December 10th and 11th Visting St. Louis

From LA we flew to St. Louis. . Quite a shift in temperature but a great continuation of our trip.



The day after we arrived, we went to the Zoo with Aunt Laura. Apparently we were the only people silly enough to go with such cold weather, so we had the Zoo all to ourselves.

We stuck with the indoor exhibits. As usual you loved the monkey house. One of your favorite parts was playing with the broom and dust pan:)

 

We also explored the amphibian house which we'd never gone through before. You weren't thrilled by it but were curious. Dad thought it would be funny for us to take a picture with a huge Python. We were not thrilled.

 

That night we went to dinner with Grandma, Granta Pamela and Aunt Laura at Monsoons of course, which you loved.

 

And then that night we saw Tia Julie!! She had just finished acing her finals and ended the night giving you a bath. You were in heaven.

December 9th Dad's Birthday!

 

This morning you helped Opa set up the Christmas tree. You were quite happy to be of help.

 

 

For Dad's birthday we went out to lunch at Ruby's in Seal Beach. As soon as we could see the ocean, you lit up! You were so excited you started running toward the pier. All the way there we walked along the railing and watched the surfers, you were enthralled.

After lunch you ran the entire length of the pier, not letting anyone carry you. We predict you will continue to love the ocean as you grow older, it seems to be in your blood!

Happy Birthday Jason!!

 

December 8th Family Cross Country Trip

You were so excited to fly to Los Angeles. We often drive past the airport and you are thrilled to see all of the planes, so spending some time actually in the airport and then on a plane, was just beyond thrilling.

 

You spent most of the flight looking out the window pointing at the wing and looking at the sky and the ground below.

 

Then when we arrived in Los Angeles we had a great evening with our friends and family. You especially enjoyed playing with your friends Ely and Josiah and your cousin Esther.

 

 

December 5th APS Light Parade with the Vances

This year we went to a really neat parade that the elecrical company in Phoenix puts on each year. Companies and families decorate floats with Christmas lights and parade down a completely dark Central Avenue.

We went to the parade with our cousins The Vances and had a great time. We live about a mile from the parade route and as you can see from the pictures, it was quite cold that night (we're talking low 50's:)).

It was way past your bedtime but you couldn't tell, you were so entertained by both the parade and hanging out with the other kids.

 

 

 

 

December Family Trip to Children's Museum

 

 

 

More random pics from November

Willem the explorer is what we are calling you right now. You are tall enough to get into most things and are taking the utmost advantage of this. Everytime I turn my back you are doing something more mischievious and yet so funny that I have to grab the camera. These pictures are from November but I am catching up on the blog now in early January... If only I had known that this new mischievousness would grow exponentially...

Looking stylish in Tia Julie's sunglasses.

More Pictures from Christmas

Checking out the ASU hangout, the Chuck Box. Great food!!

Saying goodbye to the Weiss:( Somehow Wouter stayed behind the camera....

Christmas 2009

Christmas was an exciting day. We started out the morning with an early wake up call from an excited Willem.

Your big present from Santa was a kitchen, which was the first thing you saw when you ran into the living room.

Tia Julie, also in the living room thought Santa came a bit too early.

You whipped us up eggs and pancakes and who knows what else. You were so pleased cooking, you didn't leave the kitchen for at least a half hour.

Grandma made us a delicious breakfast. Afterwards, she gave you your Christmas present (which you'd already been playing with for several days), but still, you were very excited to play us a song on the keyboard.

After awhile, we all started getting ready for Christmas lunch and the arrival of the Weiss' from California.It was all hands on deck to prepare Christmas supper, even you were put to work:)

We were all so excited to have everyone together on Christmas! The Weiss' arrived, after a long drive on Christmas morning so we could all be together. The Torry's came over as well and you were just in heaven with all your people around. We had a delicious lunch and then Daddy announced to everyone that we will be having a new bundle of joy joining our family in July. Everyone was very excited!!

Some pictures of you enjoying your gifts from Santa:

Oom Rik wanted to make sure you were dressed in style for the big bowl game, so he gave you this good luck jersey, which we believe had something to do with USC winning a few days later:)

. A few hours later it was time to put Daddy to work in finishing his Christmas Soup, Pork Posole
Kissing the cook:)

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve PJ's

Growing up Julie and I would always get new pj's for Christmas, so we decided to keep the tradition going. Each of us opened our Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve so we could wear them to bed that night and for breakfast the next morning.

By this point you were very into the spirit of unopening gifts.

You loved your PJ's because there were cars on them. All of the sudden you are very into cars!

Then of course we read Twas The Night Before Christmas, which you really enjoyed.

What a wonderful Christmas Eve!!