Back to our old (snow) stomping grounds...

Here are a few pictures from before the holidays. Brendan is ready for the cold weather now with his new hat.



Annette's family came down from NJ to visit for the weekend so we visited the Christmas tree in the Town Square again....



We also rode around the town square in a horse-drawn carriage.



This year, we headed back out west for the Christmas holidays and took advantage of the chance to head up to Tahoe to get some west coast skiing/riding in. The first week we stayed in SJ with Xiaw NiaNia. While down there, Samantha checked out the Children's Discovery Museum...







Brendan also made a new friend, Emiko. Here they are getting to know each other...



Next we headed up to Sacramento where Samantha helped to decorate the tree at Ong Ba Ngoai's house...





Meanwhile, Brendan spent some quality time with Cau Jr!



Christmas dinner at Ong Ba Ngoai's house was yummy, as usual!







After a completely dry Nov and 1st half of Dec, the mountains somehow knew we were coming because it dumped a few feet of snow during the week of the 15th, and then cleared up on Saturday so that Michael could take his little girl up to the Sierras. Samantha took a class while Michael worked off the rust of a couple years off the board.

Then it dropped another several feet of snow all Christmas week, and again cleared up for the weekend so we could drive up. This time we also made the trip along with many other family members.

Gobble Gobble!

We had lots to be thankful for this year and celebrated the holiday with lots of family, friends, and FOOD! Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks.

Samantha is reading Brendan a story: The Gingerbread Boy. Here is a picture. The video is below--it's long though because she "reads" through the whole book!





Samantha (in her Thanksgiving day outfit) getting tickled by Auntie Olivia...



Brendan striking a few poses and trying to "talk" to the camera...









Hanging out in Rockville Town Center...







Samantha's first time ice-skating...she picked it up pretty quickly. Her mommy is going to have to learn quickly and catch up!



Good thing she picked it up quickly, Daddy and her aunties' backs wouldn't have been able to do many more laps bent over....

Brendan's 1 month celebration

We had a celebration for Brendan's 1 month birthday last weekend. We were lucky to have many of our family and friends present. For those who could not make it, we hope to see you over the holidays--maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas!































Here are just a few more pictures from the past few days.

Tummy time...



Sibling bonding...