Chicago trip

This year we went to Chicago for Christmas to see all of the Abril family. It was the first time, since I was a teenager, that I spent Christmas with my dad and family (only the third time EVER). It was also the first time that my extended family got to meet Zoe. Here are some pictures on the airplane at 6AM leaving from CA to IL. We all look tired because we got up at 3.30AM to get to the airport on time...(seemed like a good idea when we were booking our airline tickets)...

It was also the first time Zoe and Ethan would see snow. We were expecting a lot of snow - in fact, we were worried that we wouldn't know how to deal with the cold weather (because we Californians aren't used to anything below..say a freezing 50 degrees). The day we arrived, there was a little bit of snow. There was enough snow to cover the ground but not enough to really make a snowman, which we figured we could do later in the week. We played a little bit and had a mini-snow ball fight. Ethan really started to get into it and we assured him that we'd go sledding and make a snowman and snow angels later in the week when there was more snow.

Unfortunately, it rained a couple days later and all the snow melted away. The weather was mild - about 40-50 degrees (except one day, it was 17% and WINDY). So there was no more snow while we were there. We all had hoped it would snow but no such luck. Ironically, it snowed the day we left...7 inches, in fact!!! Guess we brought the mild California weather with us and took it back when we left. Ethan was pretty disappointed but still had a good time. We did get to play in the snow for a little while the next day and even made a very mini-mini snowman.

On that very cold day (the day it was 17%), John and my brothers decided to go snow boarding on artificial snow. They had a blast though. In fact, they went the next day too. The kids and I watched for a little while from the car but there wasn't any place for us to play so we went home.

Here are a couple pictures of us at Wilma's Cafe, a restaurant owned by my aunt and uncle. Even our waiter was my cousin, Michael (great service by the way)! Its always one of our favorite spots when we visit my dad.

We also went to Enchanted Castle, which is fun place similar to Chuck E Cheese - where they have rides and games and food, perfect for kid's birthday parties. We initially went there to entertain the kids, but I think we all had fun. Tita Aida, Jason, John and I continuously played Deal or No Deal which was so much fun, very similar to gambling. The kids went on rides and won prizes. John even got a 'special' coin which allowed one of us to go inside a booth that had a bunch of 'money' flying around. The object of the game is to collect as much 'money' as you can and put it in a little mail slot for a certain amount of time. And then the 'money' is redeemable for tickets. Jason was the one who stepped into the booth and WON hundreds of extra tickets for Ethan and Zoe. It was fun!!

Here is Zoe's model pose:
Here is mine! Hers is definitely cuter. Actually, in this picture, both of us were supposed to be doing the model pose. But she tricked me, only I'm doing it. Trying to learn from the best, I guess!!


More to come...

Getting ready for Christmas

This was the first year that Ethan helped select and decorate the tree. As you can see, Ethan has his Spider-Man ornament too. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without a Spider-Man ornament, right? Zoe and John even did a little decorating. Suprisingly, Zoe didn't really mess with the decorations. She didn't really even try to open the presents either.

Each year, another tradition is to decorate a gingerbread house. We've done one since Ethan was born and both of the kids had a lot of fun doing it this year.

As you can see, Zoe is showing off her new smile. She has creatively come up with several new smiles in the past few weeks. She used to just squint her eyes and smile but now she does stuff with her nose too. I'll post those pictures later.

Ethan's holday program

Last night, Ethan had his annual holiday program at school. Last year he was an elf and this year he was a reindeer. He sang all the songs and knew all the words. He even did the dances that the teachers had taught them. It was adorable. He sang:

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Must be Santa

Jingle Bells

Rodulph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Here are a few pictures and a couple videos for the folks who could not make it to the performance.

Ethan's buddy Anjali was a goose.

November 2007

Hi again! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Here are some recent pictures of the holiday weekend. None of the guys really wanted to take pictures - oh well! We had fun though - we ate a ton of food and played board games and the Nintendo Wii.























We also went to Christmas in the park with Mai-An and Christine. Christine and I grew up together - you may have seen some of her pictures posted here. And Mai-An and Zoe were born just a few apart so it has been neat to see them grow up together.



























Here are a few more pictures of Zoe and Ethan and a short video of the kids dancing. As most of you probably know, I love to dance so its fun to see the kids enjoying one of my favorite things!

All grown up

Over the past weekend, we found this really cool software that can show you how you'll look 20 years later. It was so cool. You put in a current picture and then answer some questions, like - how old you are in the picture and DOB etc. You also have to describe some of your eating habits, sleep habits, exercise regime, and also answer some questions about heredity. After going thru a 20 minute Q&A session, it spits out a picture which shows you how you'll look in 20 years. Its amazing! We did one for Ethan and one for Zoe. Both pictures were so realistic. I think the most astonishing was Zoe's picture. Most people already think she looks like John, but after these results, I'm definitely convinced - they are practically twins! Even Ethan's picture, looks a lot less like me and so much more like John. Check it out:
































Hahahaha - Gotcha!

Halloween 2007

Halloween was fun. A little spooky and a little cooky! Check out the pumpkins we carved. Ethan helped mommy clean out the pumpkins. Daddy did all of the pumpkin carving!

Ta Da!!!! You can tell we got tired of carving because we only carved two of the three pumkins!

Batman pumpkin

Spider pumpkin

Most people weren't surprised to find out that Ethan was going to be Spiderman for Halloween. He was so excited to try on his costume. He has waited weeks - we bought the costume early so he has been admiring since we bought it.

Here he is still Peter Parker...

Now he is SPIDERMAN!

Spiderman and Wonderwoman...are they the new dynamic duo?

Even Zoe enjoyed getting dressed up. Once she saw her Kuya in her costume, she was excited to be ... Wonderwoman!


Trick or Treat!

Zoe and Grandpa trying to get in on that candy!

Isabelle and Ethan hoping to get lots of candy...

Grandma Del's birthday

We celebrated Grandma Del's birthday (my mom) on Sunday, Oct 28 at PF Chang's for lunch. The food was delicious (evidenced by the picture of Zoe licking her plate clean below). Most of us were feeling sick that day but we had a lot of fun watching the kids act silly (see Ethan's picture with Kix cereal in his nose, and John's goofy picture face).

See the Kix in his nostril? What a crazy kid! I wonder who he gets that from..me or John?

Can you tell Zoe liked the food too?