Painting fun...

This year we decided to have Maya and Mateo make ornaments and spend time together instead of exchanging gifts.. Not only does this take the craziness out of figuring out what to buy our October babies for Christmas but it gives us an excuse to hang out..

Maya and Mateo decorated and personalized their ornaments and had fun being silly...
Looks like we have a new holiday tradition..Making Ornaments...
Alex

A "sweet" house..

The last day of school for Maya involved going to school in PJ's and building a personal gingerbread house.. Each student got some basic supplies of graham crackers, gum drops, marshmallows, pretzels, white frosting and some colorful candies.... Next thing you know they were producing works of art...

The smiles of pride were everywhere..

Jordan displays her handiwork.

Maya's house even got a chocolate muffin bush courtesy of a birthday celebration...

The party was sweet.
The memories were even sweeter..
Alex

A ROCKIN party!

Maya was invited to a 50's themed birthday for Alexandra..

It was such a cute party filled with poodle skirts and pink ladies.. Maya dressed up as a Car Hop and the boys were so cute in their white shirts with the sleeves rolled up..

There was a Hula Hoop competition.

Maya decided that one spin was enough.. They had a blast freeze dancing to the Grease sound track...

These girls had so much fun..Another reason why we love soccer, the friends!These are the happy days!
Alex

Cousins...

My mom comes from a large family.. While we always see Monica, Mona and Luis because they grew up as siblings and have always lived in the same town.... Its rare when we see the extended family from LA.

My uncle Lencho had one of the larger families (6 boys and 1 girl).. After Thanksgiving we trekked up to Pomona for a visit..

Here is my uncle, his ex-wife and all their kids except for one son (Lorenzo was at work)..

It was tons of fun to see my cousins.. They crack us up with their funny stories and guy humor..

To cousins!

Alex

Family time..

Thanksgiving is always a day for family.. This year was the second year that Mona hosted.. Each family brought something to share.. We had several turkeys, a ham, potatoes au grautin, rolls, corn, and of course stuffing!. The weather cooperated long enough for our outdoor feast.. It was a great meal and we made some great memories.. Especially those of Arthur in his first ever mustache.. Between him, Andrew and Joe they have enough hair for the winter..

Mona and mom enjoying a quiet moment...
Ed and Martin talking guns and enjoying some guy time..
The eating has begun.. dessert was a range of pies and sweets..

Here come the holiday lbs.

Alex

Little notes...

Maya's teacher told us that she had no problem getting her words onto the page... Next thing you know these little messages start springing up arond the house...

Martin was surprised one day when this one appeared on his monitor...

It says "Dear dad I need hlpe with my home work can you pless hlpe me! your dodr Maya (in cursive because she only signs her name) I will be in the cichen."

We still giggle at her curious nature.. we never know when a little note will appear...

We are so proud of our little writer..
Alex

Disney for Christmas inspiration...

One of our favorite places is Disneyland and thanks to season passes we can go and not break the bank or try to fit the whole place into one day... October and the cool Halloween decor is second only to the Christmas season.. The week of Thanksgiving we decided to brave the crowds .. We had originally planned a two day adventure however, the lines and masses; not to mention cold, changed those plans.. One day was enough..we are open to sharing the park with the rest of the tourists, we will gladly return in the off season..

We had some fun looking at all the beautiful decorations and getting the feel for Christmas. The main street tree goes on forever....

Main street was completely decked out in its Christmas finery from the Mickey wreaths to the ornaments on the trees..

Even California Adventure became a winter wonderland...

Mickey's town is all set.. Now to prepare ourselves...

HoHoHo...

Alex