Have a Rockin 2009!

Happy New Year! 2008 was a fantastic year and we can't wait to see what 2009 has in store. And Luke wanted to wish everyone a happy new year......where that Elvis lip came from, I have no idea. :)

Random pics...

Here are just a few random pictures from the last few days....

Luke has *just* started feeling comfortable enough to put his head underwater on his own. He is just overly cautious. Well, the only reason he has recently had enough courage to do this is because Drew continously dunks his head, face first, under water and then giggles like crazy. Apparently Luke realized that if Drew could do it, then he could too......well, he hasn't gone face first yet. That is just his crazy little brother....

Drew has perfected this "dirty" look. He scowls those eyebrows perfectly.
Drew is such my little cuddle bug. He tucks his little hands in under his belly (it may not make sense but anyone that holds him knows exactly what I mean....) when you are holding him and I just don't want him to get bigger......he isn't quite listening to me on that one.

Luke continues to love hangin with Kaiden. I think they played outside for hours and hours today. Here they are creating a carwash for Lightening McQueen

New jammies

One of the boys favorite gifts was their own pair of medical scrubs from Uncle Matt.

First, it was bathtime. We have definitely upgraded in bath size in the new house. As you can see it is practically their very own little mini pool.

One of the parents in my kinder class got the boys a gift for a Christmas, so sweet huh? She got them these adorable hooded towels. They love them.

Drew's cheesy grin

But man, oh man, can Drew make Luke laugh.

By the time we got to actually putting on the new scrubs, Drew was done. In this picture John is standing directly above me with a cookie (the most popular bribery item for Drew) in order for them to sit together so I could get a pic.

That didn't last long.....he is our little cookie monster. Oh well, thanks Uncle Matt! Oh, and also Luke spent the rest of the night playing animal hospital in his room. Although I did hear that he wanted to give his monkey chocolate milk for medicine, not quite sure on the effectiveness of that technique. :)

a walk around the block

a few days ago a took the boys for a walk in a desperate attempt to get a picture for the christmas card. it was a big fat fail. but i did capture these....

the boys stopped in their tracks at one of the over the top christmas displays.

they couldn't believe it
then the total excitement that the display moved, sang and had santa (the top three requirements for kids)

yep...nothing better.

Christmas morning

Look what we woke up to today...the view from our upstairs balcony.

The most wonderful time of the year!

We had a fantastic Christmas Eve (except for missing Uncle Matt....he had to be at the animal hospital so he had to get home early). The boys were beyond excited. Luke couldn't believe that Santa was actually going to come (although he was concerned that he wasn't going to fit down the fireplace). We spent Christmas Eve at Momo and Papa's.

My absolutely most favorite people in the world.

The boys all got cars from Papa and Momo. Love how Raquel is posing in the picture. That girl loves the camera :). This was moments before Luke put his car in reverse and went straight down the driveway almost taking out his little brother. We will definitely need to be getting him some driving lessons asap.
Drew sneaking into Jett's golf cart. (His Christmas outfit is one that Ethan wore years ago.....yes, I know, he looks like a little nerd but I thought he looked darling!)

It is near impossible to get all these kids to look and smile at the same time. Jett was not happy about stopping play time to take a picture.

After jammies were on, we tried again...not much better.This was right before the gluttony of gifts.....can't you tell by Luke's face?

My other favorite person. He totally surprised me with a new lens for my camera. And this was one of the first pics I took...I love it!

Ethan and Luke

And Jett was officially partied out.

She said yes!

After many many years together Uncle Josh finally :) decided to propose to Nikki. Of course, as over involved as we all are, the entire family was there to witness the event! Hey, he invited us....There is this house in Murrieta that goes ALL OUT with its Christmas decorations. It has even been featured on HGTV. Well, Nikki loves this house and the two of them go every year. The man that owns the house does an entire show to music so Josh has stopped by his house last week and asked if he could stop the show at some point and play their song. Needing to go one step further Anne Marie and Lawrence made this huge box out of lights to spell out Josh's message....

Here they are as the song started to play...Nikki was very confused.

And Josh pointing out the message.

And the moment. She was so shocked.

And the light display. Ok, how cute is that sign?!?

Congratulations Uncle Josh and Aunt Nikki!!!!

Doing the most good

We have been talking to Luke a lot about giving back to others and the less fortunate. So, when we stopped by the grocery store the other day he just had to donate some money to the men ringing the bells.

Oh but wait! Look at who that man is...none other than Papa!! Yes, Papa and his buddy were the bells ringers. Everyone at the district office donated some time to collect donations.

And Luke was lucky enough to get to ring the bell too!

Here comes Santa Claus....

We have a tradition in our house that every year we get the boys a new ornament. It is always related to something that is "big" in their life. One of Luke's first ones was Elmo. We then put the date on the bottom and our plan is when they get married we are going to give them a big box of all these ornaments to have with their own family. So, here is Drew, opening his surprise...Mickey Mouse. Actually, according to Drew it is Hot Dog!

And Luke's, Lightening McQueen
Our city has an annual tradition of Santa coming around the neighborhoods at night. He stops at different locations and the kids can see Santa and sing Christmas carols. Santa's stop was just up the street so we decided to walk. This is what Drew tried to leave the house in. Oh boy.

And, as you can see...he wasn't happy about what I had in mind for attire!

Luke and Kaiden. His bestest friend in the world. He LOVES living right next door to him. They play together so well and so often!

Luke and Santa...and yes, he asked for a Leapster again....

Drew hated everything about Santa. Look at the tear..... :(

And walking back home.

Catching up....

I am finally getting around to posting Thanksgiving pictures....The boys were able to wear the same sweaters as last year! Either I bought them way too big or they haven't grown much...I am going to go with the I-don't-know-what-I-was-thinking-when-I-bought-them....Luke's was a size 5!

The look on Luke's face is priceless. He adores Drew.

The best part about this age is how they laugh at each other. Probably one of the best sounds in the entire world...

And nothing caps off all the good food at Momo's house then a big huge stick.

Drew may be our musical child....he loved sitting with Papa and "playing" the piano with him.