Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.  We did over here.  Everyone came over on Christmas day.  We had such a fun day.  Ate great food, laughed and enjoyed seeing all the kids play together (even if they were stuck inside because it rained all day).

Eddie and I did a little champagne tasting at Korbel Winery on Christmas Eve.  We got a bottle to share  - here is Eddie getting ready for....

 ....the toast

 the girls

 ready for some great food...the grown-ups

 Amy not wanting to give up her white elephant gift Sylvia stole

 a little game of fibber

 Billy-he's 21 now he got to have a beer

 the kiddos waiting for their food

 Eddie & Roxy chilling

Merry (late) Christmas everyone.  It's New Year's Eve today - looking forward to 2013!

Billy's 21

Billy turned 21!  Woo Hoo...

We celebrated at one of our favorite happy hour spots in Santa Rosa.  We had a great group of people who came to celebrate with him.  It was a great time full of food laughter and of course alcohol!

 My first drink ever with him!  Cheers

 Uncle Pete showed up

 Billy & his girlfriend Corinne

 The gang - this guy in the bottom left has been his buddy since 1st grade

 Eddie, Pete, Cheryl & Kathy having a laugh

 Billy & my Aunt Kathy

 He was STOKED on his gift to say the least - (Thanks Clay & Sylvia for for helping out with this - it made is day and every day since)

 Awesome "Billy" beer from Uncle Pete - gulp gulp

Those Jimmy Carter fans probably remember it.

Happy 21st Birthday Billy.  We are very proud of you!  Can't believe you are 21.

Winter Concert

All the 5th graders at Cameron's school are required to play in the band.  That is actually a pretty awesome thing for a school to offer these days with all the budget cuts.  They all picked an instrument at the beginning of the year (he plays the clarinet) and have practice twice a week.  Amazingly in just these few months they were able to play a winter concert for everyone.  They played 7 songs.  On the second song "Au Claire de La Lune" Cameron had a duet with another girl.  He was so nervous he was going to squeak - I told him if he did to blame it on her hehe - They played it perfectly.  It was so sweet watching him play and amazing how well the band played together in such short time.

This picture shows him doing his duet.  He is in the second row sort-of dead center.

Awesome job Apple Blossom 5th grade band!

Thankful

It doesn't get much sweeter than that.  Cooper made that at school, it's gotta be the sweetest thing I've ever read. 

We are feeling so thankful over here.  As most of you know I had a breast cancer scare.  After my surgery & biopsy - all is good.  Healing now from my surgery then back to normal.  Thank God!

Feeling SO lucky and thankful!!!! Gives a new meaning to Thanksgiving.  

Cameron is 11

Happy 11th Birthday Cameron

Cameron's birthday fell on a school day so he had a few friends come over after school.  I could hear them hooting & hollering as I pulled into the parking lot.  Oh know...what'd I get myself into.

Turned out to be a great little party.  They played outside (thank you for not raining) - decorated gingerbread cookies, ate pizza & cake.  It was short and sweet - they all had a great time .

 After we took everyone home we went out to dinner in town then came home to open presents.  Cameron loved his bow&arrow set and the huge truck Cooper got him.

Wow, these kids grow up so fast.  Trying to appreciate every minute!!

Thanksgiving

A little Thanksgiving up in the woods.  We had a great time camping, eating and dirt bike riding.   Doesn't get much better than that.  Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!

Forgot one

Billy & his girlfriend also got into the Halloween spirit and stopped by on their way to a party.  Billy makes a great Lincecum!  GO GIANTS - World Series winners!

I'm sexy and I know it

at least that's what the song says anyway.  Cameron & Cooper were the lead singer from LMFAO for Halloween.  Nothing like getting the Party Rock going for the occasion.  They got a lot of great compliments on their costumes.  Cooper had to miss our school carnival because he had a stomach ache - poor guy!  The carnival is a huge fundraiser for the 5th graders so Cameron worked a few game booths and had a shift in the haunted house.  He was a hit.

Cooper wants you to know the costume was all his idea.  He's so sweet he didn't mind that his brother copied him.  "WooHoo - Party Rockin in my house tonight...everybody wants to have a good time!" sang by Cooper a.k.a. LMFAO

Soccer

We survived another soccer season!  It's such a crazy time of year - going from the kids & I being off to being so busy with back-to-school/work, homework (Cameron's 5th grade homework is approx. 90 min a night) and soccer season.  We have 4 games and 2 practices a week which is a lot!  It's all so worth it though.  Both boys had a great season.

Cooper's team was undefeated the entire season including the Harvest Cup which is the tournament at the end of the season.  Cooper is an amazing soccer player.  He scored several (he thinks at least 8) goals over the season and often had the coach asking us "what'd you feed this kid?"

