more Christmas

I took some video of Christmas morning, but I guess I didn't take any pictures so here is what I can remember.

This was a Christmas full of surprises. Santa surprised the boys (and me) with a pet guinea pig. When Wesley saw the cage he said, "Bunny!" Bunny almost became her name but the boys decided to keep her previous name of Coco. (Santa found her on Craigslist from someone who needed to find another home for her.) Ben has done a good job of being the main one responsible for her, keeping her fed and cleaning her cage. She poops a lot and is kind of shy and antisocial as far as guinea pigs go, but so far a pretty easy pet.

Another surprise for the boys (and me) was a pellet gun. Cue the "you'll shoot your eye out" comments. We have managed to keep all our eyes so far.

Another big hit of the day was the wii from Uncle Josh. No surprise that it would be a hit. And after my first games of tennis and bowling, my shoulder was sore for a couple days.

The best reaction of the morning came from Charlie, who was beyond excited to get his very own umbrella. He had asked for one months earlier, and somehow I remembered and found one for him. Luckily it was something he still wanted.

Wesley spent a lot of time playing with his toy broom set. I can't complain about that.

After giving Ryan a wimpy little shop vac for his birthday, I got him a real one for Christmas. It was a very practical gift but one that we use almost daily with all the dusty home improvement projects.

Ryan gave me tickets to Iris, a Cirque de Soleil show playing at the Kodak theater in Hollywood. We went in January and loved it.

We also went to Knotts Berry Farm a couple days after Christmas, making use of some of the complimentary tickets Ryan gets for doing the news. We had gone to Legoland in November and had by far the best experience we'd ever had at a theme park. We weren't as lucky at Knotts. It was one of the busiest days of the year and after spending two hours in line for one ride, we decided to stick to the shows. We saw the wild west show and Snoopy on Ice, which made the trip worth it. We did not, however, see even one berry.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve when we went to Ryan's parents and had a family talent show, and the kids all helped perform the nativity at Grandma Orme's house.

Ryan, his dad and brother doing their version of the Three Tenors.

Ben riding a camel.

Rudolph.

Jingle Bells