San Francisco Day

The day after Christmas we drove into San Francisco proper and all the way out to the pier. It was quite cold (colder than in Colorado we later found out) and so Jeremiah was especially well bundled.

The first thing we went to see were the seals that sun themselves out on the docks during the day. They are still migrating so there weren't very many there but Jeremiah thought they were pretty cool.

The island in the background is Alcatraz. We didn't visit the island this time, but in a few years, Jeremiah would probably really like it.

Since it was almost mommy's birthday, we stopped at one of the shops and she and Jeremiah picked out a pearl from a fresh oyster. It is a really unique steel blue color. We had it mounted in a ring. Sadly, the ring post that the pearl was mounted on broke off shortly after she was allowed to wear it. We found the pearl but we now have to ship it back to the manufacturer in Hawaii to get it fixed. There's no guarantee we'll get the exact same pearl back. Very sad.

We stopped for lunch at the Boudin sourdough bread bakery. The line was rather long so Jacob entertained Jeremiah by lofting him atop his 6'5 or so frame.

And by offering his glasses.

Our final stop was at Ghirardelli's World Famous Chocolate Shop. We all had sundaes and Jeremiah tried his first maraschino cherry. Which he also loved. Along with more whip cream.

Even though we were really tired by then, I think everyone had a great time. I'll let you be the judge from their expressions though.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning and it was time to open stockings! Jeremiah's stocking was nearly five feet long ... and full. Inside was his very first Cabbage Patch Doll and accompanying stroller that is almost the exact same model as mommy's.

After church we drove over to Great Grandma Doris' home where they met for the first time and then opened more presents! (This is a 4 generation photo).

From there we drove together over to Great Grandma Lorraine's. Jeremiah sat next to Great Grandma Doris during the ride and held her finger the entire time. They enjoyed chatting as well.

We soon sat down for Christmas dinner (which was quite a small number of people by my family's standards) but certainly no less tasty. Particularly Uncle Neal's famed deep-fried turkey. Mmmmmmmm, turkey.


After dinner it was naptime. Note Uncle Jacob in the background. This was his idea of *cough* helping to clear the table.

After dinner it was time for -- more presents!

Jeremiah was more interested in playing with the purple bow on the present than opening it. So I took the bow from him and stuck it on my head. He found this hilarious and promptly ripped it off as it did NOT belong there.

It also did not belong on Uncle Matthew's head.

After dinner, nap, and presents came dessert. I don't know who, but someone might have given him whipped topping, and he might have found it to be absolutely delicious.

Christmas Eve

Because of ticket prices we actually flew out to California on Christmas Eve morning. Like 8 am morning. (Thanks to my sister for driving us out to the airport at 6 am). Jeremiah was still in sleep mode, so he put himself back to sleep singing his favorite song: "Itsy-bitsy spider". He does the hand-motions himself. It's usually his sign he's ready for a nap.

We dressed up for Christmas Eve service and had a family picture taken before we left. Cassaundra sang "O Holy Night" at the service, which is something of a tradition for her family. New this year was Jeremiah flipping out seeing her at the front of the church and deciding to start singing with her. Or at least making LOUD NOISES while she sang. Also note the Christmas tree in the background. Every one of those ornaments is Peanuts-related.

After Christmas Eve we opened presents with immediate family and boy did Jeremiah have a lot. Even though this is the 5th time he'd opened presents, he still spent as much time playing with the wrapping as the toys.

Colorado - 4 Christmases and a Hanukkah

This was Jeremiah's first Christmas and what a busy month of December it was! He celebrated no less than 4 Christmas parties and a Hanukkah party on top of that. That was all before we even left for California on Christmas Eve!

The first party was a children's Christmas Party where I work at ISI.

Cassie dressed him up as mini-Santa and she went as a reindeer.














This was Jeremiah's first time to see a "real Santa". As you can tell, he didn't much care for the big man.














However, Santa did have a present for him, which he was very excited about. That was without even knowing he could open it.



















Inside was his very first walker. He thought it was great and so did all of the other kids that were under 2 years old. Pretty soon they were all taking turns stealing it from one another. Continuing the costume theme from earlier, you can sort of tell that I dressed up with my Grinch shirt.















Jeremiah's cousins also came. He actually gets along with them really well, photo evidence to the contrary.















Shiny!















On to party number two! This was more of an "adult" one as we continued our 2nd annual Crab Legs for Christmas party with some friends. This year we added cheese fondue to the mix which was considered a must-have for next year. Jeremiah was quite comfy hanging with one of his "girlfriends".















The third party was with my family. Originally we had planned to go to the North Pole, an amusement park for little children which is at the base of Pike's Peak. Because of zero degree weather, we instead went to ITz which is kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese... on crack.















Jeremiah preferred to look at the rides over actually riding them.















His fourth Christmas was just with mommy, daddy, and him. His stocking was full and nearly as big as him!















He also got his very own fire truck that he can push around for now, but should be able to ride as well in a few months. It makes lovely fire engine noises and sings a song. Would someone remind me next year to ban toys that make noise? :-)




















The final party was a Hanukkah one with more friends. We ate homemade latkas (fried potato pancakes) which were really good. Jeremiah especially liked the sweet potato ones. He also wore "dreidel" ears. I don't know if that's considered orthodox.

















So that's it for this post! I'm still working on putting together the California posts. There's a lot of pictures and stories to share! Check back soon.