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!

Grandpa Santa

My Dad has dressed up as Santa on and off for many years, but last year was the start of a new tradition: Grandpa Santa photos! Izzy sported her new Christmas dress as she played with her Little People Nativity set that Grandma gave her and then the fun began... enjoy!

The Village

Gerald and I started collecting Department 56 Christmas in the City houses 5 years ago. We said that we would buy a new house every year. 5 years later we have 10 houses .... I guess we didn't stick to our original plan! Well Gerald creates a masterpiece on the mantle every year and he spent Saturday evening building the village. Here are a few photos. On Sunday morning when Izzy woke up and got to see it, she was in awe. Oh ... it's going to be a fun Christmas!

This year's addition is a piano sales store. It was a new release this year and we thought it fitting since I play piano!

Black Friday

Our version of Black Friday wasn't shopping (OK - I admit that I tried to go to Target at 7:45 am which was a HUGE mistake because it took me 30 minutes to get up the hill and once I got into the store I walked out immediately because the line was so long!). We decorated the house for Christmas instead!

While Gerald was out riding his motorcycle, Izzy and I ate cookies while I made an eggnog latte - yummy!

We traded out the Halloween decorations for the Christmas ones - Izzy was willing to part with her Halloween Starbucks bears in return for the Christmas ones - there they are spread out all over the floor while she dances in joy. Oh she loves the bears!

Later after the frost had melted, Izzy and I went outside to join Gerald who was hanging the Christmas lights.

We got in a bit of bike riding...


... as well as a bit of garden clean-up

And then it was back inside the house for lunch & nap. While Izzy was snoozing, I finished the tree.

This was my gift from Gerald's trip to Germany in September - we got it working and you can see that it is spinning from the heat of the candles. Pretty cool!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very relaxed day on Thanksgiving at The Beltran house in Bremerton. Gerald pulled out his childhood toys ("they're classics!") and shared with Alex who is very into Transformers, Star Wars, etc. right now. It was pretty cute to see the boys playing - though I'd have to admit it was more Gerald playing and Alex observing ;-).

The girls kicked around in the living room watching a Cake Boss marathon - that show is so addictive! Izzy got in on the boys' toy action and played with a bird of some kind. Later Alex helped her build her train track and Izzy gulped down Marie's bottle of water. Low key and relaxing ... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sunday in Bremerton

On Sunday I had stamp club, so Gerald took Izzy over to see Lolo and Lola in Bremerton. Marie, Larry, Alex, and Auntie Nila were there as well so they got a chance to visit with the whole family. Reports are that Izzy was very well behaved and she loved the food - as you can see from the photo of her devouring a lumpia upon arrival. She did lots of reading with Marie and Alex.

The Burke Museum

Last Saturday Sellen hosted a free event for families at The Burke Museum, so I took Izzy and my nephew Alex with me. Alex was very well behaved and acted like a responsible big brother when it came to working with Izzy. He held her hand and helped her look at different animals, etc. When he'd venture to do bigger kid things, Izzy would follow along and try to join him. It resulted in frustration for her a few times because she couldn't do things by herself like he could, but it was really cute to watch.