Boxing Day with The Beltrans

The day after Christmas Gerald's family came over to our house for lunch and presents. Gerald cooked pork adobo and chicken tinola; Izzy & I fried-up lumpia that Auntie Nila made; Apollo made siopao (my FAVORITE!) and spareribs; and Celerina brought pansit; and then to top it all off, Marie brought a platter of homemade cookies for dessert - it as quite a feast and a nice way to finish off the holiday festivities. Here are a few photos from our day...

Izzy & Cousin Alex had a blast playing together - they bounced around the house and played with Izzy's kitchen. One of the cutest things that happened was when Alex went off to play while the rest of us finished eating - Izzy said "Alex, where are you?" in a cute half-understandable voice - it was so adorable we all got a good laugh over it!

Christmas Day in West Seattle

We headed over to West Seattle for the rest of Christmas Day - brunch, dinner, and present opening. Izzy was a bit overwhelmed by the day and was a bit crabby by the afternoon, but it was still a nice day. Of course, she got in on the present opening action ... for just about everyone!! There's a cute video of Mark & Izzy opening his big box that had a nice coat from Kristi & Heather inside...

handing out gifts

stalling with a book

it's a long story...

more kitchen accessories from Auntie Heather!

settling in for a long winter's nap...

Izzy helping Uncle Mark with his unwrapping

Christmas Morning

Christmas this year was truly fun - it brought me back to when we were younger and we couldn't wait for Santa to arrive. This year Izzy didn't have the anticipation because she didn't really understand the whole Santa thing, but Gerald and I sure did! We stayed up late getting everything ready and were both up early for Izzy's big reveal. Gerald and a groggy Izzy came down the steps and before there was even time for a morning snack, Izzy was playing with her kitchen and "cooking" food for us. She loves the new kitchen that Santa brought her!


Of course she got a TON of other gifts too - so much so that we spread present opening over several days - she could only handle so much at one time. After breakfast on Christmas morning, we opened her new set of Pixar books and read a few stories - Cars, The Incredibles, etc. That's going to be a set of books that Mom & Dad like as much as Izzy does! ;-)


Izzy got in on the action unwrapping Gerald & my gifts too - she really loves to rip-off the wrapping paper. By the end of the long weekend, she was a pro! Come March when she turns 2, we won't even have to tell her what to do!

Gerald's new Keurig Coffee Machine...

It was a "very electronic Christmas" for me - a new Kindle and an iPod iTouch - Gerald spoiled me and I was so excited - as you can see...

KinderMusik at Seattle Symphony

On Saturday morning, Gerald, Izzy, and my Mom went to Benaroya Hall for Izzy's first music performance. It was short and sweet, but it was fun. They played and sang holiday music for the kids who all got to be as loud and rambunctious as they wanted to be! Before hand we had a snack and played with instruments in the lobby. Izzy got to try playing a small violin - it was so cute, but we didn't get a photo. Grandma bought Izzy two new ornaments that she was excited to hang on the tree when we got home!

Gingerbread House

Izzy and I built a gingerbread house last Sunday. Gerald was the photographer. It actually turned out pretty good and Izzy was very patient and really helped out. She put almost all of the gumdrops on the roof and helped to put all the small balls and sprinkles on as well. It was fun!

Wight's Nursery

Izzy and I went to Wight's with Heather and her boyfriend Brian last weekend. We wanted to do some thing to get us in the Christmas spirit, but didn't want to deal with big crowds so this was the perfect compromise. We had fun and got to meet Brian for the first time too! It was a fun afternoon...

Izzy with her new reindeer from Auntie Heather (aka Antler)

Heather & Izzy with the "bubble tree"


A terrible photo of me - but cute of Heather!


Heather & Brian

Heather & Brian by the "You Better Not Pout" Tree

Sunday lunch, dinner, and a show!

Gerald, Izzy, and Grandma & Grandpa had brunch at Alki Cafe and then did a little shopping at Starbucks. Afterwards was the Santa photo shoot (see other post for those photos), and then Gerald and I headed down to Benaroya Hall for Seattle Men's Chorus's Santa Baby show - it was great and there are still tickets available!! Afterwards we headed back to West Seattle so pick-up Izzy and we had a quick pizza dinner and then headed home. Izzy passed a bit of time before dinner playing the piano - we just had to get some photos. A piano protege in the making, I'm sure!