Santa Claus is coming to town!!!!

Lots of things have been going on this month, but amidst the craziness I have managed to have lots of fun!

Shortly after we returned home from Thanksgiving Mom and Dad told me that we were leaving Huntington Beach and moving down to San Diego. At first I was a little nervous about leaving all my wonderful friends, but Mom and Dad assured me that we would be back to visit often. After the anxiety of moving subsided I began to think of all the wonderful blessings that living in San Diego would afford. I will be able to see lots of my family ALL THE TIME, and will have lots of space to run and play- I even have my own play area with a table, chair, and TV.

Packing up the house was TONS of work, and Mommy and Daddy let me help. My favorite thing to pack were the books because I got to throw them in a box.

Unfortunately for Mom and Dad unpacking was more my style...

They couldn't help but laugh when they saw the mess that I had made.

Thanks to our neighbors, Jeff and Susan, we were able to use their furniture dolly to move some stuff. When Mom and Dad weren't using it I was taking laps around the yard. It may not look like too much fun, but trust me, it kept me occupied for hours and turned out to be a lifesaver for mom.

After the car was loaded to the max we headed down to San Diego to prepare for Aunt Hayley and John's (her boyfriend that we were meeting for the first time) arrival.

The first thing we did when we got to San Diego was get a Christmas tree. Mom and Dad wanted to surprise Aunt Hayley so we went down to a local Christmas Tree Farm to see what they had to offer.

As I'm sure you guessed, Mom made me a special Christmas outfit for the occasion.

There were tons of trees lined up and down the aisles, and I was able to run free searching for the perfect tree. I had to inspect, touch, and smell, each tree to decide which one was the best.

When I finally found THE tree, I bent down and gave it a big hug!

While the tree was being packaged and placed upon the car I toured the petting zoo and stared at all the animals. My favorite was the big sheep, who was not interested in me AT ALL. I kept climbing on the fence and yelling at him, but he did his best to ignore me.

Once we got the tree back home we decorated it with all sorts of ornaments, ribbons, and lights. Mom says I did a great job hanging them myself:

I think I did a great job!

After a day of cleaning and prepping Aunt Hayley and John finally arrived. I had been anticipating all the fun we were going to have when they got here, and I wasn't disappointed. We spent the first day they were here catching up on the last couple of months, and due to the icky weather I had lots of indoor time to show Aunt Hayley all the new things I learned.

The next day the rain stopped and we took a family trip down to see Bugs. I hadn't seen him in a while, and was eager to give him hugs.

John held me while Bugs gave me some big hello kisses!

Just when I was having lots of fun, Aunt Hayley and John left for Mammoth. I was sad to see them go, but Mom told me they would be staying with us for a couple of days before John flew home.

After spending the evening at the boat watching the parade of lights Mom, Dad, and I drove back to Huntington Beach. While Mom and Dad continued packing and cleaning I got to play at Jeff and Susan's, and boy did I have fun!

Hayley and John arrived at our house that evening and were greeted by more cloudy skies. We were disappointed that the weather was so cold and rainy since it was John's first trip to "sunny California." Despite the rainy weather, Hayley and John got to tour Southern California and see where I live. Before John left to go back to Canada we went to a special dinner- even Pa drove up from San Diego to join us in saying goodbye.

Mom, Dad, Pa, and I all agreed that John was a really nice and considerate person (Mom says he must come from a great family), and we all enjoyed his company. Before he left I showered him (ha ha, as if he didn't get enough showers) with goodbye hugs and kisses.

We were all sad to see John go, and hope that he comes back soon (he needs to see that California really does have beautiful weather)!

At the end of the week Aunt Hayley and I drove down to San Diego to have our hair done. It was a big deal since it was my "first official haircut," and Mom dressed me up for the occasion...

While Hayley was "in the chair" Mom and I occupied our time by having a photo shoot.

Autumn, my hair stylist, came out and told me it was my turn. She sat me in the chair, and all of a sudden I got nervous and began to wonder what I had gotten myself into...

Autumn dressed me in my own robe, sat me up on the stool, and spritzed me down.

To ease my worries she gave me a cookie and I began to understand why Mom enjoys being at the salon- she gets pampered!

I behaved quite well for my first haircut, making sure to stay very still.

After the cut I got a blow dry and laughed as the warm air hit my face.

I watched in the mirror as Autumn styled my hair, fascinated by what she was doing.

After a few minutes, we revealed my new look...

I paraded around the salon feeling, and looking, like a movie star!

Before we drove back to Pa's house to see Dad, Aunt Hayley and Mom took me to the park. We went on the slides,

hung from the monkey bars,

and went really high on the swings (I LOVE to go high, and yell it out loud for everyone to hear)!

