Kaia's Christmas party...

kaia loves her fruit!
leia REALLY wants to be in kaia's class...she loves it!
look at her just joining in with the big kids :)
kaia's a good big sister
here's kaia and her partner in crime, sophia!
leia loves this rocking chair in the classroom!
p.s.~ i hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas...we're leaving in a couple of hours & i'm not good at blogging while out of town. i'll try to at least once. okay, i better go finish packing!
bye-bye.

leia loves the camera!

santa sure is thoughtful...

we didn't want to bring BIG gifts with us on the trip, so we were just gonna give the girls the things that were too big to them when we got back. but, then when we were at Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, kaia told santa that she wanted a train (surprisingly, we had already got them one). so, after hearing her one request, we decided to put it together last night before we started packing. it was totally worth the reaction this morning as she walked in there to see what "santa" brought them early!
they both LOVE leggos too, so santa had, ever so kindly, put a castle together with their new leggos. i'd say that kaia was more into the train & leia was more into the leggos.
thanks santa! :)

auntie kimmy

tonight we went to see kimmy and john one last time before we leave town. for those of you who don't know her, she's pregnant with their first baby and she's due in march (she's almost 27 weeks). anyways, for a few different reasons, she's on hospital bed rest at least until Thursday & maybe longer. check out her blog for the whole story & for those of you who pray, please keep them in your prayers. thank you.

we'll see you guys after New Years. love y'all.

Kaia's pre-school Christmas program video...

no stage fright here!!!

today was kaia's Christmas program at her pre school and it was so cute! she was so funny...during the 30 minute program, in between songs, she talked to us as if she was just singing at home or something. the funniest thing she kept saying was when she started asking nema, (derek's mom who was about 6 rows back)...very loudly, "hey, nema, did you bring grapes?" papa and nema always have some kind of fruit at their house and i guess kaia thought she would have some with her. she also shook her jingle bell that her teacher handed her and said, "this one's too quiet." and exchanged it for a "louder" one (i'm sure it was the exact same volume). it was so fun to watch...

here's kaia looking for nema...
she found her!



here's kaia just being kaia! :)

here she is with the "new-and-improved" bell...

leia LOVES going to pick kaia up from her classroom!

gingerbread house making at the espinoza's...

i have a very brave friend...malena, who had about 10 kids over at her house today to make gingerbread houses. surprisingly, no one really made a big mess & the kids LOVED it! you should have seen us mom's struggling to try to get the houses stand up...we had a few houses collapse. i never realized how much patience it tool to make these things! :)






thanks again, malena for having us over...it was a lot of fun!!!

santa must have been in the neighborhood...

the girls got to open their gifts at papa & nema's house last night since we're leaving for texas in 3 days. this is the first year we've been out of town on Christmas day since we've been married.





we're gonna miss you...papa, nema, kim, john & great grandma grace!

leia's little "lover boy"...

we went down to san diego today to visit my friend kellie and their baby micah , visiting from hawaii for the holidays. she's my friend that found out she was pregnant with micah the same day that i found out i was pregnant with leia and we pretty much had the same due date. we joke (or maybe not) that they'll be married one day...who knows! one problem...they're about 2,500 miles away from eachother. :( maybe someday we'll live near eachother.



WOW, baby!!! :)
one last pic of all three kids

It's that time of the year again...

that's right...the Nutcracker. i felt like a junior high girl again that shouldn't be laughing at the work of art i was watching (the ballet) , but i couldn't help it. you would have been too...just wait 'till you see the last picture! and i didn't even have someone to laugh with like last year. i missed you, malena!




sorry...i couldn't help it! :0/

cuddly sisters...

kaia and leia fell asleep in our bed together last night...this is what we saw when we went in there to check on them. i love them.

baby bennett's room...

my brother-and-sister-in-law, john & kim (derek's sister and her husband) are expecting their first baby in March and they're doing his room in a jungle theme, so, i volunteered to attempt to paint a few animals on the wall of his room. here is the first one that i finished today & so far, so good...they like it!

Christmas at Disneyland!!!