We're back!

Not that we went anywhere, but still ... it's good to be back on the web, posting photos of your favorite 22 month old. Still got a lot of holiday pix to share. Here's a few from the Christmas Eve day. We opened a few presents and made sure to leave Santa and the reindeer some treats for the journey.

what would a day be like without choo-choos? ... it seems that we'll never know ;)



our 21st century Christmas. opening presents with Jo's mom, Dee, on the webcam







reading with mama and grammy before naptime







time to open some presents! even spreading it out over a few days, it was still overwhelming and amazing.


zach got very into ripping open presents. he definitely has flair.



yay books!


you think your exhausted now, kid? that was just ONE!



papa reading to connor



getting the cookies and milk for santa, and the carrots, celery and water for the reindeer

(Almost) Real Choo Choos!

The day before the day before Christmas was another day of fun with trains - but this time we got to ride them! The park also had a great playground.

Later that night Jo, Amy and the boys made Christmas cookies for Santa, then Papa read a bedtime story to Zach.

More Holidays in Phoenix . . .

These photos are from three days before Christmas. We started off with a Sesame Street video (the only way we could ever get the boys to sit still long enough in the same place at the same time for a photo), moved to the back yard for a spin on a new toy from Grammy and Papa (kathie and pat, Amy's parents), then Connor and Zach had an art session. After naps, playing and dinner, it was story time, the last step before "night-night!".

Popcorn!

A few months ago we got a kids' music CD by the Barenaked Ladies. It's one of our (and Zach's) favorites. We got one for Ian and Connor, and they really like it, too. One of the boys' favorite songs is "Popcorn". Ian invented a game that includes standing by the front door during the intro of the song, and then running around the couch in the living room as fast as possible... it's tiring just watching. Needless to say, Zach slept very well that night. Here's a video to give you a taste of what it's like with three boys in the house:

Model Choo Choos!

On our second full day in Phoenix, we took a tour of a neighborhood model train society. These folks are In To It. And by "it", I mean model trains. And by "in to", I mean ... hmmm, how do I say this diplomatically?  ... well, these folks turn their backyards into permanent model railroad displays, need I say more? but bless 'em, it sure is fun to visit them, the kids love it, and they let all these strangers traipse through their yards in support of charity, so they can't be much more crazy obsessive loony than anyone else, right?

after the trains, we had dinner with some friends of Kevin and Jo's. They have two older girls, and Zach enjoyed playing Rock Bank on their Wii with them. Well, he didn't actually play. But he loved playing with the guitar and drums.