New Year's Eve 2010

 New Year's Eve started with a visit from Grampie, Aimee, and little Wyatt.  While we were draining a bit off the top of the pool, Wyatt got busy in the mud!

Ryan wanted to be a helper.  He vacuumed major leaves off of the bottom of the pool.  By the way, this is Ryan's favorite outfit.  This is what he wears every time it's clean.  Boots and all!!

We held our usual family party on New Year's Eve.  This year for fun we played several games from Minute to Win It (thanks for the idea Kayla!).

Here, Julie is trying to keep three balloons in the air with one hand.

Jake is trying to stack 3 golf balls.

Spencer is trying to stack 28 cups into a pyramid and then stack them all back again.

Here Julie and Jen are desperately trying to empty a box of tissues with just one hand.  They both finished in a minute, but Julie was a bit faster...

Meanwhile, the kids watched movies and ran around.  They played a few games with the grown-ups too!

By the end of the night, we were playing Scum.  I was Scum and so was Mac.  Delayne did not make it as president this year - I think that's a first!

Happy New Year's!

I Like Baked Beets

I baked beets for the first time this week.  It turns out that I like them.  I really had fun baking them, and cutting them.  My hands turned a lovely shade of red.  It turns out that I like goat cheese too.  Unfortunately, my kids do not.  I made a wonderful (some might say, fancy) salad that went totally unappreciated.  Well at least I liked it.  :)

The State Capitol

 We decided to take a field trip today.  The Pings were nice enough to come along.  We took a trip to the state capitol in Sacramento.  I have never been before and neither have any of my kids.  We started the tour in the basement.  We thought we might be the only people, but before long we were joined by a few others.

 Here we are in the Assembly room.  It is all green.  The desks inside are the original.  The kids enjoyed the Latin on the wall and the painting of Abraham Lincoln.

 This is the original design of the California State Seal.  There are 31 stars on the seal because California was the 31st state in the Union.  The woman in the seal is the Goddess of Wisdom.

Here we are after the tour.  This is in front of the Governor's office.  We are in front of a great bear.  We got to go inside and see the reception area.  It was no too exciting.  They have moved a bunch of stuff out as the switching of Governor's will happen soon.

The Day After...

 The day after Christmas, we had a quiet day.  It was nice!  The boys spent lots of time building.

 Maddie worked on her art.

Christmas Day 2010

Christmas morning started early for us! Ryan woke me up at 3 AM.  Needless to say, I sent him back to bed.  I heard a report that Mac got up at 2:36 AM.  YIKES!  I finally got out of bed at 7 AM.  We went out and the kids saw that we got a new computer and were very excited!  They were also happy to see a few gifts sent from Uncle Dick and Nana.

Maddie got a pair of riding gloves.  Due to the rain, she has not yet gotten to use them.  Hopefully she'll try them out next week.

Look at Ryan's face!  He was intense!!  He was so happy opening gifts.  Five is a great age to be at Christmastime!!

Mac took everything in stride.  He moved around nice and easy.  He was an old pro...

Kayla and Steve were great helps.  They opened, untwisted, added batteries, etc.  The pants that Kayla is wearing, she bought for all of us.  We all had matching PJs!   It was just fantastic.

John did not really get it.  We had to coax him to open gifts.  He'd want to play around with whatever his siblings were opening.  It wasn't until later that Grandpa helped him open his toys and then he had lots of fun playing.

We made breakfast for the crew.  We had our family, Steve, Kayla, Grandpa, Grandma, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa!

For dinner, Dad, Anna, Aimee and Wyatt came by.  Wyatt totally new what to do with gifts.  It was hilarious.  

Wyatt doesn't smile for the camera.  SO, we tricked him.  Spencer wrestled and played until we got one with a smile.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We held our Wilson Family dinner on Christmas Eve this year at my Uncle Jim's home.  I drew Stephen and Kayla this year.  I got Steve a Joe Montana card.  You see, I ruined one of his football cards when I was little and wanted to replace it.  Well, it was my Great Grandma's favorite player - Steve Young.  How could I miss that?!?!  Well, now I know what to get him next time...

This is my cousin Emily and my little brother Jeff.

 Mac won't just smile for the camera.  He has to make a weird face...

 These are my cousins, Kelsey and Rachel.

This is my cousin Keaton.

This is my Aunt Cindy with Maddie.  Don't they look nice together?  Thank you Cindy!  We all had a very nice night.  

Ryan Lost Another Tooth!!

Ryan lost another tooth before Christmas!  He was so happy!  He was glad to have the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus visit him in the same week.