The Thompson Family

Our nephew Blake got a motorcycle for Christmas. Very cool! More pix of him riding and of the present opening are posted on Flickr

This was the year of the ponies and the princess! Pretty much everything Nora got was one or the other. It was hard getting her to sleep on Christmas Eve, with her anxiousness over Santa coming. Thankfully, she didn't wake up until after 7:00am. We are going to have another present-opening-fest tomorrow when Tanner and Blake get here.

We had a family night and an impromptu "Practice Christmas." Joan and Ray were in SF, as they are flying out to Maui today for a sunny Christmas vacation; Shelly, Chad and Grant came over. We had dinner and the kids opened their presents - it was crazy and lots of fun.

Our neighbors Shah, Shelina and Aden came over for a pizza night. The kiddos exchanged presents, had a holiday hootenany, and played dress up. Cinderella, Butterfly, Ladybug - even Otto got in on the act.

Well, we tried... there were many attempts, but not very many "Now, THAT is the one" results. Try getting a 3 year old and a dog to both look at the camera at the same time, while Dad runs back and gets on the couch in the right spot in the short amount of time the camera timer allows. We posted some of them on Flickr (don't worry, I cropped out all the ones showing Otto's butthole - we know you thank us).

It's almost time to head to Texas for Christmas. It will be a full house at Scott's... the whole fam-damily will be there, including Mick and Dona and the girls. Dell flies solo, and Nora and Sarah fly together. Even Otto is flying to Texas to join the fun!

When Scott and Kelley came to visit, we went to Tomales Bay for oysters. The Hog Island Oyster Company picnic area was great. The sunset was amazing, and the oysters were even better (we had the local "Sweetwater Smalls").

The best wine tasting road trip! We hired a limo to Napa with Scott and Kelly, Josh and Melissa, and Sammy. We visited St. Clement, Niebaum-Coppola, and Whitehall Lane. Lunch at Rutherford Grill was amazing - the ribs are TO DIE FOR - and that is coming from two Texans!

Here are some pictures on Flickr of Nora as Cinderella. She has been wearing this princess dress almost every day since then!

There are some pix of our "grown up" Halloween party in the Flickr set as well... That was a huge buzz night! Our first big party in our Potrero Hill house.

Dell and I celebrated out 10 year wedding anniversary in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was 10 days of heaven. Thanks to Grandmama and Papa for watching Nora while we had some grown up time!

Wow, what a night! We had a great surprise party and my dad gave my mom a beautiful diamond ring (3 stones to represent the past, present, and future). They looked amazing, and we all had such fun.