the sanctuary, we moved to Trevor's classroom for photo opps and a few more songs from the kids.  Trevor is next to his two BFFs...Tristan on the left and Connor on the right.

After giving the teachers gifts, we enjoyed cookies and punch in the courtyard.  The kids were so excited that we took them away from the fun for a quick family pic....lol!

That's okay though, Trevor more than made up for it with numerous rounds of ring around the rosie with his friends Connor and Kennedy!

And we all fall down...

His class angel.  Look at all of those cute little hands!!  Just precious!

 For those of you who want to see the cute video (um, grandparents ;-)) here it is!  

http://vimeo.com/82254658

La Casa Christmas Party

Trevor's preschool class had a little Christmas party (how we love that we can call it a Christmas party instead of a holiday party!!!) so we were invited to participate starting the last 30 minutes of school.  They decorated Christmas trees...

He liked the frosting part but his favorite part was doing all of the sprinkles!

Uh oh Mommy, it tipped over!

We think Ashley is ready for school because she just toured the classroom while all this was going on.  Crawling from play area to play area! 

They read a Christmas story and then it was snack time!  They each got a special cookie and juice.

Of course when the cookies came out, you know who was quick to come over.  Trevor thought she wanted a kiss, sorry buddy, she totally just wants your cookie!

Cheese!

Could we ever get a pic with both kids looking at the same time??  Oh well!

Women's Group at the Clubhouse - Cookie Exchange

Sara had seen advertisements at our clubhouse for Women's Group before but she kinda thought that it was for older women than herself.  Well, as it turns out two of her friends whose kids play soccer with Trevor go and they said it was a blast.  Once a month they play bunco and drink (so apparently it's called drunko to be funny) but this month they did a Christmas cookie exchange.  Trevor requested that she make the cookies with the marshmallows on top so that is what she did!

There were probably 20 people there and each person brought copies of the recipe, three dozen cookies to share and one dozen for tasting because they had a contest for best tasting and best presentation.  Brian helped Sara come up with the presentation and she got second place for it!  Since they are called Hot Chocolate Cookies we went to the dollar store and found Hot Cocoa mugs and filled those with cookies and candy canes. He's such a good marketer! :)

Sara brought home a variety of cookies that all passed Trevor's taste test.  So many cookies, so little time!  Luckily he paced himself pretty good....and shared with Daddy!