Santa's Lap

Yesterday, we took the girls to sit on Santa's lap for the picture that every family MUST have in their album. The pictures speak for themselves. The girls were terrified. My favorite is the one where Rosie is looking at Lucy for reassurance. Erin said that it's like she's saying, "You don't trust this guy either??"
Maybe next year!!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I am going to do it anyway. I LOVE the way that my house looks at Christmas. I'm very grateful that I get to be in charge of the inside decor, and don't have to be involved in hanging the outside lights. I watch Ron outside hanging them every year, and it confirms his incredible wealth of patience. Anyway, back to my decorations... I have the perfect spot for our Nativity that we got for a wedding present. I put it up on top of our entertainment center, and there just happens to be 1 track light that makes the whole thing glow. It's conveniently out of reach of Little Miss R, although, she is not to blame for the serious devastation that has already been experienced by the scene. Somewhere along the way, probably in one of our moves, a Wise Man (I think he was carrying the Frankincense) took a tumble and lost his hands and the gift that he was bearing for the Christ child. Now, we have The 3 Wise Men: one carrying Myhr, one carrying Gold, and one that we affectionately refer to as Stubbs. Rosie received her very own "durable" Nativity set from my mom. It's fit to carry around, drop, and chew on. It's perfect for her. I have these wonderful stockings that my Nana Bordeaux knit. She knit mine way back in 1980, and has knit one for every new member of the family. Rosie received hers last year. We hang our stockings by the chimney with care on the mantel piece that my dad made, and my mom routed. It's beautiful, and matches the one that was hanging in our house in Oakhurst, where I grew up. Our tree, this year, is quite large. Ron had to talk me into it, but once we got it up and put lights on it, I am glad that we went with the taller choice. It's gorgeous. 2 of my favorite parts of the tree this year are the Rafia heart tree topper that was from Ron's tree growing up, and the tree skirt that my Nana Bordeaux made. Take a look!

Did You Know?

Every year, I try hard to protect December..... and every year it gets busier and busier. After arriving home from our fabulous Thanksgiving in Arizona on Sunday night, we hit the ground running on Monday morning, and have not stopped. I will share with you some of the highlights from the last few weeks: We had an amazing Thanksgiving. There were 20 Eckerts in all who gathered in Flagstaff, Arizona. Every second of it was fun. We went to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, laughed tons, ate delicious meals prepared by my amazing sister in laws, Gayle and Ruth, laughed more, talked, and reminisced. I love it when Ron gets together with his brothers. He laughs harder with them than with anyone else. Each family (there are 5) is uniquely different and special. This year happened to be Dave's 50th Birthday, and we got to celebrate in style with Bison Burgers and a clown... no, really, there was a clown. She made special balloon hats for each person, according to their personality. Our family was no exception. Rosie had a flower hat, with a baby pink Poodle to hold. I was the mama pink Poodle, and Ron was a pirate. We had so much fun. Rosie is the 10th Eckert cousin. As you can imagine, her feet hardly touched the floor. She had a great time with her cousins.

I had Learning Record meetings last week, and then watched Lucy on Thursday and Friday so that Erin could meet with her families. Yes, for those of you who don't know... Erin and I work for the same school, and get to share childcare... It's AWESOME! During the weekend, we were invited to the annual Harvest Dinner hosted by our friends, Daren, Danny, and Carrie. Carrie and Daren are incredible cooks and great friends, and it is always an enjoyable time . On Friday and Saturday night, we hosted some of our favorite YSSC staff, took 70 YSSC kids to Disneyland, and collapsed on Sunday. Whew! Sunday night I went to Arrowhead for some time away with the precious gals that I lived with at Westmont. We hardly left the house with all of the talking, laughing, lounging, and snacking that we did. It was perfect!

So now, I am back to the grind, if you can call it that. We have our tree and decorations up, and are relishing in the blessings that God brings us. We are so incredibly blessed!

Rosie packed the essentials and was ready to go to Arizona.

The Birthday Boy, looking less than enthused!

The Eckert Family Thanksgiving

Rosie and Ron enjoy lunch at the Grand Canyon

Rosie held down the fort in style while mom was away!






I wish I had more pictures to show, but have not yet figured out how to download from Ron's "Fancy" Camera... you'll have to settle for my little Canon Powershot!

Sell crazy somewhere else......

Today when I was running along the beach trail, everyone that I passed seemed to be laughing at me. I was confused... although I do tend to run like Phoebe from Friends. When I got home I realized why we were the laughing- stock of the road.... Rosie's little feet were sticking out from under the sunshade of the jogger and she was WEARING TWO DIFFERENT SHOES. Her little mismatched Mary Janes were the only thing that people could see as we passed by. This leads me to my next pondering.... is it that Rosie is SO brilliant at 15 months that she can put on her own shoes, or is it that I am SO crazy that I put 2 different shoes on my daughter's feet? Although she's bright, I do believe it is the latter.

Catch Up!

It has been too long since I posted new pictures. For those of you who await anxiously for new images of Little Munchkin, I apologize. We have had an eventful few weeks. She celebrated Halloween as a monkey. She was the cutest monkey you have ever seen. I chose the costume entirely based on the fact that since our Midwest trip, if asked, "Rosie, how about those monkeys?" She will waive her tiny little index finger at you and say, "NO NO!"
In a moment of car-riding-desperation (those of you with little ones know EXACTLY what I am talking about) Rosie's Mimi started saying the No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed rhyme.... and it really stuck! Needless to say, she just HAD to be a monkey this year. We enjoyed chili and cornbread and walked around the neighborhood together.... me as Minnesota and Ron as Dr. Dean Bordeaux, MD. We had a great time. Rosie trick-or treated at our friend's house... and clutched her little package of Starburst the whole way home. She did not get to eat it. Maybe next year.

Flashdance Baby

Who dressed this kid?

Jackson Hole

At the beginning of the month, we had the opportunity to travel with our friends, Dylan and Catherine Wade, to Catherine's house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We were all craving Fall weather with the perpetual Summer temps that we experience in San Clemente. What we got, however, was WINTER! It snowed like crazy for 2 full days. We had so much fun taking in the sights of Jackson, celebrating Catherine's birthday, enjoying the AMAZING Pisano lodge and even more amazing Pisano hospitality, reading, relaxing, and being together.


The view from the front deck




"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowgirls!"


Jenny Lake

NOT a snow bunny!



We were all very comfortable!

Rosie enjoys incredible views from the bath!

The Little Pumpkin

Rosie visited a pumpkin patch and had a great time picking one to take home. There were all just about as big as she was, so Daddy had to carry hers. We also met a very nice kitty named Shadow.

More Midwest!

Rosie had so much fun visiting her cousins. She even got to take pictures with the handsome boys before Homecoming!