Happy New Year!

There was a time that we would just be heading out to celebrate New Year's Eve but this year we are just about heading to bed.  However, we didn't let the event go unnoticed...we had sparkling cider and champagne at dinner and talked about the year's highlights and our resolutions. 

Just a few of the things we mentioned:

Oli said his highlight was joining swim team.
Julia said her highlight was swmming with all da family.
Brett said it was the best year of his life.
Wendy said the highlight was having completed our family with the addition of Tyler.
Brett said that we added 5 new family members: Tyler, Rango (the gecko), 2 frogs and Windependent.
Wendy was proud of doing the Kirkland Triathlon 4 months after having Tyler.
Oli said an un-highlight was not having any snow yet.
Oli said Christmas was nice.

And now just a couple of photos from today.

Oli and Brett had a couple of days in Vancouver snowboarding with our friends Nat/Mike and Ben/Karin.  Looks like it was an absolutely stunning day on the mountain!

Julia's new sassy face she pulls.  The outfit?  She has her own style and flaunts it with confidence.  This is what she wore to Costco today.

Braces, check!

Hard to believe Oli has already had braces and they have already come off.  Watch out girls!

Merry Christmas

The kids are in bed, the dishes are done, the fire is roaring and a glasss of champagne is waiting for me and Mr. Claus is rubbing my feet.  Mrs. Claus workshop is officially closed for 11 months. 

Our day was fantastic from start to finish.  The kids were spoiled with gifts but were as calm, patient and appreciative as we could hope. 

the anticipation...

Making the video calls around the world to our loved ones.

Santa brought Oli a new ipod Nano and it turned Oli into a teenager.

The Giving Has Begun

I love Christmas.  From the making and receiving of Christmas cards, to the shopping, the baking, the magic of it all.  I love it. 

This year we were given the opportunity to really highlight the meaning of Christmas.  Our friends Ben and Karin were here for a few days before Christmas and it was so special to be with them that upon their departure, I felt as if the 'event' I had been preparing for was over (and I was completely satisfied).  I had to really gear up today to realize that there is another entire 'event' tomorrow. 

Tomorrow will be magical watching the kids experience the magic but really all I want for Christmas is quality time with the friends and family that mean so much to us.

Oli wanted one and only one thing this year from Christmas -- a leopard gecko (at his mom's house, he wanted deodorant....wish we had gotten off that easy).  Well, the story goes, we said no and then we realized that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.  Plus we have a family connection to geckos'...my sister's fiance breeds them.  So, we were counting on him being pretty surprised that we went ahead and got him a new pet. 

To have a little fun with Oli, we told him it was just the cage, not the actual gecko. This video is Brett revealing the fact that the gecko was already in there. There were no gecko's harmed in the making of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5OrxM41AfA&feature=youtu.be 

Merry Christmas to you all!

Annual Holiday Brunch at the Gossett's

We enjoyed the Gossett's Annual Holiday Brunch...must be the 5th annual, at least.  It is turning into a mini-Christmas for the kids. Super fun!

The gifts and the food were great, the friends were even better.  We enjoyed our time with the Gossett's (including Natalie's parents from Hawaii), the Elliott's, the Russell's and Ashlie. 

Natalie and her parents making the made-to-order pancakes.  Yummy!

Garrett and Tyler.  Garrett is 3 months older than Tyler...sure to be good friends growing up!

Peyton, Julia and Allison enjoying the wonders of carpeted stairs.

Corbin having a thoughtful moment.

Allison Russell sure is a cutie!

Peyton and Julia seemed to both like to tell each other what to do and how to play.

Kirsten and Baby Garrett - all smiles!

Julia LOVED helping Tyler open his gifts...as long as he kept his hands off of her new Dora phone (thanks, Ashlie!)

Maui: Sailing

An exciting outing was on an America's Cup contender.  Here, let me have Brett tell you about it.

From Brett, "........  SILENCE,  SILENCE.  Ok, waited 3 weeks and Brett and I both haven't had time to do blogging so gonna post this anyway.  You can just imagine how much brett loved this adventure!


And incase you want to hear it from Oli's point of view: http://oalston.blogspot.com/2012/11/tuesday-beach-and-sailboat-racing.html

Maui: Gotta Go Potty

this speaks for itself

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Party

Playing catch up with the blog is not only hard but is an ugly reminder of how far behind I am on things.  SO....today we are reporting on the present.

Today Julia had her last day of preschool until January.  Their tradition is a 'Twas the Night Before Christmas party.  The kids come in the jammas (as Julia says), bring their stuffed animals, blankies and pillow.  And instead of going outside to play (the ONLY day all year that they don't go outside...they go outside rain, shine, sleet, snow), they are inside cozied up reading holiday books.  And then they pretend that the night is over and they have woken up and get stockings filled with goodies. 

This replication of Christmas morning was lost on them but they enjoyed laying down with their friends and wearing their pj's.  And of course a stocking full of goodies was a treat for them all. 

Maui: Beach

We spent many many hours on the beach in Maui.  It was so enjoyable for all the ages.  Julia was WAY into building sand castles and Oli was WAY into the waves and Tyler was WAY into the sand. 

We really enjoyed Baby Beach which was up in Kaanapali, a quick 10 minute drive from our condo the first week and the second week, we were lucky enough to have a beach outside our condo in Kihei that was perfect for the kids.

At the beginning of the vacation Tyler was sitting but with support. In looking at these pictures, it shows how much his sitting improved during these two weeks.

After the face plant above.

Playing hangman in the sand.

Tyler took fantastic naps in his carseat on the sand...the sound of the waves and the gentle heat of the Maui sun.

Our precious mermaid.

One of our final days...at the beginning, I would dig a hole for him to sit in.  A natural Bumbo but by the end, he was sitting just fine with no face plants.

Maui: Water Sports

Impossible to keep the two oldest Alston boys out of the water.  Plenty of water sports were enjoyed!

Oli's post on surfing: http://oalston.blogspot.com/2012/11/wednesday-surfing-submarine-boat.html