Here is Cooper getting busy on the field.  I think the kid behind him should for sure take ballet class if he doesn't already!

 Cameron got "drafted" by a different team this year.  We were kind-of taken back at first because he has had the same coaches for several years as well as the same kids on his team.  We then realized it was a good thing to get a new coaching perspective and to play with new kids.  He embraced it.  He scored a few goals over the season and played great as a mid-fielder.  His team did great - this picture below is them celebrating their 2nd place regular season standing.  Cameron is standing in front of the coach.

 Now this was some celebrating ...Cameron's team beat out an undefeated team to take 1st in the Harvest Cup.  It was a huge upset and even the other teams were celebrating for Cameron's team. You can see how stoked they were!

 Cameron with his swag.  2nd in the season, 1st in the tournement

Cameron's team celebrating the win.  He is back row 2nd from the left.

Here we are on the way to the Harvest Cup.  Cooper likes to bring some intimidation!

 Cooper & his trophy. Undefeated!

So now what are we going to do with all of our spare time?  Must be time to go riding.

Random

Eddie, Billy & I went to a wedding a couple of weekends ago.  It was a "no kids allowed" affair so we had a grown up day!  We had a bunch of fun (but ugh had a headache the next day)!

 Random shot of this blimp flying overhead.  I guess it was on it's final mission but don't know many details.  I do remember my mom, dad & sister going on a blimp ride when I was a tiny thing.  Apparently too tiny to go with them because I got left at my great-grandma's house!

Hanging with Carol

 What a great shot of the bay.  We were on our way to meet my step-mom Carol in the city for the day. She lives in Florida and was on a long layover on her way to Korea so we got to spend the day with her!  We had a great brunch at the Cliff House.  If any of you are looking for a place to eat in the city this is a great spot.  It has beautiful views of the ocean and as long as you eat at the Bistro the prices are reasonable.  The even have a fun gift shop for your collectables.

 Here is the gang (minus Eddie who was our camera man) - even my sister's husband made it down - that was a miracle!
Oh...there he is.  Eddie, Carol & the boys outside the Cliff House.

 Carol, Becky & I

 Here we are leaving the zoo.  What a place that is.  Maybe I'll post a few shots from there it was pretty impressive-but for now this was us after a great day.  I think Cooper was mad at me for not buying cotton candy!

It was so nice getting to see you Carol!  Can't wait for next time.

Yosemite

How can one do a post about 5 days in Yosemite without posting a ton of pictures?  If you figure it out let me know.  In the mean time I have included several pictures from our trip there this summer.  It was the first time any of us had been there.  Funny how when you live so close (5hrs) from somewhere sometimes you don't appreciate it and never think to vacation there. We stepped outside the box and went this summer.  We were literally in awe the entire week.  The sheer rocks are so huge and the beauty is beyond description~it's no wonder people come from all over the world to enjoy this place!  An added bonus is the cost for $20/night I can't think of anywhere to get so much bang for your buck.

This was our first hike on day one to Mirror Lake.  Behind us is Half Dome.  When we got to the lake we renamed it Mirror Puddle.  Due to the low rain/snowfall earlier in the season the water level was very lot.  It is considered an easy trail.  Still an amazing hike and gave us a good sense for how much hiking the boys could handle.

Cool rocks near Mirror Lake.

Loved these signs.  We never did see any bears but they are everywhere there.  Several precautions have to be take in the camping areas to keep them away and large fines are issued if you don't take them.

Pretty stuff

The hike up to the top of Vernal Falls- it is an amazing hike.  Cameron & Cooper did awesome.  The hike is considered strenuous, it took us 5 hours in all and the experience is indescribable.

The top of Vernal Falls

On our way back down

A special spot!

Back down the trail.

On the way to Tuolumne Meadows.  Half Dome is in the far distance.  The guides had a telescope set-up we got to look through and see the climbers on the Half Dome cables.  So inspiring Eddie & I would love to do it.

Bridalveil Falls

A cool down in the Merced River.

This was our major mode of transportation around the valley.  It's a much better way to travel than the shuttles.  Half Dome in the background.

Hiking up to Lower Yosemite Falls.

Yosemite falls with the trickle of water.  Eddie & the boys swam here.  Freezing water but beautiful.

Hiking back from Yosemite Falls.  Cool rock climbers for entertainment.

El Capitan

Merced River

We had a great week there.  Originally I figured we'd get bored and last 3 days but the beauty goes on & on  We actually can't wait to go again.  I think we are going to have to wait awhile.  All this talk of the Hantovirus makes us feel so lucky to have been sleeping in our RV and not one of those tents.  If any of you ever have the chance to go to Yosemite, we highly recommend it.