And finally... the update.

Here it is. The long-awaited update to our lives.
December...

It was a busy month, as Decembers usually are, but with my business really taking off and the kids highly involved in their activities, it was unusually busy.

Aside from softball three times a week and drill team twice a week, Violet was cast as Mrs. Claus in the school production of "The Elves' Impersonator," a story of a little elf who thinks he's Elvis. Mama Lali made her amazing costume. Everyone loved it and we decided to donate it to the school so that it can be used for years to come.


Then of course there were the class parties... our favorite was the gingerbread house making in Violet's class...

Riley had his friend party... his request was a sledding day in the mountains. It was a huge hit!

And then, it was Christmas. Christmas morning at our house is awesome. Everyone comes over for breakfast and brings all their gifts. Our entire living room floor was covered in presents!

Nothing gets opened until after breakfast and the reading of the Bible...

Breakfast was yummy waffles and champagne and fresh fruit and OJ and homemade whipped cream... mmmmm! We covered the ping pong table with tablecloths and it worked out great. Easily seats up to 16 people comfortably around one big table. Awesome :)

This was the Lego Star Wars Christmas for Riley. Funny thing was, by the end of the morning, Papa was assembling a ship by himself and Rick was assembling another ship by himself while Riley was playing Lego Star Wars for the Wii. It was very cute that all the boys were doing their own biy things.

The favorite gifts were, of course, the ones from Tinty and Luke. They always find the most interesting things for us from Korea. Liane and I got cool bracelets and little turtle jewelry boxes, mom and dad got this incredible detailed wood carving, the kids got a rad Wii game, and Rick... Rick got a samurai sword letter opener.

It's not Christmas without Party #2 at Tish's house... Tish gathered all the little ones around her for a Happy Birthday Jesus party, complete with singing and cake :)
Then, on the 28th, we celebrated Riley's actual birthday! He requested a waffle breakfast with "Kids' Wine" (sparkling cider), which we all enjoyed. After breakfast, Violet left with Papa & Mama Lali on her very first ski trip - they went to Pagosa, Colorado to go skiing with some family friends. She had a wonderful time, but Riley and Violet definitely missed each other while she was gone. I love that they have such a special bond.

And, since I didn't share before, the reaction to Riley's Star Wars room...

New Year's Eve was a rockin awesome non-party. We planned on just chilling alone, and then Liane & Carl had no plans so we invited them over for games, and then Kris & Mel had no plans so they came over too... everyone had to bring their own snacks and alcohol and there was a LOT of it. :) Mo & Jo even stopped by for awhile and we had a great time playing games (I will never EVER forget Mo playing Taboo!)... so much, in fact, that we almost missed the countdown! We turned on the TV with about 20 seconds to spare. I barely got the champagne opened in time. I made all our friends take part in the annual "throw water across the street" tradition where everyone takes a pan of water, representing last year, and dumps it across the street because it's a new year and the pan needs to be empty for all our new adventures! They were good sports, especially considering it was seriously cold out there.

So a few weeks ago I had realized that I had accumulated 15 of the 16 Southwest credits I needed to get a free flight. The only problem? I had to get my 16th credit before January 13, 2008. So I contacted Val and scheduled a trip up to Portland for the 10-12th. It was a short but sweet trip and of course Val kept the days packed with adventure! We went to cool breweries, a play (we even volunteered at the theater!), visited my cousin and her new baby, and stopped by the beach, even!

Since getting back from Portland, it's been busy. Still. At least all our decorations are finally down (don't you hate when you think you've put everything away and then you find something you missed???) and we have done a little rearranging of furniture. Big plans for 2008 in our house... wood floors (hopefully) on the ground floor, new front door (or at least doorknob and locks... ours keeps sticking), new front landscaping, and a totally cleaned out and rearranged garage with workshop for Rick. Well, that's the plan anyway. This weekend we were supposed to start the garage organization, and both the kids are sick. I took them to the doc (my friend Costa from kindergarten... talk about weird to have your friend since age 5 be your doctor!)... Violet and Riley have strep throat. I have a sinus infection. We are all on antibiotics now. And Rick just called... his throat is scratchy. haha!