The Parents

Derek and Matt.

Jessica, Sandy, Kathy

Kenny as we've come to recognize him... holding the video camera.

Kathy and Julie

Boy Time

The boys had a lot of fun together over the last 24 hours. They played laser tag, Wii golf, baseball and other games-- and that was just Kenny and Derek! The other boys (the kid ones) did a lot of the same... laser tag, Wii, battleship, wrestling and many other fun exploits. Zach and Luke sat most of it out this year. They're saving up the energy for years to come, I'm sure.


Tough man pose.

More nap time from the littlest boys.

A rare moment of quiet sitting.

Even the Christmas festivities didn't stop the wrestlemania.

The Kids

Singing one of the songs of the night. For those of you who aren't sure which kid belongs to which family, they are from L to R Jack P., Anna P, Leah P., Caleb W., Courtney W., Jessica W. and Jake W., Luke P., and Zach W.

Ethan, although he has a decent set of lungs, is not yet into the singing part. His smiles are sure are just as enjoyable!

Tired Even Before the Party Started

Zach and Luke took a pre-party nap together before our annual Christmas Party.

Merry Christmas

Good Morning! These are just a few pictures from this morning for our spread-out family to enjoy today. There are more pictures in the Youtube slideshow below.

We've had a fun time this morning enjoying each other, the gifts and remembering the birth of our Saviour. Merry Christmas!

Snow and Real Mountains (that's for you, Laura)

In Wisconsin they have mountains of snow-- see the Dray Family Blog for examples. Here in California we have mountains with snow. They both have their benefits. We went up to the mountain today to catch some of that snow. A lot of it has melted in the Cajon pass but there was still plenty for the snow-naiive children to think it was a blast. The place we stopped is about 30-45 minutes from out house which made it an easy drive for some cold snow fun.


A shot out of the window on the way home down the mountain.

Derek built a snowman with a little kid help. I didn't bring their gloves so their hands were cold and red and freezing by this point. It would have bothered me a lot more than it bothered them. When we go again in a week or so up to a different spot, I'll bring the snow gear-- or at least what we have of it.

They made snow angels, footprints in the snow, fell down into it for fun and threw plenty of snowballs. We didn't tell them where we were going but I told them to all where their tennis shoes. Anna didn't follow intructions and ended up in some mary jane style shoes and very cold, wet feet.

One of their tricks was jumping and falling into the snow. This was some jumping action.

Derek found an plastic toboggan sled buried under some of the snow. They made about 1 1/2 trips down the hill before it completely fell apart on them. Oh well, they still had fun. Cold, wet, child-like, did I say cold?, fun!

Less Dirt, More Grass

Since I started the front lawn saga, I thought I'd finish it. The grass has come in wonderfully. It is a little thin in areas but that will be easy to fix over time and our house looks so much less like a dump with grass in the front yard instead of weeds. I guess I should take a picture from the street but it is pouring rain right now.

Now onto the side slope, and the back yard, and the dog run, and the RV area, and on and on...