New Year's Eve/Day 2021/2022

For the new year Tommy's been practicing his eyebrow raise. He thinks he looks like The Rock...

 

Kat calls him The Pebble. 

Mom and Dad went out for a quick beer at their favorite brewery on New Year's Eve.

Then we all stayed up to watch the ball drop while Kat FaceTimed and giggled with her friends. 

The next night we went out to the Japanese BBQ place we were supposed to eat at (but cancelled because Mom was sick) on Christmas Day. Tommy worked on his chopstick skills...

And both kids were adventurous about trying new things! 

Tommy liked the garlic shrimp, and they both liked all the different types of steak we tried, and had fun cooking their own meat. We also ordered thinly sliced beef tongue. Tommy tried it before we told him what it was, and liked it. After we told him, he seemed grossed out, but then grabbed Kat's piece of tongue off her plate (much to her relief) and ate it. He said it was the best thing there!

Other than the s'mores, of course. 

Here's hoping 2022 sees us all healthy and happy and back to normal! Or as normal as we get. 

Christmas Eve Eve Post Eve

Yay for Cousins by Love! We were so happy to have our annual Christmas Eve Eve party since we missed it last year. This year it wasn't until Jan 30th, but it was worth the wait!

The cousins had a ball goofing around, and this is the best picture we could get of Cali, Tuffy, and Gizmo because they were CONSTANTLY on the move. 

Tuffy is so little and cute! This was the first time we got to meet her. 

The grown ups left the kiddos at home to hit a few cool new breweries and talk about non-kid-friendly things. 

We had our traditional yummy lasagna made by auntie Kimmy, opened presents, played some trivia, and had LOTS of laughs. Happy Eve Eve Post Eve!

Back row: Leslie, Nathan, Kara, Kat, Kevin, Sue, Andy, Kim, Robby
Front Row: Lizzy, Avery, Tommy 

Cool Pictures

Mom took this picture of the moon through her telescope with her phone. Pretty impressive!

She also got some fun old pictures from her old neighbors, the Zindas. This one is a favorite, with Grandma and Grandpa Tommy, and the dogs Rascal and Sonny in their old Fargo house. These pictures made Mom's day, especially when she was sick. So thoughtful!

Kyle's Visit

Kyle and Nana came to visit once Mom was feeling better. We had lunch, opened some presents, and went down to the park to play for a bit. 

Cousins are good buddies!

Christmas 2021

Merry Christmas!

We took our family portrait for our cards down at Pacific City. 

And a goofy one in front of the mantle. 

Mom and Dad went out in their ugly Christmas sweaters earlier in the week...

And we baked cookies for Santa. They weren't all traditional, but these Eevee Pokemon ones turned out so cute!

Ready for Santa!

Guess what Mom got for Christmas?

This at-home test came back negative, but she still felt super tired and headachy on Christmas and spent the whole day like this. Gizmo was a good, snuggly nursemaid. 

Mom felt better after 2 days, then started to feel worse again, and figured she had a sinus infection. She went to urgent care and found out she was right, but she also got a PCR test and was positive for Covid. Luckily she didn't see anyone except the family when she was sick, and none of them got it either. Yay for vaccines! No one else needed the gift of Covid. 

Tommy's 11th Birthday

The day before his birthday Tommy had his friend Remy over. They both gave each other plush characters from anime and video games. 

He was super excited to open all his birthday presents the morning of his birthday. 

He was POSITIVE he knew what this one was, and kept bragging for the last few weeks about knowing exactly what it was...

It wasn't quite what he thought...

He got Rick Wrapped! Don't worry, we gave him the real game right after, but it was a well-played prank by Dad. 

For some birthday fun we all went to Dave & Busters. 

Family Mario Kart!

His friend Sam came to meet us and goof around too. 

He requested donuts from his favorite bakery instead of birthday cake, and wanted Dad's homemade pizza and a Marvel movie for dinner. 

Happy 11th, Tom Tom Frog! We love you!

Christmas Tree

We continued our annual tradition of driving to the the tree lot and picking out a tree without unwrapping it. And since we have two Scouts in the house, we entrusted them to tie the tree to the top of the car. 

They weren't as excited about it as we were. 

Looks good!

Gizmo over the Holidays

Gizmo is good at posing under the rainbow...

And humoring Mom to pose for pictures on his walks. 

He loves helping Tommy carry any stick he picks up...

And loves nothing more than tugging, either with another dog...

Or with us. 

Tommy made him a crown one day and kept calling him "King Gizmo". 

He is about as spoiled as a king. He even insists on using a pillow when he sleeps on the bed or the couch. 

Every once in awhile he watches TV, especially when there are other animals on it. 

And he's become a very good snuggler. 

Here he is chasing a tumbleweed, and being a menace. He played with a bunch of puppy friends at the park one morning after it rained a bunch, and then came back to the house, and Dad wanted to squirt off his feet in the back yard. It didn't go as planned, and this went on for at least 10 minutes. He's crazy!