o
AFB EXCLUSIVE - first cell phone pic from Phillip:
Thursday, December 31, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: New Baby Nephew!!
We have a new nephew, born at 5:30 this morning (Dec. 31)! Name and other details have yet to be disclosed. But we are THRILLED to be in Sacramento on this beautiful day to welcome him into the world in person! Congratulations Jana, Phillip and Elias - we love you!
o
AFB EXCLUSIVE - first cell phone pic from Phillip:
o
AFB EXCLUSIVE - first cell phone pic from Phillip:
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
End-of-Year Update!
o
12/29/09: Regular updates are continuing below. Scroll down for a new post!
o
o
We'll leave our status letter up top for a couple of weeks... but scroll down for regular AFB updates. And have a very Merry Christmas!
Christmas Eve 2009!
We had a great Christmas Eve in Auburn with Papa and the Coders!
o
The kids had piles of presents inside waiting to be opened... so to pass the time, they played in the treehouse!
o
o
Time for presents - at 2:30 in the afternoon. What took so long??
o
o
o
o
The kids had piles of presents inside waiting to be opened... so to pass the time, they played in the treehouse!
o
o
Time for presents - at 2:30 in the afternoon. What took so long??
o
o
o
o
o
o
Chris and Brande, calmly taking it all in.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Deacon's Most Wanted Christmas present: the Watto action figure!
o
Papa gets a book with his picture on the cover!
o
In midair with moon boots!
o
Actually, 2:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve is a great time to open presents. The kids are thrilled, and parents can actually get to sleep before midnight, even after assisting Santa with his deliveries for the next morning.
o
Coming soon: Christmas Day!
Friday, December 18, 2009
St. Paul's Christmas Service 2009
A few pictures from last night's Christmas Service at St. Paul's!
o
Dressed up and ready to sing!
o
Lots of singing...
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Dressed up and ready to sing!
o
Lots of singing...
o
o
o
o
o
The kids worked hard on their recitations! Here are a couple of movies...
o
o
o
o
Back in the classroom - Deacon and his 2nd grade class!
o
In the Kindergarten room... Miss Miller and Seth. Of course he gave us a big grin right after I took this!
o
D & M by the Kindergarten Christmas tree.
Monday, December 14, 2009
2009 Christmas Card!
A few weeks ago we went out to Vasquez Rocks State Park, location for many westerns and episodes of Star Trek, to take a picture of the kids for our 2009 Christmas card. Here it is!
o
o
Go figure - the picture I liked the best for the back of the card was taken with Derek's cell phone!
o
Speaking of Star Trek, here's Mr. Spock from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home standing on the rock formation in the background of our picture (the Star Trek shot was taken from the reverse angle compared to ours - their camera was in the parking lot). Now look to the right of the famous Vulcan, to the upper tip of the rock formation - that's where Deacon and Maren were sitting in the second picture!
o
o
Go figure - the picture I liked the best for the back of the card was taken with Derek's cell phone!
o
Speaking of Star Trek, here's Mr. Spock from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home standing on the rock formation in the background of our picture (the Star Trek shot was taken from the reverse angle compared to ours - their camera was in the parking lot). Now look to the right of the famous Vulcan, to the upper tip of the rock formation - that's where Deacon and Maren were sitting in the second picture!
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Making of the Santa Picture: 12/5/09
On Saturday, the kids had their official picture taken with Santa at the Burbank Mall!o
Because we were heading to another event later that morning, Derek brought our camera and naturally started snapping away.
o
I considered making this our Christmas card picture this year...
o
Finally - their turn with the big guy!
o
o
o
Next Downtown Burbank activity: waiting in a line 4 blocks long to get to play in 15 tons of real snow!
o
For 7 minutes.
o
7 minutes wasn't nearly long enough.
o
A bite to eat afterward cured Maren's cold-weather blues, so all was well.
o
Coming soon: our 2009 Christmas card! I hope!!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Santa!
Santa was at the Burbank mall yesterday!
o
o
Check back tomorrow for a special bonus post - Behind the Scenes: The Making Of the 2009 Santa Picture!
o
o
Check back tomorrow for a special bonus post - Behind the Scenes: The Making Of the 2009 Santa Picture!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving 2009!
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. We celebrated with tons of food and great company! (Not necessarily in that order.)
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
It really was all fun and no stress. Maybe we're finally getting the hang of this Thanksgiving dinner thing.
o
o
o
o
A few pics of the tables...
o
o
o
o
o
o
Empty plates! Time for seconds. Or thirds.
o
Thankswinging.
o
Time for the annual Thanksgiving Quiz!! It's quite stressful - Grandpa and Grandma are surely re-thinking next year's travel plans.
o
Susie looks pretty confident, though.
o
Carol, the brainy one!
o
But the winner is: Michael! He won the zebra-print Snuggie.
o
o
He also scored the highest on the annual Star Wars quiz! Here he is relaxing with his prizes.
o
o
Jessica's delicious carrot cake!!
o
Maren is first in line for pumpkin pie.
o
Enjoying their well-deserved dessert after all the stressful test-taking.
o
Molly and Susie!
o
Jessica and her Horn-of-Plenty artwork.
o
What better way to digest a ton of food than a rousing sing-along!
o
She claims to be an alto, but Susie can hit a clear, beautiful high G.
o
Jessica reads Maren a bedtime story...
o
Maren set up a bed for herself on the couch and was out for the rest of the evening.
o
Deacon wasn't happy about taking time out of playing to take a picture, but William was cooperative and congenial as usual!
o
David looks really comfortable behind those drums.
o
And now, presenting the Ross Family Thanksgiving Photo Gallery!
o
2007
o
2008
o
2009
o
Last year, 2008, with an uninvited guest...
o
o
...who found his way into the picture again in 2009.
o
Again, we hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday! Happy Thanksgiving!
