New Year's Eve

Super fun with cousins and Abuela and Grandpa.  A lot of silliness at midnight!

Hiking on the Fourth Day of Christmas

We try to do something special each of the 12 days of Christmas.  Today was super special with a visit from Denise, John, and Anna, some of our favorite people.  And rip sticking on a beautiful afternoon around Crystal Springs; perfect!

 

Lawrence Hall of Science

Climbing a massive blue whale sculpture; gorgeous bay view in rear

Familiar faces we love; guess who?  (A, K, G, A)

Cousin love

Working together to build a roller coaster

Climbing DNA

Christmas Favorites

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Hearing them sing is a gift of love!

The music was lovely, both traditional and more musically innovative, and absolutely made the celebration special.

A close-up that focuses on the kids, ours in the middle looking amused....

After Mass with Aunt Susanne and Uncle Todd

Technically, I took this on Christmas day, after the presents were wrapped and under the tree and long after everyone else was asleep.  I love our tree with ornaments added each year, mostly handmade by us or representing special gifts from friends.

Christmas Eve Eve Celebration

A super perfect day with great friends whom we don't see enough.  One of the things I love most about the San Francisco area is exactly what we experienced today: we were so close to the City, so close to roads crowded with traffic, tourists, shoppers, people busy on their commutes.  And for most of the day, we were utterly alone with this beauty.  What a wonderful way to mark the end of Advent and the beginning of Christmas - time together, a beautiful setting, perfect weather, great conversation, and fun playing with friends.

Cave!

Not a great photo, but it was awesome to see pelicans flying around us all day.

The first footprints on the beach belonged to the girls!

A rope swing practically underneath the Golden Gate bridge.  Life is good.

Still working on identification....  ah!  looks like a bird pelvis.

So many beautiful shells and rocks

Bethlehem AD Visit

Visiting has become a pre-Christmas tradition; an empty lot transformed into a teeming reenactment of Bethlehem, complete with live animals, people working, students learning, soldiers, and, of course, a live Nativity scene surrounded by angels.  Crowded, rainy, but really fun.  And a bit of a living history, too!

Our wonderful friend Kathleen joined us; she and the girls are watching the baby goats (photos below).

In the 'marketplace'

Young scholars

A house of ill repute!

30 hours old!

Caroling and Card Making

We joined friends to make a basketful of homemade holiday cards to bring to a senior residential facility, then went there and caroled for the residents.  Great fun (and gorgeous cards!)

Art, by G

Love these images!