When we got back to the house I was in such a silly mood that I put on a show for Dad, confirming the message on my shirt...

We are counting down the days to Christmas on my advent calendar and are getting closer everyday!

The chocolate sure is good!

Mom is proud of me because I learned to say Santa Claus, and better yet, learned that he says "ho ho ho." You can imagine how many times a day I have to show off that trick...

Although we have been moving back and forth, my feelings of displacement have all subsided and I am settling into our new home. The next couple of weeks will be full of Christmas fun in San Diego, and my Grandma Joanie is coming to visit very soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be back soon with more exciting tales of my second Christmas and lots of Holiday excitement.

Gobble, gobble, gobble...

The last few weeks have been spent visiting with family and friends, and boy have I LOVED the extra attention!

I have really enjoyed spending more time with Grandma and Grandpa Schafer. Pa and I have lots of fun raising Cain in Jamul, and Grandma Judy and I have a blast at the beach. At Grandma's house I spend most of my time laughing and playing. She even lets me color on my own; I am becoming quite the Picasso:

Dad and I have been having lots of fun together, and this week he took me to a new park down by Pa's house. Can you believe I am finally BIG enough to ride the toys all by myself!

We had lots of Thanksgivings this year, and kicked off the "Oink Fest" with dinner at Uncle Peter's house.

I got to see Grandma Judy's family and meet my cousin Ploy who is visiting from Hong Kong.

After my first Thanksgiving feast I discovered that the traditional cuisine of turkey, stuffing, etc. is not a favorite of mine.

The next day Daddy and I visited the Loew Family and I had a blast at their house. I got to play with some new friends, chase a dog, and play the piano!

Watch out Mozart, here I come...

Later in the week the Beck twins came into town for the holidays and we were able to spend Thanksgiving number two with them. Mom can't believe that Grant and Reed are bigger than I am! We all had a great time together- check out Daddy holding the boys, both Mommy and I think this look suites him well...

The next day was the official Thanksgiving (number 3 for me if you are counting). We spent the morning lounging around Pa's house while Mom cooked the food and worked on my costume. Can you believe that she made me a turkey tutu, it was awesome!

Check out my cool Indian hat, and turkey wand...

Great Grandma Jean liked my hat so much that I let her try it on- she sure looks good!

Before the feast began we snacked on appetizers, many of which I did not enjoy. That was until I found the olives!!! They were so yummy that I kept shoving them in my mouth. Uncle Ryan slowed me down and showed me how to put them on my fingers and eat them one by one.

At first I was a little confused,

but before too long I dug right in...

Even Aunt Connie ate one off my finger!

Pa got worried that I was eating too many olives (I ate about 20), so we moved on to other activities while we waited for the bird to be ready. After many games of peek-a-boo, and lots of showing off the meal was ready.

Everyone laughed as I stood next to the turkey. Mom couldn't believe that we (the turkey and I)weighed the same amount!


Like Mommy, I am NOT a fan of many Thanksgiving Day foods. Grandma Jean helped me eat some mash potatoes, but other than that I stuck with an oldie-but-goodie: peas!

Just when we thought that we couldn't eat anymore, desert was served! Mom let me help her eat a piece of pumpkin pie, and boy was that good! After all the sugar I was running around the house like crazy. Mom thought I needed to burn some energy and took me outside to play soccer. There is something really fun about kicking things and I can't wait to play the game when I get bigger!

The next morning the whole family slothed around the house. We were so full from the previous night that we didn't get much done. I watched a movie with my buddies (George, my new monkey from Aunt Connie, and my Bunny from the Jacklins)

In the afternoon, refreshed from a morning of naps and laziness, Pa took me out to the orchard to pick some fruit. I love lemons and wanted to eat them right off the tree.

Pa told me that I probably wouldn't enjoy the taste, and redirected me towards the tangerines. After one bite, I kept going back to the tree and picking more.



On Saturday night Mom cooked dinner for Grandma Jean and the Umbargers who came over to spend some time with me before I went back home. Connie, Randy and I had fun playing a new game in the kitchen. For some reason throwing things and saying "rip" is hilarious:

After our game I got to help Mom bake my very first cake. I learned that helping Mom cook is awesome because you get to "clean the bowl." Mom and I are two peas in a pod- we sat in the kitchen and ate cake batter until our tummies were sore.

The long week of playing, eating, and showing off took a toll on me, and by Sunday night I was ready to go back home. Our family is resting up for the big weeks to come. Mom says that Santa Claus is coming out for a visit soon, and even better- Aunt Hayley will be home in 2 weeks! I hope she is ready for all the fun we are going to have!