Christmas in Los Angeles

Ahhh...it was nice to see palm trees for Christmas! We had a truly wonderful trip back home to California to see all of my family. It was a last minute decision, but we're glad we decided to go! Nana hadn't seen Ben since he was 2 months old, so it was great to have her see him again. My family is really big into the dice game, Farkle... so...we played that and Five Crowns. My cousin Brooke and I and my Aunt had a blast making Lefse (A Norweigan bread we make and have been making for generations). The food was yummy and we laughed a lot. Ben was decorated like a Christmas tree by my Uncle Jerry - that was too funny. My mom's younger sister, Jae and I had a riot getting lost on our way (only 9 miles) to Trader Joes!! And then we couldn't get away from it! La Palma.....soooo......(ok, that's an inside joke that only her and I get!). Needless to say, the next time I go anywhere with her, I'm bringing my camelback with lots of water! It felt like that movie National Lampoons European Vacation.....Look kids, there's Big Ben.....Ah..there's Big Ben again! Look...Big Ben! On the 27th, we opened up goofy gifts and they were all too entertaining. The funniest was Jae with her "magic wand" granting people wishes.....brriiinnng.....or maybe it was when we all put on our heart-shaped sunglasses (or reindeer antlers). I don't know, it's a toss up. The day we left, we took Ben to the Discovery Science Museum in Santa Ana and then to the Rainforest Cafe next to Disneyland -- he really loved seeing the elephant and gorillas come to life! And then it was back to.....snow and ice. Need I say more??

The Mills Family being goofballs! Max's butt is hiding Mario!

Aunt Jackie, Me, Ben and Aunt Jae at Sunset Beach
Walking on Sunset Beach
Me, Aunt Jae, Nana, and cousin Brooke playing Farkle Jae, playing Five Crowns Jenny - Five Crowns Brooke and Auntie playing Five Crowns
Ben's introduction to Farkle (with the bouncy dice)
Me and Nana
Ben and Annie playing the saxophone and trumpet!
At Sunset Beach
Ben sitting just like cousin Russell
Hey, that slinky is pretty cool! Hey, I look like a Christmas tree! This is fun! Brooke, Jackie, and Jenny getting started with the Lefse
My cousin making those delicious cookies!!
Me and Auntie having fun reading Llama, Llama Red Pajama
Uncle Jerry letting me "ride" Max
Me and my cousins (Brooke and Kim) setting the table
Brooke and Kim goofing around
Ben and cousin Nick laughing
Ben on Uncle Jerry's motorcyle - he LOVED IT!

Uh, oh....

1...2...3

We've been doing our numbers with Ben lately along with colors and shapes. We started out counting to 10 and the other night I thought I'd see if Ben would count to 10 by himself. So I asked him, "Ben can you count to 10 by yourself?" I really wasn't expecting it, but he did it!! I told Mario and thought he probably wouldn't do a repeat performance, but he did it again! So he was able to hear it too. Anyway, exciting things around the Kuhn household! Can't believe tomorrow is 2009!!! Where did the year go?? HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! May it be healthy, prosperous, and peaceful!

Gingerbread Houses

Kristen, Lorena, Brandy, Lindsay, me, and Avery, attempting to make a gingerbread house!

The two houses - mine's missing its roof and kept falling apart!

We decided to do gingerbread houses yesterday. We had some of Ben's friend's over (and their parents too). So Avery, Jameson, and Lorena joined us in the fun. And boy, was it fun....we spent half the time trying to "glue" my house together, which had many broken pieces to begin with!! We laughed so hard - it was great fun. Brandy's and Lorena's turned out so good - if it were a competition, I'd lose for SURE! Then we sat around and ate some candy and talked for a while. At the end, Lorena taught Ben how to do a cartwheel. He followed her around like a shadow....one because she had candy and two because she was so grown up and cool. We had a game of hide-n-seek at the very end that even I got in on!! When it was our turn (Lorena, Ben and me) to hide, we picked a really good spot - our upstairs shower. And when she couldn't find us, she brought Mario in to help and they found us. But it was so much fun because the three of us were just sitting in the tub waiting and laughing!!! Ben loved all the excitement.

Flashback Friday

This was taken (May 2006) at the Reagan Museum in Simi Valley, California. It has spectacular views - it was amazing!

Ben, the Model

COLD.....Snap!!

Well, we've had our first real cold snap. It has been as low as negative (-22)!! Let me tell you, it ALWAYS shocks us!!!! I don't think we'll EVER get used to this stuff. So we have been bundling up, cranking up our pellet stove and trying to stay warm. It's supposed to stay like this for a bit, but we really can't wait until we get above zero!

Ben's First Sentence

Ok, so we're first time parents and this sort of stuff excites us! What can we say? Ben loves "Max and Ruby" on the channel Noggin. The other day, we were out to eat at Maple Garden and we told him he couldn't watch "Max" right now because he was "sleeping" - he then said "hees seeeping too" (he's sleeping too, I suppose). And he loves looking at the skunk in one of his books and saying "kunk, it kinks" - I'll translate...."skunk, it stinks". We thought this was hilarious!! Mario taught him the difference between soccer ball, basketball, and football. So he calls them "occer ball" "baketball" and he gets football pretty good. He's now into saying "C'mon" and he'll sing Fa la la la la with us. So cute! It's truly amazing how fast and how much they learn!!!

Movie Night

So we had one of our first movie and popcorn nights! As you can see, Ben loved it! He is into popcorn just as much as his daddy is!! And....he just HAD to have that Santa hat on while watching the movie!

Christmas Tree 2008

Our tree

Finishing up the lights

Ben helping me get more ornaments out
Putting a bell on the tree
Helping put the star on the tree

Hey, look, a pinecone!
I just LOVE this puppy!!

So we went to the Fair grounds and picked up our Christmas tree this past Saturday. Part of the proceeds goes to help children in some way, which we liked! They had a black lab there and Ben just loved him and kept following him around saying "puppy". Ben helped us decorate the tree once we brought it home. And now he won't leave the ornaments alone!! He keeps saying "onments"!! Can't quite get the "r" or the "a" in there.