Cardinals vs. Rams

I found tickets to the Cardinals/Rams game on CraigsList so we spent Sunday afternoon at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Jamie was so excited to go to "real" football game. It was really a meaningless games as both teams are out of playoff contention but, we still had fun. The Cardinals won 48-19 and Jamie had a great time celebrating each touchdown. He wasn't feeling very well, though, as he had a bad cough and seemed to running a slight fever. He was ready to leave at halftime but was just as happy to curl up in my lap and take a nap during the second half.

Arizona Christmas

Our flight was delayed by 1 1/2 hours and we didn't arrive in Phoenix until after 10:00pm on Friday. Jamie had such a great time on the plane, he colored in his new coloring book and entertained the other passengers with his excitement. He's been on planes before but this might be the first commercial airplane that he'll actually remember. It took at least another hour to get to the Casa in Mesa and we were exhausted! Julie's uncle John, aunt Jean and Elizabeth were also at the Casa when we arrived.

Jamie woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, ready to open yet more packages. I got my Cuttlebug, so life is good. (I knew about the Cuttlebug - it was what I told Bill I wanted and also what let him get away with the toilet seat he gave me on Christmas day.)

Plumbing Problems

We are staying at my mom's house in Rio Rancho, NM but she is actually in Mesa, AZ where we will be flying tomorrow night. After Bill's shower today, the toilets overflowed...not just a "normal" overflow, they were gushing and no amount of plunging would stop it. We finally had to turn off the water. I think we used up every towel my mom owns to clean up the mess! So, I called my cousin, Jimmy, who happens to own a plumbing business but he said that he didn't have the equipment to work on sewer drains and suggested another plumber to call. I called and they said they'd be here in a hour (which would've been an hour ago and I still haven't heard anything). Didn't really want to be stuck here all day but, at least my mom's wireless internet is working.

Albuquerque Christmas

The Thomas family met at Gram's last night to celebrate Christmas. We drove to Albuquerque yesterday afternoon and, since I hadn't heard from Esteban, I went shopping...found a great after Christmas sale at Target, they still had TONS of stuff left. So, Esteban called me at 6:30 wondering where we are and then realized that he never called me back to confirm the day. I felt bad because I know that everyone else made special plans to be there for us to visit with and exchange gifts (they did the big family get-together on Christmas day). We rushed over and had a good time visiting with Julie's family.

the cousin's kids
Brooke, Zack & Brandy (Becky's kids), Tyler & Daron (two of Chick's kids), Cruz & Xavier (Daron's kids - Chick's grandkids) and Jamie

Jamie's gift from his Aunt Bev & Uncle Steve is this cool toy called a galimoto. He brought it to Albuquerque from Alamosa and it was a HUGE hit with all of the cousins. Cruz loved it so much that it was hard to get it away from him at the end of the evening.

Jamie was excited that there were even more packages for him to open!

Winter Wonderland!

snowy front yard

snowy deck

snowy tree

another snowy tree in snowy backyard

snowy deck

The snow is so beautiful and an added bonus for Christmas Day! We are planning to drive to Albuquerque tomorrow so I hope it doesn't snow TOO much! I think the worst of this storm is to the north of us so we should be OK to travel south.

Community Christmas Dinner

We once again joined our friends, neighbors and other Alamosa community members for a Free Christmas Dinner at the American Legion. Jamie got another gift from Santa and we enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner and pumpkin pie.

It was snowing when we left and headed home...a beautiful white and snowy Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas 2007!

Scenes from Christmas Day at the Brooks' house...








































...games and books and toys for all!

a pirate ship and hot wheel track from Santa...

...his and his Bronco's jerseys...

...and what every girl wants, a toilet seat!

Jamie had fun playing with his cool new stuff!

Sledding

Jamie went sledding with Parker's family this afternoon and from the looks of the photos, they had a great time!
(Thanks for the photos, Lynn!)

Parker & Jamie

Parker

Jamie

all smiles

piggyback on Tony

We've been RAK'd!

We don't know who, but some kind soul came and plowed our driveway! We thought it was our neighbor, Don, but he said he didn't do it. So, I'll just throw a huge "thank you" out to the universe and hope that the person responsible feels our appreciation!

New Snow!

We woke up to six inches of new snow today so we are, of course, going swimming this afternoon! We love the Hooper Pool! With daytime temperatures in the teens, this snow isn't going anywhere. White Christmas!

Christmas Fun

These are the treat bags I made for Jamie to give to each of his classmates for Christmas.

The last day of school was a busy day. They watched the Evans Choir (4th and 5th graders), had a visit from Santa and their class party.

This is such a fun time of the year!

Toothless in Alamosa

Jamie noticed his first loose tooth back in October and it (and the one next to it) has grown more and more loose in the past month. Jamie was home from school today (no school for AM kindergarten) and I took a look inside his mouth. I used to work as a dental assistant so I guess I'm qualified to look in people's mouths, right? I noticed the permanent teeth breaking through Jamie's gums and told him that those teeth needed to come out soon. I tried to pull out the loosest one but Jamie complained that I was hurting him so I told him that he needed to work on it. A few minutes later, he ran through the living room to look in the mirror. He had pulled the tooth out...he was SO excited! He eventually worked the other one out, too, so he now has a nice gap in the lower front region of his mouth. He can now truly sing the song, "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".

This was after Jamie pulled the first tooth...you can see how loose the other one is, it's just hanging on by a thread.

This photo was after losing the second tooth...Jamie was so proud that he pulled them out all by himself. He has decided to take the teeth to school tomorrow and show his teacher and classmates. The tooth fairy will have to wait another day.

School Christmas Program

Jamie's kindergarten class had their Christmas program yesterday morning. Ms. Armenta, the PE/Music teacher, coordinated the program which included dancing and singing. Jamie's partner was Taylor and they were so cute together. (By the way, I think Jamie has a little crush on Taylor!)

This video is so cute! Unfortunately, I shot it in vertical orientation and haven't figured out how to rotate it. Lean your head to the left and enjoy the show. (If any tech-geek out there knows how I can rotate this, PLEASE let me know!)

EDIT 08/25/08 - figured out how to rotate video...woo-hoo!

After the dancing, the kids stood on the risers and sang a few Christmas songs. Jamie had been practicing them at home for the past few weeks and it was fun to see the full production.

singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" with Ms. Armenta on guitar

Parker gave the performance "two thumbs up"!