Christmas Pictures

Working on them... here's a good one so far...

Since we were close by we paid a visit to LBJ's boyhood home in Johnson City.

Opening presents with their cousins... Kees looking waaaaay to freaky in the Hannah Montana wig... hands down the most popular games with all the kids were the Guitar Hero III that Kiersten and Kees got and Rock Band that their cousins got ... both of which they rocked 'till late into the night!

Christmas

I'll be posting some pictures later... but here is the view of the tree at my sister's house from the game room... before the kids invaded ;-)

Christmas Tree

Kiersten is our official Christmas tree selection and decorating person and she picked out a beautiful one this year. It's hard to tell from the pics, but she did an amazing job decorating it (with Kees' help) and after she got done I think it's the prettiest tree we've ever had!

La Posada Boat Parade

The girls looked comfortable on the hammock until they boys decided they wanted on!

At 8 o'clock the boat parade began, and about twenty boats decorated with lights and Christmas decorations made their way down the canals.

The boat parade was also a Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive, so the kids brought unwrapped toys to give to the Marines... here they're delivering them to the boat.

The girls lining up on the bulkhead catching candy thrown from one of Santa's boats.

Sinterklaas Avond

Because we're Dutch we celebrate Sinterkaas Avond on the evening of December 5.

Sinterklaas (also called Sint-Nicolaas in Dutch (pronunciation (help·info)) and Saint Nicolas in French) is a holiday tradition in the Netherlands and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve (December 5) or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6. The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of, among other things, children.

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve, (December 5) is the chief occasion for gift-giving. The evening is called pakjesavond ("presents' evening"). Traditionally, presents are ingeniously wrapped, and are therefore called surprises. Also, presents are traditionally accompanied by a poem from Saint Nicholas.

Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It was during the American War of Independence, that the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam) which had been swapped by the Dutch for other territories, reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past.[1] The name Santa Claus is derived from older Dutch Sinte Klaas.

There's an excellent article on Sinterklaas in Wikipedia that goes more in depth about the traditions than what I have here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

Thanksgiving Tournament: Sunday

It was NASTY cold Sunday morning when we got to the fields at 7am and it seemed to just get colder as the day went on. It was so cold that Kees and I watched Kiersten's last game from the (heated) car!

Thanksgiving Tournament - Saturday

The girls huddle for warmth while Kees plays Fifa '08 on his DS.

(I just noticed that EVERY girl in this picture has BRACES... I should have been an orthodontist ;-)

Both teams played well... and they both tied their arch-rivals! Both teams dominated the playing field but were unable to pull off the victory. With temperatures in the forties and rain and strong winds blowing, by the end of the games the kids said they couldn't feel their toes!

Thanksgiving

Tom built a new barn and the "hay loft" is the kids' hangout... shuffleboard, big-screen and all... but amazingly the kids spent most of their time outside.

Kees playing football with the big boys... he jukes Christopher and runs for a touchdown!!!