Christmas Day 2009

Thank you Auntie Nae, Uncle Rene, Cruz and Ev! The girls have been begging for these snuggies for a long time! They absoluetly love them!

The big day had finally arrived! The biggest and best time of year for my children and many others I am sure...CHRISTMAS DAY! And boy did Santa really make it to our home and even Nana's too. Christmas morning began with the openning of stocking stuffers and as tradition thanks to my late Grandpa Al, we stop at that point and make waffles and sit down and have a family breakfast. The entire time the kids anticipate opening the gifts. They kept staring over at the tree which was enveloped in all the gifts. We had a hard time finding the tree thanks to all the gifts under it :).

After breakfast the ripping and tearing of presents and the joy of laughter and hysteria filled the living room. I thought for sure the girls would have a melt down which happens every year because we always have way too many gifts. But that didn't happen this year. Each girl openned about 20 gifts each. And yes, Enrique kept looking over at me wondering why I went so crazy with the gifts, but I tried ignoring the gazes. I couldn't help it and neither could Nana or Santa. Next year will be different (this is what I say each year! But the truth is the deals were so incredible this year and I started shopping earlier than usual so the end result is a colossal load of presents.) The girls were beyond happy with all their presents! They deserved it! Eden was thrilled to see the Wii under the tree and Lola was happy with her Pet rescue swimming dog and all her barbies.

After Christmas morning at our home we went to Nana's house where Santa made a special trip as well. The girls got Barbie jets, barbie make up, Eden got a skateboard which she wanted so badly and Lola got her Ice cream play doh set to name a few.

Dinner was amazing! We had honey baked ham and all the fixings! It was the most perfect day. We couldn't have had such a fabulous Christmas without the help of Nana and Santa. Once again it was a memorable day for us all. The kids keep saying it was the best Christmas ever! Thank you, Nana!

Christmas Eve and other Christmas festivities

Our masterpiece Gingerbread house

We also made a Christmas train we named the polar Express. Lola is scratching her nose. Though it looks like she's showing the bird or gang sign :)

Eden's riding the Polar Express.

We decided to make a gingerbread house from scatch and also a Christmas train. The girls always enjoy this and it's sort of a tradition for us. We can't have Christmas without either. It's always a mess and the end result is always crooked and wild looking, but that's what makes it so special. The girls are always so proud of the end result.

Christmas Eve:

Abuelita came by our home to celebrate Christmas Eve. She brought tamales that we all helped make the Saturday before along with Uncle Usi. They were so delicious!

After dinner we drank Mexican hot chocolate (Enrique's specialty) and then we openned presents. The girls got piyamas as Abuelita says and the girls were so happy with them. Lola got Tinker bell and Minnie princess pajamas and Eden got Tinker bell and Minnie gowns. They kept trying them on over and over again. It was very cute!

Eden's Christmas Ballet

This year was a very special year for Eden at her ballet school. She is doing so well and excelling in dance. She was chosen to play not just one character in the Christmas dance show, but two. She was a soldier and a cookie this year. She was beside herself with excitement. There was so much involved in it all. On top of her usual ballet classes three times a week for 1 1/2 hours on top of this she went in every Sunday starting in late September for 2 1/2 hours for rehearsal for the Once Upon a Christmas show. It was such a success! And Eden did so well. She has really grown into a beautiful ballerina. Just before the show her teacher moved her up another level to Intermediate! I don't know if I mentioned that just a month ago she was moved up, well she moved to another level. This is just how well she has been doing. We are all so proud of her.

This year was much harder too in that she had three shows to do on two separate nights. It was such hard work and she was so exhausted, but she loved every minute of it. I guess that's why she's doing so well. It's a passion of hers. She's even asking about going to the Alvin Ailey school of dance in New York! They have a summer intensive program for youth age 11 and up. We have a few more years before this happens, but we'll see... You never know.

Christmas Parties at Eden and Lola's Schools

Lola so happy to see mommy and daddy at her classroom Christmas party.

Lola and her best friend Audrey sharing too many sweets.

Eden enjoying a cupcake treat at her Christmas party.

Eden showing off her Christmas craft.

Both girls had a Christmas party the Friday before Christmas. It was really great timing for both! Eden's was first and an hour later was Lola's. Eden had a great time at her party. I have to admit, it was a task putting that party together! So much blood, sweat, and tears went into that. But in the end (as usual with all the children's events) I'd do it all over again! The kids had a blast, the parents really stepped up and helped out when needed and the teacher loved her gift the entire class presented her with at the party.

