A Photo Recap of Nov/Dec 2016

Over the last few months Kyle became an orange belt! Here he is in the board breaking part of his belt test. He is really so adorable to watch out there. He takes all the challenges seriously and tries to do his best. 

Master Pesce is awarding him his new orange belt.

We celebrate each milestone with some frozen yogurt a few stores down. While here, Kyle said, "It feels good to be an orange belt!" We're so glad to hear it.

Nights after taekwondo and getting out of the bath look like this... :)

The day after Thanksgiving we began decorating the house for Christmas. This year was by far the most fun we've had. Gavin is old enough to really participate with Kyle in all things and seeing the boys enjoy everything together, side by side, was really fun. They have such a beautiful bond. By now, we have quite a few traditions and just fun things we look forward to each day, with or without the holidays. 

A fun thing the boys looked forward to each day was getting to open up a new book in our "advent calendar." 

They made sure to open together and I'd love the squeals of delight when it was one of their favorites. 

We went to get our tree pretty early, just after Thanksgiving. It was raining just the day before so we all wore our galoshes. It made for a very muddy and interesting tree search, but still so much fun!

My lumberjacks

So unexpected and delightful was that it was actually cold enough for a fire!!! It has been one cool winter, for sure!!!

Some"snow" fun for Kyle at Auntie's work!

Kyle was given a trimester award for his reading ability. :)

And Gavin sang his heart out at his preschool's Christmas performance! He had a big fan club and loved every minute of it.

Auntie Michelle

Grandpa

Grammie

 It was quite a performance and Gavin's enthusiasm was so fun to watch.

 The family

The cheering squad :)

Precious little guy waited for Santa (who never showed during his scheduled visit!)

So we decided to find Santa elsewhere!! Irvine Park Railroad was such fun! 

"Ice" fishing...how could Daddy say no?!

So proud of their fishies!

Putting Daddy in jail!

Out to dinner with Grammie and Grandpa before our exciting ride on the train to see Santa!

And finally, getting to meet Santa. The boys' first time. :) 

Gavin's preschool Christmas party

An adults' "Progressive Dinner" party on our street!

 The boys and I had 2 weeks off together and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Nothing fancy chmancy, just enjoying each other! The boys learned how to cook a bit more.

They also enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies. 

Togetherness... :)

Christmas morning!!! 

Christmas afternoon at Grammie and Grandpa's

And last but not least, Ru and I celebrated our 13th anniversary! We got to sneak away to beautiful Crystal Cove for some beachfront breakfast. 

Happy 2017, everyone!!