Chow Bellas!

This was the last night with Laura, Alana and Mimi. Laura and Alana are headed to Canada for 3 weeks and then to NY for 3 weeks. Mimi is headed to West Palm Beach next week, they are all great travelers. We had a fantastic family meal at Buca di Beppa, so fun! We will miss our girls!

Poor Santa, as if his sled was not heavy enough!

Can you believe that poor Santa and the his reindeer had to lug this play set around in his already full sled. We have 3 little ones who are very thankful he was such a good sport. He put it up at our Dapplegray house and it will be wonderful entertainment for all! Now maybe, I will not have to chase the chickens with a little boy in my arms.

Christmas Morning

We actually got to sleep till 7am Christmas morning, not ideal for poor Laura and Alana, but it could have been so much worse. Piper loved her baby, Polly loved her tea set and Ariel doll, and Hap loved his tool bench.

As Visions of Sugar Plums Danced in Their Heads...

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Here are Piper and Polly zonked out after a very exciting day, they were very good about getting straight to bed, if only Santa could come every night. The dolls in the picture are dolls I made for each one of them, I wrote a special note for each girl on the dolls belly. I was trying to get clothing done too, but I ran out of time, sort of fitting since the girls love to be naked. When I gave it to Polly she said "but mommy it is not Ariel" and Piper said "it is ok it is not that goo, I really like it mommy" someday they will appreciate the sentiment:-)

A New Christmas Eve Tradition

What better way to spend Christmas Eve than with loved ones and of course what could be better than bowling. It was so much fun, the champion was Jon, he beat out Andrew, Alana and Ro for the title of Christmas Eve champ 2008. Next year, I am sure it will be an even more coveted title. Mimi even got a spare, at 80 that is pretty darn impressive. The girls lost interest, but had a great time running around the lanes. Seriously, it was just a great way to pass some time before Santa got here, I highly recommend Christmas Eve bowling.

Sight Seeing

For a early holiday treat my parents rented a chartered bus to take us all over town. It was me, Andrew, Laure, Alana, Katie, Jon, Mom, Dad and Mimi. It was a great way to get around and show everyone some fun LA sights. We started in Venice, saw muscle beach, Alana got a henna tattoo, then we went to the Venice Canals. After Venice we headed to Beverly Hills and stopped off at Rodeo Drive. Of course the girls loved Tiffany;s. Next it was off to the Grove and the farmers market for lunch, I made them try some authentic Mexican food. After that we went celebrity home spotting, of course the Playboy mansion is alawys a big hit (the gate with the bow). What a fun day, with the exception of a bad fall poor Mimi took (she is such a trooper keeping up with all of us) it was nearly perfect!

Mt. Baldy is Not Bauld

This past weekend, we took Piper, Polly & litte Hap to their first ever trip to see snow. Alana had never been sledding before so we headed off with great expectations. Piper woke up and the first thing she said was "am I going to get to catch a snowflake on my tongue today?" At that point, we prayed Mt. Baldy would not disappoint. It was all we hoped it would be and more, except for Polly who after one sled run and 5 min in the cold said "I want the warm snow now." We all had so much fun and can't believe it is only an hour and 1/2 from LA.

Baby Jesus

The first day the girls got here we took them to this live Christmas village called the Journey to Bethlehem that recreates what it was like the night Baby Jesus was born, ok maybe a little much after a 16 hour plane flight, but they were great sports. Piper and Polly loved seeing Baby Jesus and watching the angle come announce his birth.

Crystal Cathedral

Piper got a special treat this year she got to go with Gigi and Grampy (Mimi went too) to see the Christmas Show at Crystal Cathedral. As you can see she got all dressed up ( the beautiful dress was courtesy of her Tia and Jonnie) and really enjoyed the performance. What a fun evening for everyone.

Lights a Plenty

We have tow communities by our house that go over the top with their light displays, it is just fantastic and of course it is the best family outing to go and enjoy all the holiday cheer.

Christmas Tradition

Every year, since I can remember, we make Grampy's Christmas wreath's they yummiest sugar cookies ever. This year alana and Laura got to join in the tradition. Piper and Polly loved making them and of course tase testing them to make sure they were ok for general consumption.

Are they here yet?

"Are they here yet" is a question that was asked many times in the past few weeks. The girls were so excited to have visitors, they could hardly stand themselves. Our niece Laura and Alana are here in the states for 9 weeks. There first stop after graduating from high school (a passing with flying marks) being Los Angeles. It has been so fun having them with us and we look forward to a few more fun weeks. The first day they arrive, there was this amazing sunset, which I basically pulled over the car and made them get their picture taken (they will be happy someday).

Arrrrrrh it's Andrew's Pirate Birthday

Polly decided her daddy was going to have a piate themed birthday. The girls dressed like pirates while Grampy decorated and made a pirate apple pie for the birthday boy. We got to go out for a nice dinner while Gigi and Grampy watched the little ones and then come back and have our pirate party. Happy Birthday Andrew!

Sledding the So Cal Way!

Today, we got to go sledding! Who would have thought that was possible on a 75 degree day. OK, so it was not your traditional sledding with snow, mittens and hot coco, but it was tons of fun! In December the lifeguards make huge mounds of sand to be used a s a make shift break wall. As you can see these mounds provide endless entertainment and are the closest thing we have to sledding in the snow!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

We are just so thrilled it is the season to be jolly. We started off the holidays with a train ride to see Santa. Of course, Tia and Jonny wanted to be there and where there is fun and festivities there is always the Kolakowski's! It was a magical evening with lost of Christmas lights and 4 extremely excited little girls. Polly ran up and gave Santa the biggest hug, Piper got a little shy. Polly promptly asked Santa for a pink washing machine (this is a new one). It was a magical evening for everyone!

A Great Feast!

Here is the feast, they had at Piper's school, to celebrate Thanksgiving! You can see it was complete with Indians and Pilgrims. They were all so cute and it was such a fun day for all the kids.