Lola's party was very sweet and brought tears to my eyes, in a different way. The teacher read a story about the meaning of Christmas and each child had an ornament to place in the tree. Some children had baby Jesus, others presents, and so forth. In the end they all decorated the tree together. Then they sang songs. Lola and her friend were such characters that day. Here's a wee bit of footage from her celebration:

Nana's Birthday

December 15 was Nana's birthday! We had so much fun! Eden was in school so Lolie and I took Nana for breakfast at one of our favorite spots, the Buttercup where they sang happy birthday to her. It was a bit embarrassing to my mom, but it had to be done on such a special occassion. Afterward, we did a wee bit of Christmas shopping and then picked Edie Pie up from school. It was off to Alameda for some ice cream cake and pizza! The girls just love their Nana to pieces! We all had such a fun and memorable time.

Our 11th Anniversary

On December 5, Enrique and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary. This year we decided to make our favorite seafood at home instead of going out. We had collossal shrimp flambe (Enrique's specialty! It's the best I've ever tasted anywhere!) and I made a crab linguine with radicchio and lemon juice. Boy was this a good recipe. We had garlic bread and Caesar salad and a bottle of our favorite white wine. For dessert we had a decadent triple chocolate cake.

The girls stayed in their room and watched movies and even got to enjoy some of our dinner at their own kiddie table. We told them it was a special day for us and they gave us a gift of remaining quiet the whole evening. Surprisingly!

Enrique and I decided to not exchange presents this year, but he surprised me with a Tiffany box and a beautiful heart necklace inside it! I nearly fainted! It was a complete surprise, but a very welcomed one. That's just how he is. Very giving and thoughtful.

Christmas Tree Farm Here we Come

The very exciting day had finally arrived for going to the CastroValley Tree Farm and cutting down our Christmas tree! This is our tradition the day after Black Friday. We just can't ever wait.

The girls, as you can tell from the pictures, were so happy! They ran all over the tree farm, sang Christmas tunes, and yelled Timber when the time came to cut the tree down.

I know I always say this every year but this is probably the prettiest tree we've ever had! It's perfect!

The girls enjoyed decorating the tree so ghetto fabulously! I know Nana knows what I am talking about because every year they decorate her tree the same way. To Eden, the bigger the ornament the better! We have a huge icecicle ornament she picked out a couple of years ago that is seriously at least 12 inches long! Lola likes to stick all her favorites on the same branch. Not even caring that it's hanging down to the floor. After they go to bed, I always make arrangements with the ornaments. That huge icecicle, for instance, finds a new home in the back of the tree and Lola's gets spacing help.

I love our tree! I sit in front of it every night when the girls go to sleep and just enjoy it's beauty. I even busily wrap presents in front of it while playing Christmas tunes.

Thanksgiving Day

A little Bit of Wii with Nana and Eden

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated with family at our home. We decided to have a breakfast with Enrique's family and dinner with my mom. The girls were beside themselves with happiness! They love to visit with family and they couldn't wait for the day to arrive!

It was so enjoyable getting a chance to spend Thanksgiving with them!

Enrique and I made eggs, pancakes, coffee, hot chocolate, bacon and it was so delicious and delightful.

Later my mom came over and the girls were so happy to see her. We visited, ate a big feast; turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, olives, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade turkey gravy, dinner rolls and we finished it off with pecan pie and pumpkin pie and coffee.

My mom and I talked excitedly about the next day which was Black Friday! Our most special time of year. We are die hards when it comes to a good deal. We mapped out the places we wanted to go to and what we were going to buy. We were to get up at 4 am the next morning and so my mom stayed the night and Eden loved this idea! She had a sleep over with Nana! We all didn't do much sleeping with all the excitement and all.

The next day we went shopping at Walmart and waited with the kids in line for 2 hours! They did so well! Then it was off to Pinole for a visit to Target, then ToysR us and a traditional break for breakfast at IHOPS.

We had such a fun girls day shopping. We shopped until we dropped!
We have so much to be thankful for. First and foremost our family and friends, our girls, our health, our home and all the love that surrounds us. This year for the third year in a row, we wrote on little notes what we all were thankful for and we read them out loud and placed them in a Mayflower boat Eden made at school. It still had our thanks from last year and it will continue to fill up each year.

I love Thanksgiving because it really gives us a chance to be with the ones we love. To come together and enjoy one anothers company; share thoughts and memories, traditions, laugh and cry a little from laughing so hard. It's also a time to remember those no longer with us. And for me it also marks the beginning of my favorite holiday season...Christmas!

Girl Scout Ice Skating Trip

Eden with Girl scout friend Lili

Lola's favorite big girl friend, Serene

Lola skating all by herself

Lil Girl Scout trooper, Eden having fun skating

The Ice Skating rink openned at the Civic Park in Walnut Creek in November. Eden's Girl Scout Troop got a chance to take a field trip to the skating rink. Siblings and parents were invited, too so there we all were having such a good time skating. We all did pretty well. We'd gone skating last year when it came this way, too so we had some experience at ice skating. Lola amazed me when she decided she wanted to skate alone. She went around the rink 4 times by herself. We even ran into her good friend at the rink.

Eden and I got a chance to enjoy some moments together while Miss Independent Lola went on skating.

Looking forward to ice skating again!