Lights of San Francisco
Last Sunday we headed to San Francisco to tour the city and see some Christmas lights on a cable car. This was highly recommended by some friends, so we met the Williams and headed to San Fran. We were going to have an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, but it was really busy and the wait was 2 hours! Seemed strange since it wasn’t even dinner time (3:30). It was crazy busy in the city, people and cars everywhere and we were quickly reminded why we don’t live in the city and hardy ever make the trip! I guess it is fun once in awhile. We managed to get a quick bite at a burger place and barely made it to the bus on time. It was a cold evening and much of the seating was outside, so it was good we bundled up and brought blankets. The girls were screaming every time we went down a hill and were really enjoying themselves. They were playing Christmas music and there were lots of lights for the first 10 minutes. Then, our driver must have gotten lost because it became a tour of San Francisco without any lights to see and it wasn’t even a very interesting tour, especially for children. Reggie kept asking where the lights were and after about the first 25 minutes the kids were bored. Thankfully, about an hour in, we got to stop at the Fairmont Hotel to see the biggest Gingerbread house in the US. We walked right through it and Laura didn’t even realize it. So much for that! The tour was about an hour and a half and we were ready to go find some hot chocolate. It was 7:30 and Starbucks was packed. We had a nice view of the ice rink and lights and the kids enjoyed their cookies and cocoa.

Poor Reggie....surrounded by girls. Someday, he'll love it!

Christmas Performance
Ainsley had her Christmas performance tonight and what a difference a year makes!!! No more Agnes face link!!! She actually sung the songs, did the sign language and was really enjoying herself and it was so fun to watch.

Last year...Agnes:

This year:

We found out a couple days ago that Ainsley was invited to pre-team. She is very excited about it and loves learning new stuff. She had only 1 other child in her class today and the teacher did all kinds of new things with them and she had the biggest grin on her face. Here she is practicing her round off (that she taught herself) and split jump. Click link to see video: http://arrtwade.blogspot.com/.

Everyone is very excited to head to Washington....only 2 days left....the kids have been counting down for a couple weeks! We will see many of you very soon....

Gymnastics Program

Last Sat. was Ainsley’s gymnastics performance. They have been practicing a routine for several weeks and she did awesome. Ryan got so caught up in watching that he forgot to record…oh well. I’m sure she will want to be in a performance again. For as quiet and reserved as she is, she absolutely loves it! They gave her a medal and she is telling everyone that she won :o). They had a surprise guest, Carly Patterson, the 2004 Olympic all-around champion. She was promoting the Olympic trials next year in San Jose, which we are planning on going to!!!

Ainsley tried out for pre-team last Wed. and skill wise, she is right on target. Her attention span and listening skills might need to mature a bit as she was watching the older girls and had to be prompted at least once to do what she needed. We’ll find out next week if she made it and what the commitment is.

New car
I’ve been thinking about upgrading for quite some time….my car was getting up there in miles and I’ve been wanting an 8 seater. When you start looking, you are bound to find something! Ryan drove a 2005 Odyssey with 5500 miles and loved it. He said it was basically brand new, but the price was too high. He walked, but they called us back a few days later and we came to an agreement! He was right…it is so nice. We’ve never spent that much on a car, but it was worth it! This morning Ryan had his men’s breakfast at church and I heard my car start….he was stealing my minivan!!! It is fun to drive :o).
Poor guy isn’t enjoying his Prius at all. After the first of the year, we’ll work on that. He has driven several cars and it looks like he’s settled on a Nissan Altima Hybrid.
We sold my car on Craigslist in a couple days. The guy picked it up the same day ours got delivered :o). People are super interested in low mileage (which it had for its age), which is a good confirmation for the car we just bought. It was a bit stressful with Ryan working and me having to do the paperwork and go to the bank and juggle the kids. Thank God for friends!

Birthday Party
Reggie’s party was on Sat. and it went really well. Glad we had the new Honda because we had 6 kids! We went to see Arthur Christmas and then out for ice cream. The movie was really cute and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was the most low stress party we’ve ever had. 5 boys was a little much, but thankfully, they were pretty well-behaved, just a little loud!
Reggie and Colin:

Ainsley enjoying all the boys! We're gonna be in trouble...... Reggie and Tyler

8!!!

Our little Reggie is not so little anymore. 8 years old….sounds weird to say we have an eight year old. Wasn’t he 4 just the other day??? He had a very happy birthday week. The presents started the week of Thanksgiving when the Wade’s were here and will continue into next week at his Birthday party. We went to his favorite birthday place, Red Robin where he opened his Nintendo DS and games. Let’s just say, we haven’t seen the whites of his eyes in awhile. To our surprise, little Ainsley wants a DS and has been causing quite the stink. Life lessons of a 5 year old.

Reggie lives for toys and has been thinking about them in class, at night and up at 5 a.m. to play with his new Beyblades and DS. His best friend, Colin, is the exact same way…they just chatter back and forth about this toy and that toy. I wonder at what age that will change. For now, I guess it is good he still wants to be a kid.

The actual morning of his Birthday, Ryan gave him a treasure hunt. This has become a yearly tradition and Reggie remembered from last year and asked for it again. So, he went through my stash of presents and found some small gifts and then Ryan stayed home from work that morning to make him some pancakes. Lots of gifts, good food, and early mornings last week during Reggie's B-day week.

The Things we Love about Reggie:

His loving and caring heart

His Love for his Grandparents

His smile with that one tooth

His persistency

His calm Spirit

His creative mind

His playful heart and soul

His love for his Mommy, Daddy, and Sister

His love for life

Favorite toy: Nintendo DS

Favorite food: Mac n' cheese and ice cream

Favorite movie: Star Wars

Favorite place to visit: Grandma and Grandpa's house

Favorite animal: Blue Whale

Favorite subject in school: Science

Favorite sport: Swimming!

Favorite friend: Colin

Favorite car: Camaro (because of Bumblebee)

Reggie's stats: Height-53 inches (size 8-10 clothes) Weight-64 lbs (solid muscle!) Shoe size-2 (small feet for his size).

*Something we learned about Reggie this year is that he is severly color blind.