Merry Christmas to All!

May each of you have a very blessed and joyful Christmas

Much love,

Jeremy, Bibi, Brianna & Kiara

Hillcrest Farm

Staying close to the bonfire

Hot drink refueling stations

Santa asked Brianna to ride the train in his cart. We all sang Christmas carols and Brianna asked him what she wanted for Christmas. We rode through a tunnel of Christmas lights, lines of lighted pine trees, a "ginger bread" house, a manger and more. It was so much fun!

Kiara was so bundled up she could hardly move! She had a great time too, though!

In the Christmas spirit ...

Last night the Shekoyan family and ours had a fantastic time at the Hillcrest Pajama Train Ride in Reedley. The prerequisite was to wear pjs and come to enjoy live Christmas music, a wonderful train ride around the farm, hot chocolate with marshmallows, cookies, kettle popcorn, a tree house with a swing a many other attractions. Upon arrivals, kids are ready to roll ...

Listening to live music

Smiling in spite of the cold

cookie buffet

Brianna's Graduation at the Little Gym

Kiara's favorite play date site: The Little Gym

Brianna's grad ceremony. After the holiday recess, she will move on to the Giggle Worms class (aka 4 year old class). She's excited to move up and keep learning new skills while having lots of fun.

Congratulations to Fall Semester Funny Bugs Class of 2009

Playdate at Tia Sherri's house

Last week we had such a great time playing at Tia Sherri's Winter Wonderland House! Kids had lots of fun toys to play with and Mommies got a chance to chat over hot tea and get all caught up. Thanks Sherri for the great time!

What Christmas is all about ...

Tia Roxanna, Mateo, Marina and us delivered many toys to the local Rescue Mission this week. Local families in need will open gifts after the Christmas Eve community dinner sponsored by this institution. Our kids were excited to help others in need though they won't be able to see the kids' faces when they open each gift.

So Roxanna and I decided to involve the kids in a community activity where they could see the "end product," if you will. We helped organize clothes at the St. Mary's Parish Center. This center not only offered free clothing items to many local families but also a big box full of holiday food items. We saw quite a few people come and get goods in the time we were there. Praise God for a giving community, especially in these trying economic time. We also feel blessed to have our little ones so eager to give and be mindful of those less fortunate.

Sorting out clothes

Brianna, Mateo & Sarai organized pants first and then shirts. They were great little helpers.

'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'
Mathew 25:40

Brianna Pierson Photography

All the great shots below were taken by Brianna (our in-house photography expert).
Great job, Bri!

Sabbath, December 12th

Our little doll ready for church

Proud Amee

best friends

And Dominic turned 3!

Brianna's friend, Dominic, from the Little Gym turned 3 and celebrated it with a super fun sports themed birthday party at the Little Gym. Brianna had a blast and brought a souvenir baggie home chock full of personalized little gifts that she'll play with weeks to come.

Birthday boy ready to blow the candle!

Fun at the park

Daddy caught at praying mantis and the girls loved "holding" it and also playing on the swings

More winter fun in the jacuzzi

Hot chocolate & popcorn are always fun on Saturday night

Our little fish

Fearless Mia

Best friends

Jacuzzi play dates with Lea & Mia

Lea & Mia absolutely love playing in the jacuzzi every time they come to our house. Here they are having a good ol' time ...

Christmas Tree Project - Part I

With two little ones in the house, decorating for Christmas turns into a daunting project. Brianna loves to help every step of the way (but she also leaves a trail of broken ornaments!) We're attempting to put up the Chrismtas tree & the lights in one evening

You better watch out ... I'm telling you why ... baby Kiara is coming to town!

Mission accomplished! The tree is up on a pedestal (so baby can't tip it over). Lights will be done another night! The whole family has survived!

Exeter's Yearly Open House and the SF Marionet Show

A couple of weeks ago we spent a terrific Thursday evening in Exeter sampling delicious food at every corner, taking a picture with Santa, enjoying street Caroling & live music, and sharing in the Christmas spirit at the Annual Exeter Open House.

Brianna was very happy to pose with one of her favorite heroes: a firefighter

Free ride through Main St. in an old fire truck. The girls loved it!

A professional San Francisco Marionet Show at the local Library. Excellent Chrismtas show for all the kids! Even Kiara really enjoyed it!

Family visiting from Canada

We enjoyed hosting Uncle Cliff & Auntie Ann the Friday right after Thanksgiving.

This past Friday evening we also enjoyed good vegan pizza & a wonderful Christmas inspired vespers at Ampee & Amee. Ron & Connie Letniak spent a very relaxing week with A&A on the house boat and at the Carmel beach house and then we joined them for supper that night.

Visalia Candy Cane Christmas Parade

On Tuesday night Daddy & Brianna jumped on the Little Gym float and had a great time riding through Visalia's Main Street in the Annual Visalia Candy Cane Christmas Parade. At some point Brianna even started advertising out loud by telling kids: "Please tell your Mommy to take you to the Little Gym." She cracked us all up!