Our Girls

Cole Family Picture

It was so fun to be all together for Christmas!

Christmas in California

Sarah's whole family made the pilgrimage back to Saratoga for Christmas this year. For us it was our first trip back west since our move to Ohio and an appreciated break from the snowy weather. We were welcomed with a host of eager hands to hold and take care of our girls. I think some people were even excited to see me and Sarah. With five grandchildren now for Kevin and Gina, a total of 16 people overran the Cole household for the week and shared Christmas morning together. (Thus the monstrous pile of presents under... or, around the tree.)


Annie admires her new doll house that Santa brought while Leah plays with her new animal train set that moves and flashes, and an overly enthusiastic female voice continuously sings an annoyingly contagious song (that I can still hear playing in the back of my mind... ...climb on board the animal train, come on, everyone...).




Annie loved opening her presents. This was a pink phone that she has been convinced for the last month and a half Santa would bring her. Looks like she was right.


Leah loved it too, but was easily distracted.


Annie also got a Leapster, an educational video game system that tricks kids into learning by masking it behind technology and princesses. Sarah got a new purse-sized camera, some jewelry, new clothes and a coat. I got a flash for my camera and some new shirts, ties, and sweaters for work.


The sisters all got matching pajamas. Aren't they cute? (Especially the one on the left.)


Here are the three cousins, Emmy, Leah and Halle in their Christmas pajamas.


Scotty and Annie, the other two cousins, enjoyed some good times together. They didn't always look like this, but they had fun most of the time.




One afternoon we went to the park to watch Mike fly his model airplane. All was going well until the plane's graceful landing approach was abruptly interrupted by a deceivingly close soccer goal post. Mike was sorely disappointed.


After Christmas we spent a few days down in San Luis Obispo where Ashley was playing in a basketball tournament. We had a blast one day cruising around the sand dunes at Pismo Beach on a couple 4-Wheelers.


Michael, tearing it up.


We had planned on touring Hearst Castle on the way home, but were surprised and disappointed to find all the tours sold out for the day. Instead we drove home along the coast on Highway 1, where we were able to enjoy the windy-roaded scenery for six hours, rather than the three hours it would have taken to get home the conventional way. A beautiful drive, just a little long.


On New Years Eve we fired up the hot tub and soaked in the final minutes of 2007.


The pool was a numbing 40-some degrees, but that didn't stop us from a brief dip at the stroke of midnight.

Christmas Party

Saturday night we hosted a get together for the 1st year residents in Dan's orthodontic program. Dan really enjoys his program and a big part of that is because he has such great classmates! Which is good, since he spends so much of his time with them. There are 6 residents in Dan's class (Matthew, Dan, Nathan, Nate, Tisha, and Sahira) and all of them are married, which is also good because that means they are all anxious to get home at the end of the day. Anyway, we had a great night Saturday night. Everyone brought something to contribute for dinner and then we had a fun night of games. Here is a picture of the group (all but one resident, Sahira, who was already on vacation for the holidays):


Matthew & Laura Ames (they have a one-year-old boy), us, Nathan & Abby Helm, Nate, Emily, Camden, and Aiden Springer, and Tisha & Jason Randall.

There was a big winter storm that came through on Saturday, so I decided to make wassail for the party. It was so good! The perfect hot drink for a cold winter's night. Here is the recipe:

Wassail
2 quarts apple cider
2 cups orange juice
1 (46 oz.) can pineapple juice
1/2 cup honey
2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp. whole cloves
a pinch of ground ginger, optional
a pinch of nutmeg, optional

In a large pot over medium heat, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat and keep warm while serving. I cut 3 slices of an orange and put them in the drink for a festive look. Enjoy!

Zoo Wildlights

On Monday night we bundled up and went to the zoo to see the Christmas lights. With over 3 million lights, I have to say that Dan and I were quite impressed with the display! And it actually wasn't as cold as we were expecting . . . . so it was a great night to go. Here's a picture of the whole group:

the Williams, us, the Johnsons, and the Buxtons


Leah loves to be bundled all warm and cozy.


Annie and Landon checking out the huge train display.


Even Santa was at the zoo! Annie told him she wants a phone and a baby brother.


There were so many lights! It was so fun. We heard that December is the busiest month for the Columbus Zoo . . . . crazy! But now I can see why . . . . no one wants to miss out on this.


After the zoo we all went to the Johnson's house for doughnuts, homemade hot chocolate, and games. It was such a fun night!

Snow!

We woke up this morning to our first snowfall in Ohio! Annie was so excited. It was so beautiful and peaceful outside. The girls and I spent the morning in our pajamas, watching the snow fall, eating warm muffins, and watching Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.

Then we decided to venture out so, driving very slowly, we made our way to Nollie's house for lunch with some friends. When I pulled up in the driveway next to Kristie's car, I noticed she had left her lights on, but after getting the girls in the house and taking off boots and coats, I completely forgot to tell her. So, needless to say, when we went out a few hours later, her car wouldn't start. Luckily I had some jumper cables, and Kristie, Katy, and I prided ourselves in the fact that we jumped the car by ourselves. Although all of a sudden, in the midst of our glory, we realized Kristie had locked her keys in the car . . . . with the engine on . . . . with Cohen and Nessie strapped in their carseats. Luckily our friendly neighborhood policeman had nothing better to do (or so he said . . . . although with the amount of abandoned cars along side of the road, I'm not to sure I believe him). Anyway, with the first snowfall of the year, it seems inevitable something like that should happen . . . . and I guess it did.

Leah and Mia

Leah enjoyed meeting her 2nd cousin, Mia (rhymes with Leah) in Las Vegas. They are two days apart. They had fun playing together . . . . until they were expected to share.

But all in all, I think they will be good friends:)