Introducing...Jack!

Our newest arrival brought straight from the North Pole Christmas Morning. He even had his own Christmas sweater! We love him - what a sweet little guy. He is a Shih Tsu puppy that has kept us hoppin' since Christmas morning. Somehow he just seemed like a Jack to all of us except Becks who is insistent that his name is "Candy Bar". He will not call him Jack - he said Jack is a train's name, not a dogs name.

Santa's little elves - Jonny and Brooke, graciously took in our little fluff ball on Christmas Eve to have a sleepover with their little Maltease "Rambo". Cousins! At 6:30am they arrived, ready to see the faces of the unsuspecting children. Kerry and I were the only ones awake, so all 4 of us just sat whispering in the front room until the kids woke up -more excited than any of them! Kerry finally put the puppy in his kennel to let it start barking a little to wake up the kids, and we crawled back in bed and Jonny and Brooke hid in the front room. Instead of barking, it was this high pitched yelp that was actually a little frightening. Ethan woke up and heard it, but he thought it was Eva coughing. We yelled to him from our bed to go out and see what was making so much noise, but he was a little hesitant until we went with him. We had thought that there would be a lot of mayhem from the kids, but they were actually very calm when they saw the puppy. "Oh, we got a puppy!" Ethan said to Eva and Becks. All three of them, still half asleep, just sat close to it and tried to process the fact that their was a little puppy sitting in their living room.

They adore their new little puppy, but they still had some serious present opening on their minds. Becks got....surprise. MORE TRAINS!
Eva asked for a digital camera that has "fashionable face plates". She also got a fluffy bathrobe and Wii Sing.

Ethan was holding out for more Lego sets - particulary the Secret Agent 5 and the Droid Star Wars ship, and was surprised with the Star Wars Wii game. All of the kids got Webkins - those things are addicting!

Later that morning we had a big brunch at our house with my whole family. We started this a few years ago, and I love being able to get everybody together early in the day. Everyone brings fruit for a big salad and we make

baked french toast, juice, and bacon.

Later that day, after naps and endless toy set ups, we headed up to my parents for a Prime Rib dinner and a little Rock Band competition. Just being together is the goal, and this year that was accomplished. We wished that Steve, Harms and Devyn could've been here from Hawaii - we missed you guys!