muchas gracias

dang, that is one good looking family...except for that goofy guy in the middle. what's with him? one of these things is not like the others...

isaac looks more like his uncle derek (blond hair and blue eyes) than his mom or dad. minus the monster arms of course.

grandpa made sure isaac caught up on all the latest gossip at dinner.

the menconi christmas picture. hey, haven't i seen those blue outfits before?

elmo, you gotta protect me man. i am not too sure about these people.

isaac and the ladies.

it is christmas in san diego, it is 55 degrees outside, and we have our kid bundled up like ralphie from a christmas story. are we first time parents?

we also want to welcome other first time parents to the game. my cousin mindy and her husband nick brought avery paige into the world on november 16th at 2:22pm. she's 7lbs. 1oz. and 19" of pure sweetness. isaac can't wait to scrap with her. you can read and see more here.

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did you know that chicken has more tryptophan than turkey? it's true. we always talk about the amino acid that makes you sleepy at thanksgiving time b/c everybody goes into a food coma at approximately 2:37pm, but the fact of the matter is that it is not the turkey as much as it is the extra carbs in the form of hawaiian sweet rolls and twice baked potatoes that puts us to sleep. whatever the case, the more opportunities i have to talk about pilgrims and people named pocahontas the better.

our thanksgiving this year was decidedly and very intentionally mellow. we spent wednesday afternoon and evening with the montgomery family, taking family pictures at dixon lake and eating dinner at a fine little italian establishment called "bruno's". we were glad that heidi and kyle got to meet him before his surgery, and it was fun to have the whole family together again. it had been a few years since the last montgomery picture, and several members had been added to the ranks since the last one. what rules is we are going to have to take another before too long b/c eric and kara announced thanksgiving day that they are pregnant with their first!! they are due next june and we are all very excited about welcoming their little one.

thursday was spent with the menconi's: we ate too much food, poured over black friday ads, and took a christmas picture. annie and i recycled our outfits, and isaac sported his first santa hat. cutest. santa. ever. friday we had dinner at islands and went to a christmas tree lighting at the forum, which is a glorified strip mall here in encinitas. there was free food, fun friends, and good times had by all.

i spent a good bit of the remainder of the weekend working around the house. unfortunately with me home improvement always involves at least a little bit of self destruction and i walked away with a blood blister on my thumb, a pretty good cut on my index finger, and other assorted scrapes and abrasions. all told, we ended up with a new microwave, doorbell, and bathroom fan, not to mention some new outlets and switches.

i am beginning to realize that when i am stressed i tend to be even more anal about organization than usual. this streak of projects is just the latest manifestation of this trait. when i can organize, i feel in control, the more out of control i feel, the more i try to organize.

the surgery is tomorrow morning, sometime around 7:30 or 8. if early indications are any clue, knowing you are sending your child into a situation that will cause them pain is the worst feeling in the entire world. we know it is best for him, we trust he will be fine, and we look forward to a time in the not too distant future when this season will be behind us and he won't even remember it. and yet it absolutely kills us. as much as we want to clamp onto him with a death grip that would make arnold proud, we are trying to pry our grubby little mitts off our son and maintain a posture of open hands.

thank you for the food, the texts, the emails, the calls, the words, the kindness and all the other assorted mercies you have given us. we continue to be heaped upon. may you also be heaped upon during this blessed season.