My little ones

I went to the newly remodeled San Francisco Aquarium with Jody's family yesterday. Thanks to her Aunt Madeleine, they try to get together a couple of times a year with their entire family and go somewhere or picnic in John and Judy's beautiful yard. Because Joe had to work, I was given the opportunity to take his ticket. The aquarium is beautiful, but I would recommend waiting till it has been open a while longer or go during the week. It was SO crowded, it was really hard to keep track of everyone and impossible to navigate a stroller. But the reason I thought to "blog" today was a picture that Judy took of Aiden. (Now mind you this pensive photo was taken at the beginning of the day while he was still fresh, not hungry, and before he was given the chance to touch the starfish in the water and was told he could not splash all the water out, he could just pet the fish.)

He is studying the fish in the tank. He watched that tank for a good 10 minutes without moving (thanks to Judy for the picture). Peyton on the other hand would not sit still that long. He would rather jump off the couch into the bean bag (see previous blog). He never stops, but he doesn't miss a thing along the way. The jury is still out on Kamdyn and Andrew. But we can tell a little about their personalities. Kamdyn seems to be content with sitting and watching her surroundings and smiling and giggling. Although, she also likes it when Peyton comes over to rough house. She and Andrew are both better sleepers than their siblings. So we shall see as they grow...

A New Year - 2009

Well, New Years Eve started out helping Uncle Al and Lala Else set up for that evening's party. We usually go over and help set up tables and decorating the garage for the festivities. Then at 6 pm we all started to arrive. The appetizers were great: egg rolls, figasa, and of course duck nuggets. The cioppino was as tasty as ever, and the polenta was delicious.

The "sign" was put up on the garage door on New Years' Eve 1971 and has been put up every New Years' Eve since. Many of the people who have signed that sign are no longer with us, many of the babies whose names were signed by their parents are adults and signing their own childrens' names. Juliane and Mary made that sign not knowing that 37 years later it would still be around. We have had cioppino many of those years, but not every one. We have played "thief" many of those years, but not every one. It is like a white elephant gift exchange, but with our own twist. There are a few gifts that have been going around for many years. The oldest is the goose. The goose made another appearance last night. John has had it for a few years. Before we could bring the goose back, we had to repair it. Poor thing was getting so brittle that every time we touched it, we would poke our fingers through him. So we did what every Lavezzo would do...we brought it to Uncle Al and he repaired and painted the goose so he looked good as new. Jody now has the goose at her house. The size 60 jeans are another gift that has gone around for some years. Renee is now the proud owner. John and Chris are so excited about their new gifts: beautiful Christmas sweaters.

At midnight, we all watched the ball come down, opened the garage door and shot off poppers, remembering years ago when Uncle Al used to shoot off his shotgun to bring in the new year...a little less dramatic.

A very happy 2009 to all of you...