Christmas in California

Ronnie and Lauri arrived in California on Friday - and promptly went out for Mexican food with Maama and Momo! Doug arrived the next day, and we had dinner on the boat with Nonnie and Pa. On Sunday, we went to see "Chronicles of Narnia" and headed to Sonoma to the school where Maama works. They were hosting a Christmas dinner / fund raiser for the Catholic Church. Santa was there, and the Men's League served dinner. On Monday, Maama and Momo watched Ronnie while Lauri and Doug worked from Doug's Davis, CA office. That night, we went to Stevie and Lizzy's house for dinner and the cousins had a blast playing together!!! Tuesday, we went with Poppy and Grandma to the movies.. then had Steve, Lizzy, Lainey and Vinny over for a Christmas celebration. We had a lot of fun. The next day we hung out with Poppy and Grandma in Walnut Creek - eating lunch at my favorite place, the Buckhorn Grill, then watching a movie at the house. It was great getting the chance to visit!!!

Ronnie writing a letter to Santa at the Christmas dinner at Maama's school.

Ronnie's letter to Santa - "Santa, I want to give you cookies and milk. Love Ronnie"

Maama and Momo

Nonnie and Pa

The cousins! Lainey Lou, Ronnie and Vinny Bobarino!

Vinny with his "Woody" jammies.. what a cutie!

The kids with their Pillow Pets.... it' a pillow, it's a pet, it's a Pillow Pet!

My sweet Lainey Lou - with her cupcake necklace in a cupcake box.

Poppy, Ronnie and Grandma.

The Christmas Wine Train

You gotta LOVE California... only there can you take a train ride through the wine country that is Santa-themed for the kids! Maama and Momo treated us to the breakfast train ride. Ronnie got to sit on Santa's lap before we met. We then boarded the train, ordered breakfast (with wine) and headed from Napa to St Helena. We had a GREAT time!

The Wine Train...

Ronnie, Doug, Maama and Momo - ready to board the train.

On the train - Ronnie, Lauri, Maama and Momo

Maama accidentally tried stirring her cocktail with Ronnie's crayon... We laughed pretty hard!

The bear gave Ronnie knuckes and a high-five. He thought that was pretty cool!

Ronnie and Rudolph. When we saw him walking down the aisle we broke out in to a chorus of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" - we had the whole train car singing!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Eve at Nonnie and Pa's house in Santa Rosa. The crew included Nonnie, Pa, Maama, Momo, the Shakopee Dahlbergs, Steve, Lizzy, Lainey, Vinny, John and Gio. We had dinner, a visit from Santa and then opened presents. Ronnie, Lainey an Vinny had a FABULOUS time opening their gifts - it was over in a flash!

Ronnie enjoying Pa's massage chair....

The Christmas tree at Nonnie's...

Ronnie getting a present from Santa. Uncle Stevie had a great time helping the kids....

My little Lainey Lou!!!

Ronnie, Santa, Lainey and Vinny

Nonnie, Pa and Ronnie....

Pa and Ronnie. Pa picked out the outfit Ronnie is wearing... he looked like a "mini me".

Christmas morning on Maama and Momo's boat... Ronnie loves Lillee

THANK YOU Santa!!!!

Karate Belt Test - Going for the PURPLE!

Ronnie tested for his purple belt in karate the night before we left for California. He completed the Discipline routine and used "compassion" as his word. He is now the highest ranked belt in the Karate Kubs... We are so proud of him!

Thanksgiving at the Cabin

We spent Thanskgiving at Nana and Papa's Cabin on Big Sandy Lake this year. Nana took care of the turkey, potatoes, stuffing and snacks. Lauri made some side dishes, and her Nana's famous pumpkin pie. It was a beautiful, but cold, day.


The Shakopee Dahlberg's....



A BSU fan gives a "thumbs up"... unfortunately, it wasn't good enough for a win....

Ronnie working on math problems.... He can add three 2-digit numbers (as long as you don't have to carry a number over). All this - from a little boy who couldn't (or wouldn't) tell me what a "2" was in August.

Ronnie - playing in the snow.....

Making a snow angel

The Family - Ronnie, Kiki, Doug and Papa

Nana and Papa in the kitchen - finishing up the turkey... it was YUMMY!

Doug and Ronnie hanging out

Lauri tickling Ronnie....

Nana and Emma

Kiki and Ronnie

Halloween 2010

For Halloween this year, Ronnie wanted to be Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars. That meant, of course, that Lauri would be Princess Leia. Ronnie and Lauri had a great Halloween weekend - dressing up for work and school parties, a YMCA party, and trick-or-treating. We had a lot of fun!!!


Princess Leia and Anakin Skywalker...


Getting the bad guys....


Ronnie posing with his light saber.

What a cute Anakin!!

Ronnie and his buddy Aidan at the YMCA Halloween Party.

Aidan was "Joe Mauer" from the Twins.... Here they are posing.

The Ridgedale YMCA had a great party set up for the kids. There were games in the gym (hockey, bean bag toss, and a jumper), food upstairs, dance routines in the aerobic room, and a movie in the pool area (appropriately titled "Flick and a Float").

Here's Ronnie playing hockey.

Ronnie and Aidan jumped in the jumper several times... and still weren't tired!

Trick-or-treating.... We always stop at Bruce's house first... He is the SUPER NICE neighbor across the street. He and his wife are great.

Getting candy from Lori... her big, white fluffy dog was there to greet us with a Halloween bandana on.

We stopped at the Burdick's house - then made our way back home. Greg was dressed up like a Rastafarian....

Ronnie made a haul! By the time we turned around to come home, he had me carrying the trick-or-treat bag inbetween houses because it was too heavy!

At home, Ronnie pulled each piece of candy out one-by-one and asked us to explain what each one was. He gave Lauri the Almond Joys, and divided up the KitKats so that we each had one.

The rule is - 2 pieces of candy per night... We'll see how long that works!

It was a FUN Halloween!!!!