Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Get Your Photos Here!

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ChristmasAlexander

We always like to have fun with our Christmas photos. The first year, we decided to just put you on a sleigh and take a picture. But, we felt left out, so every year since, we've included ourselves in the picture. We've done the traditional photo and it bored us. So, we tried a sepia photo last year and it came out real well.

This year, we had Carlos Rivera, an old friend of dad's come to the house. He took so many good photos that we had a hard time picking just one. So, we thought we'd give Carlos some praise and share a few of the outtakes with everyone.

Carlos and dad left Intel and started their own companies at the same time. Carlos does a lot of wedding photography and was even featured in a local bridal magazine. If you know anyone looking for a great organic photo, you can't go wrong with Carlos. Give him a holler and tell him the crazy family sent you.

Random Acts of Funnies to End 2007

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Here's some great quotes from Ayjia to close out the year:

1. While packaging our family Christmas cards to send out to everyone, Ayjia asked, "What about me? Where's mine?"

2. "I remember heaven, it was like God putting together a puzzle."

3. Confused, she exclaimed, "What in the name of Mike!"

4. On the way to a Christmas party with us, "I'm going to cook gooder than both of you when I'm a mom." Mom responds by asking if we can come over and eat her great food. To which Ayjia replies, "No way, silly, I'll still be living with you guys!"


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Here's what Ayjia does when she plays in her room.

Happy New Year everyone! We'll be back with more antics in 2008!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Ayjia

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With your Aunt Elaine

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And your cousin Sarah (aka, your mom's twin)

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You and Grandpa! There are not enough photos of you two!

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Ayjia opens presents and the kid in pajamas gets new pajamas.

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This year, Santa brought you a scooter.

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After decorating the tree with Dad and brother, you three danced for a while.

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You look older than you really are. It's quite scary actually.

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But, you're still a kid at heart.

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You helped make Tamales this year. Not even Dad could do it!

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We skipped cutting down a tree this year (we had travelin' to do). This is you at Costco getting the tree.

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Your mom's a goof ball.

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And, so are you. This is the inspiration for the title of this post and probably our favorite Christmas photo of all time.


We had an exciting Christmas this year. You started the season out getting a tree from Costco and making Tamales with mama and Glamma. Then, we took off to Hawaii, and when we came back we did Christmas stuff for 4 days straight. First, you went to the Nutcracker (see below), then you saw the Polar Express, then we went to a Christmas Eve party and finally went to 3 different Christmas parties on Christmas day.

Christmas morning, when you woke up, you checked to make sure Santa had eaten his cookies and drunk his milk. Because there were some cookie crumbs left, you wondered if Santa didn't like the cookies you had made for him. Finally, after inspecting Santa's eating habits, you looked under the tree and found a brand new scooter. You were super excited, but your favorite gifts this year turned out to be a toy laptop and a toy hand broom (working and cleaning...sounds like your dad!).

The Nuts Go to the Nutcracker!

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Your wonderful Grammy took her gals out to the Nutcracker this year. You got all dressed up, did your hair, put on make-up and went to your first ballet. In news that should shock no one, you LOVED it.

Afterwards, you guys went to a fancy schmancy dinner.

All this thanks to Grammy. You better start thanking her now kid. There are many more years of this to come.

The next day you went out to see the Polar Express with Yia Yia and Papou. Which means that you officially have a busier social calendar than we do!

Can we just say that sometimes we wish we were you. We think you have the best childhood ever...

Kauai Hawaii Yippee Kay Yay!

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As she gets older, her sand castles are getting more advanced.

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A great photo taken by Lisa a few minutes after a sea turtle came up and said, "hi!"

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Here's the sea turtle. Not sure if you can see him when the picture is this small....

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"Dad, can you stop taking photos and just enjoy the beach?"

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"Ta da!"

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The definition of happiness.

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The three girls in the condo.

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The first day at the beach...

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This was taken in our condo complex. Life is rough.

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One day, we ditched Ayjia and mama and went 4 wheelin'. Here's dad, Matt, and Lisa half-way through the trip.


As many of you know, we travel WAY too much for our own good. There are two very good reasons for this.

1. You only live once, so do whatever it takes to see the world.
2. We're having a kid in 2008, which means we're going to be home for a year or two.

2007 was the craziest travel year and we decided to end it with a trip to Kauai. We had a real relaxing trip with our friends Matt and Lisa. We just explored the island and hung out on the beach. Above are some of the best photos we captured. And, this is the last time we'll post travel photos for a while. Enjoy them while you can....

Give Thanks to God and the Earth...

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We had a small Thanksgiving feast at our house again this year. Besides the funny picture of mom that dad happened to catch (above), we had another memorable moment.

After sitting you at the "kid's table" which made you cry as you wanted to sit with all the adults, we brought you back to the big table for dessert. And every year, we like to go around the dinner table and state what each person is thankful for. This year, everyone basically agreed that we were thankful for friends, family, and the good company we had. But after everyone spoke, we asked you if you wanted to say what you were thankful for. You blew everyone away, when you said:

"I'm thankful for family and friends and I'm thankful for God and the World." Stop it! You're only 3 and you're making us cry over here!