Christmas Time Hornucopia - Part 4a - Christmas Morning

Remember those stockings, hung by the chimney with care?

Well, Santa came through!

All three little ones had nice surprises.

After a night of thunder and rain, we noticed the raindrops were turning into slushy snowflakes. "Ah, that'll stop soon. This is Texas, after all.", we thought.

Meantime, the Secret Santa gift exchange had begun. Thanks again for the Secret Help, Miss Kerri!

John was happy to have gotten a Lego kit.

Danielle loves dolls of any type!

Christopher hit the jackpot - a push bike!

John's extra bonus was a kick board for practicing kuk sool won (martial arts) kicks and hits.

That had to be tried right away!

Naomi is interested in science, so her Big Book of Experiments was a hit.

Ada was excited (and maybe a little puzzled) by her neat Giant Dump Truck.

Ada helped Mimi with her surprise.

Coffee is always good!

Um, not sure about this one...

Secret Santa sure knows what everyone likes!

Meanwhile, the snow continued falling.

Christmas Time Hornucopia - Part 3

Christmas Eve!
It was a gorgeous, mild, 'Christmas in Texas' day - perfect for playing on the swing...

... pushing the trike up the hill...

...getting wild on the swing...

... and getting even wilder...

...shoveling sand into the bird bath...

... and doing what only three-year old boys can think of doing.

Ada occasionally decides to stand on her head.

Finally, it was time for the opening of the ONE Christmas Eve present.

What??? What's this???

It's Matching Cousins' Pajamas, of course!!

Just before bedtime, John and Christopher wrote welcome notes for Santa.

Christmas Time Hornucopia - Part 2

The next phase began with the arrival of the Penna Clan. The first order of business was Mexican food.

John likes tacos.

Christopher likes tacos and beans.

Next morning, we had a leaf gathering activity.

Sometimes, it is hard to get the wagon up the hill.

Leaf pile!!!

Buried in leaves.

Pa brings more leaves!

Nothing visible but feet!

Uncle Mark is really good at dog impersonations.

Ada's Christmas Eve present - some assembly required.

John.

Christopher.

Uncle Mark and Ada went out for a walk.

Christmas Time Hornucopia - Part 1

It all began with the arrival of the England Family, one of whom was very tired from entertaining a Boeing 767 full of new acquaintances for 10 hours - nonstop.

Later, though, she perked up enough to have a famous "Mimi's Sink Bath" before bedtime.

Next day, some of us walked to a nearby park for some outdoorsiness. The rest of us went shopping. A lot.

Next, we journeyed over to have lunch with Great Grandad Martin. The Fun Factor grew as Jenny, Naomi and Danielle joined us.

Smiles for Mimi.

Danielle really enjoyed getting to be with Baby Ada, at last.

Danielle decided to wash Mimi and Pa's dirty minivan. She is very methodical and thorough. She is the best 3 year-old car washer in the World!

A lot of time was spent eating, and watching videos.

Three Girl Cousins.

There is more to come.

Our Tree Is Decorated

Our friends Mike and Sandra and their son Aaron came over today, so Aaron could help decorate our tree since they will be travelling and decided not to put up their own.
They did a nice job!

Easiest tree we've ever done...

Three Girls A-Skyping

Danielle and Naomi came over for a visit. Since we were all up pretty early in the morning (so it wasn't too late in England), we had a Skype session with Ada and Aunt Jessica.

 Danielle really likes 'baby Ada'.

Birthday Visit

We had a nice visit from Danielle and Jenny today. Danielle picked some Nandina berries.

She got a nice collection.

Four-Wheelie Mimi

Mimi spent the weekend with her friends Candice and Terri. Terri has a pair of ATV's. Mimi drove one.

Go, Mimi!