Back in time for Christmas

I know, I know.... I haven't posted since August. Sorry. My New Year's Resolution is to get back to posting on a regular basis. I've heard from so many of you that you worry when you don't see updates from me, and miss knowing what is going on with those Filippini boys.

Okay, okay. I'm back. And right in time for some Christmas pictures. But first, let me catch you all up...

In late August -

We went camping with our closest friends at a cool campsite in New Denver, Canada. We camped right near the water and did some amazing hikes and bike rides. It was a wonderful time and will become an annual tradition for our 3 families (The Rust's, The Hauck's & The Filippini's).

The Rust and Filippini FamiliesAll the kids from our group climbed these stairs at the peak of this forever long hike we took. They look like a United Colors of Benetton Ad I think. It was a nice get-away for the girls...and was Beckham's very first camping trip. He was an angel.

The day after returning from camping the kids headed back to school.

Which brings us to September -

The kids started school again at Southside Elementary; Landin in 3rd grade, and Ryder in Kindergarten.

Ryder with his teacher Mrs. Valle

Landin with his teacher Mrs. Wanous

On September 27th, Beckham turned 6-months old

October brought my birthday and Landin's to celebrate:

Brice and I went to dinner alone to celebrate my birthday. The day did start, however, with breakfast in bed from Brice and the kids.

Landin had a joint party with his buddy Mitch (they share the same birth date) and another party with all of his soccer buddies.

The party Landin shared with Mitchell was a Hollywood themed party where all his schoolmates dressed up and walked the red carpet to dance and party with the birthday boys. It was a rocking good time best illustrated by the way the night ended - - with the boys stripping off their suit jackets and button-up shirts to reveal their "wife beater" white tanks, which the party guests then signed with a sharpie. Now if that's not partying, I don't know what is. Hey - "Ain't no party like a Filippini party!"

The soccer party had a soccer theme with lots of fun outside.

The end of October brought Halloween where Brice masqueraded as Dog the Bounty Hunter, I went as Batgirl, Landin as King Arthur,

Ryder as Superman (Ryman),

Mazlow as Sir Lancelot (Sir Mazalot),

and Beckham as Chewbacca (or Chewbeckham). In October Landin was still playing soccer for the Strikers, but also joined his first football team. He had a great football season, with several touchdowns and some great defensive plays.

With soccer and football every Saturday, Ryder and Mazlow learned to entertain themselves at the field, playing with leaves!

Landin finished soccer the first week in November, and ended the season as the team's leading scorer. Brice was proud of how he played and thought he progressed a lot during the season.

Here is Brice and the other U10 boys coach with their boys:

In November our family took a trip down to California to see Brice's grandmother, the kids great grandma, MIMI!
While we were there we also caught up with other family members including Brice's sister Calli and her husband Jason (who we met-up with at Chuck E. Cheeses)
One of the highlights of the trip for me was that we got to visit my dear friend Emily and meet her new family. Landin and Sam spent a whole lot of time together when we lived in Elk Grove but hadn't seen one another in years. It was fabulous to get them together again. Hopefully we won't have to wait another 2 years to get together again. All the kids played outside together (Emily's and ours) and had a ton of fun!I had to be in San Francisco part of the trip for some work engagements, so the kids and Brice tagged along and stayed with me at the hotels. At our hotel in Mountain View California the hotel staff was so taken with the boys that they named them "Brothers of the week" and featured them on a sign in the lobby. The sign said how well behaved and cute they were:
When we came home from our November trip (just in time for Thanksgiving) we got our first taste of snow here. The boys have really enjoyed it, carving it up in the backyard.

Which brings us nearly up to date... I'll post some Christmas pictures soon!