Happy New Year!!

We wish all a fond farewell to 2008 and a very HAPPY New Year for 2009! We are sad that Brad has to work today and hope that he has a quiet night...we were lucky enough to catch him at the station this afternoon to bring food to his crew and have a visit with him! The kids took a picture with Daddy in front of the old Seagrave engine in the bay...then we had to watch him from afar as he got a call and had to leave. Gosh darn call. We were just lucky to see him and get a New Years smooch!! See you tomorrow Daddy!!

Our quick last shot with Daddy in 2008!

And off they go on a call....hope it's a quiet night Daddy!

Bye Daddy!!

Ringing it in and Relaxing....

Brad had to work on New Year's Eve...so I celebrated with the munchkins! The kids tried so hard to stay up until midnight. We played games, had popcorn...you know, we PARTIED!! Brody actually made it up until about 11:30pm. I fell asleep shortly there after...none of us lasted until that darn ball dropped!! But we still had fun saying good-bye to 2008 and hello to 2009...

Brody was sooo excited to watch the ball drop in NY at 9pm! Does this look like a child who normally goes to bed at 8pm?! Um, didn't think so...

Brody and Sammi felt like they were in NY standing this close to the TV!!

Sammi tucked in her snowmen in our bed and relaxed...she worked hard on this so I had to snap a quick picture! She is not going to be happy when the snowmen get packed up until next Christmas!!

Sammi and her buddies...

The Long Drive Home...

We headed down the hill to Yucaipa the day after Christmas...it was hard to leave Grammy and Pappy and all that snow!! We had a fun week...and a LLLLLOOOOONNNNGGGG drive home!!

Brody and Sammi hung in their jammies as long as they could!! They played another game of Mario Kart...

Here is a final snow pose before getting in the car for the long (did I mention LONG) drive home! When we left it was snowing soooo nice...not like the nasty wind/blizzard snow from the day before!! It was gorgeous up there!! We are sure the snow will last and there will be many more sledding days and the boys will get to snowboard too!

Here they are getting into the van for a sled ride in the van down the driveway!! See the tops of the railroad ties on the right...um, yah, those aren't usually so close to the ground...there was a TON of snow!!

Here is what Brad and I called our sled run...we figured that if we slid we would just bounce off each side of the road! It was one giant sled run the whole way down the hill!

When you see this sign you know you are in for a bumpy/icy ride! This was on Big Bear Blvd...

Oh yeah...this was at noon!! 17 is cold for me!!

We had to keep stopping and adjusting or attempt to adjust the chains...they were very loud and annoying. Sometimes we would break into a song with the tune of the clacking chains!! hee hee

Brad was VERY proud of his chain action on our van!! Um...by the way, did I mention it was COLD?!

This was our road down the hill....blue sky, few snow showers and gorgeous views out every window! We got to see the gorgeous views for over 2 hours driving down the mountain!!

Ok..so this was a quick shot of the cars coming UP the hill. It was bumper to bumper the entire way up!! We just kept laughing at them...we could only imagine how long it took them to get up there!! Eish?! We were bummed that we didn't start counting them at the top...it would have been a VERY high number!!

This sign was the UNDERSTATEMENT of the year!!

This was taken in Angeles Oaks...which is about 20 minutes from home!! Crazy!!

After getting home and still having it only be 36 outside...the kids were able to open up one more Christmas present from Aunt Heather!! Yippee....thank you!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

Grammy led the way with prepping the cookies, hot chocolate and carrots for Santa and his reindeer! We enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve TRYING to get the kids to go to sleep! They were VERY excited for Christmas morning!

Grammy and Brody did the cookie selection for the big jolly man!

Brody was sooo excited!!

Uncle Scott was tracking Santa on NORAD and Brody was amazed!

Uncle Scott kept Brody updated on his location and let him know that Santa doesn't come until all children are sleeping. Brody asked if I would hide in the kitchen all night and try to get a picture of Santa for him!

Brody placed the cookies out for Santa...and even included a napkin!

Christmas morning FINALLY came and the kids opened their stockings first!

Brody got a wallet from Santa and Uncle Scott kept telling him to check to see if there is any money in it! hee hee.

Sammi showing us her princess bath fizzles!! Oooooh....ahhhh!

Finally the moment was here....to see if Santa brought them what they wished for!

Sammi wanted a pink stroller! Simple wish for a 3 year old!! Love that!

She was soooooooooooooo excited!!

Brody asked for Trick Tracks...and Santa delivered!!

Brody checking out his new track!!

Here is our Christmas morning breakfast....Uncle Scott's favorite!! Thanks Grammy!

Sammi was VERY anxious to start opening presents!!

Sammi opening her Wii Music game from Grandpa and Katsumi!!

Brody was all smiles in his pile of gifts!

Brody was all smiles opening his Shaun White Snowboarding Wii Game from Grammy and Pappy!

Uncle Scott LOVED the Skippy Jon Jones book that Sammi got!

Sammi was cheering for everybody with her new PomPoms!!

Gimme an S-A-M-M-I!!!

So Uncle Scott does NOT like video games...but for the sake of his nephew Brody, he joined in the Mario Kart fun!

Brody was LOVING Mario Kart!

Sammi had the best view in the house on Daddy's shoulders!

Daddy, Uncle Scott, Brody and Sammi all enjoyed a few games of Kerplunk before dinner!

Dinner....did someone mention dinner?? Daddy made his WONDERFUL Prime Rib dinner for us all to enjoy!

Uncle Scott had to leave right after dessert...so he was getting lots of love and hugs from Sammi and Brody before heading out into the Big Bear blizzard!

A little shaka for the camera!! Those kids love their Uncle Scott. Poor Uncle Scott never got to sit by an adult while at the table! The kids "called" the seats right next to him!!

Daddy showing us the powder on the driveway while helping Uncle Scott de-ice his car and try to get our before the snow got worse!!

So is Daddy helping Uncle Scott or just helping Mommy by smiling for more blog pics?! hee hee

Here are the "brothers" working on getting Uncle Scott our safely and ice free! We all waited in the house out of the wind and snow! Bye Uncle Scott!!