What to expect from Cristian at Christmas . . .

steal all of Papa's hats

















help clean up the house

















throw a screaming tantrum

















play a game of peek-a-boo

















share his slobbery kisses with you















Cristian can't wait to see you in less than a month!

Hayden's First Turkey Day!

Hi Family!

We hope that everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. It was Hayden's first Turkey Day and he had a great time! His Uncle Trent flew in from Nor Cal for this joyous event. Even though he didn't get to eat any Turkey, he had a fun time with everyone. He went to the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit today with Ricky and the Lemperle's. (I had to work-hey it was the busiest shopping day of the year!) He didn't cry the entire day! He is excited to meet Marla for the first time and play with Cristian in a couple of weeks! Yeah! Maybe all the kids can visit Santa together? I know he will be at Santee Lakes Dec. 16th or 17th if we want to skip the lines at the malls! We are so grateful to have each and every single one of you in our lives. We love you!

Los Amigos

What Mom & Dad really do when they "cruise" down to Mexico...



(This is the last one, I swear)

Disco Anniversary

Today Nick and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. This past weekend Nick took me out on the town for a little dinner and dancing. Little did we know, someone captured us on video while tearing up the dance floor. Watch out dancing with the stars!



Ok, so we really just went out to dinner at PF Changs and went and saw Dan in Real life. We had a fun time even if there was no disco party. Maybe next year. . . .

CHRISTMAS EVE IDEA

It's been awhile since the Hartpence's have performed at Grandma's for Christmas Eve. I was thinking this would be the perfect addition to this years celebration.

TWO BANANA KIDS

BANANA FREAKS! Who knew that in Santee California live TWO little monkeys by the name of Alena and Dean who are CRAZY about bananas!?! Their father, knowing of their love of bananas, considerately brought home TWO bunches and TWO days later, the bananas are GONE!! Who would ever imagine that faces such as these TWO could shovel in so much fruit! I think Dean ate a whole bunch by himself!! (No wonder daddy changed TWO poopy diapers, today--HA!)

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Ever since I was little I loved to play with The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the backyard with Jared and also that sweet pizza shooter. So secertly in my mind and in my heart I have always dreamed of being a teenage mutant nijna turtle and I'm here today to announce my dream has come true. Turtles in a half shell... Turtle POWER!
I was also pondering and hoping that for our family picture we can take a picture of just the kids and we can all be ninja turtles but I guess since there are only 4, Rachel has been voted to be Splinter.. the rat. Haha. I call dibs on Rafael.

GET WELL

Grandma,

Good luck with your knee surgery. I know everything is going to go great and you'll be back on your feet in NO time! Get well soon, so you can chase me around at Christmas. We're all praying for you. WE LOVE YOU!

love, Cristian

What does a LION SAY?

Hey everybody!!! I hope all is well with everyone. For some strange reason our Kids did not want to be MEATBALLS for Halloween. On our way into Ricky and Troy's party, Alena asked us why we had to be FOOD for Halloween. As much as they enjoyed being a part of a great Italian (Fake Italian) meal, they just did not want to go out in public again dressed as part of a main dish. Alena really wanted to be a princess and we wanted Dean to be Tigger but it did not seem to work out that way.


.


Instead they both decide to be LIONS!!! Alena went to school as a lion because we told her that every other Girl would dress up as a princess and she needed to be different. Of course if Alena is a lion then Dean has to most definitely be one too. You have to admit this is a much more noble and prestigious costume that being a MEATBALL.

Who knew that Dean had so much hair. He left it that way ALL DAY. They had a great time trick or treating and definitely did not over indulge on candy. (Either did I, I did not even have 1 piece)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Larry

A day at the park

With winter fast approaching, soon it will be too cold for me to want to leave the house and play outside. We've been trying to use every warm minute we have playing at the park. We bought Cristian some balls at Target for 5 bucks, and if he could, he'd play with them all day long. Here are a few pictures from our day at the park last Saturday

NAMES!

Here is how we did the drawing for Christmas this year! KIDS: $10-$20 Cristian has Dean Dean has Hayden Hayden has Alena Alena has Cristian ADULTS: $40 Larry has Marla Christine has Troy Ricky has Jared Troy has Christine Rachel has Ricky Nick has Larry Jared has Nick Marla has Rachel Love ya!

Tis almost the Season!

We cannot believe that it's already November and Christmas is right around the corner! Rach and Marla-have you guys booked your airfare yet? We cannot wait to see all of you in less than a month and a half! Yeah!

What is everyone thinking about wearing for our Family Portrait? Do we want to match? Any ideas?

P.S. Do we want to draw names soon for our gift exchange? We would love to get our Christmas Shopping finished early this year!