Welcome Baby Holden

Finally, after the long anticipated birth, Holden James Franks made his debut on December 24th. We were so lucky to have been in town to meet him before heading back to AZ. This little boy sure did a number on his mommy! He was 9lbs. 3 oz. and Keri had no drugs!! I am so glad her and the baby are both doing well and are healthy. We just wish we lived closer so that we could see them all more often.
Can you tell who the proud Papa is?

Good job Keri, Holden is such a gorgeous baby, I am so proud of you! We can't wait until we get to see him again. We love you guys.

Christmas 2008

Every year we spend Christmas morning with my family in Chico and then head over to Clearlake in the afternoon to be with Jeff's family. We are very fortunate that our families only live 2 hours apart. It's still a little crazy though considering we have 2 BIG Christmas's with each family all in one day. By the end of the day I think both Rilyn and Jeff and I are all exhausted. Here's Rilyn at Grammy and Papa's checking out her presents. It was fun this year watching Rilyn enjoy unwrapping her gifts.
I finally got Rilyn to slow down for a second and let me take a picture of her and her best friend Hector. Poor guy got carried around a lot, but I have to say he was quite the trooper! Thanks Hector for putting up with Rilyn for 3 days. A picture before the craziness began at Jeff's parents house. Everything looked so beautiful and festive! Jeff's mom goes all out on making her home a little winter wonderland.One of our only family pictures we were able to take during Christmas, but of course Emerson was asleep. Merry Christmas 2008!

Christmas Baking Day

So, another tradition this time of year is for my Dad and I to bake together. We always look forward to this each year. We crank up the Christmas music and set aside an entire day to bake all different kinds of goodies for our neighbors and friends. This year we decided Rilyn was at an age where she could start assisting us. Below is a picture of her attentively learning how to roll a peanut butter ball. Next, she moved onto the cookie cutting station. This was a little more challenging for her and I think she was a bit confused as to why they weren't ready to eat since they looked like cookies. Here, as my Dad would say, she was eating our profits! We had to explain to her that the cookies weren't for us, but I know she just wanted to make sure her cookies were good enough for others to enjoy. Here's Chef Lobosky creating his all-famous peanut butter balls. It is funny because we bake about 8 different things throughout the day and my Dad only gets to make the pb balls since they are so time consuming. He complains every year about this task, but his treats get the most praise! Luckily, Great Grandma Mary came by to help out with the baby and was my stirring assistant. She also was a taste tester, which is a job I think we all enjoyed. We had to take a picture of Emerson in her Santa suit, since this will probably be the only time she wears it. By the way, did you notice how I didn't make any of the pictures during baking. So much for it being about me and my Dad only, I think I have been replaced.

Girls Night Out

It's tradition that every year my high school girlfriends and I get together for our annual Christmas party. This year was a little different since the two local girls that usually host our party are both pregnant. We decided it would be easiest on everyone to just meet out for appetizers and drinks at our friend's new restaurant, Crush. The food was delicious and my wine was amazing! The most exciting part was that my friend Keri was having contractions five minutes apart the whole night. We envisioned us all grabbing a bottle of wine and heading to the hospital together to celebrate! Unfortunately, Little Man hasn't come just yet, but Keri is definitely in labor and will hopefully be holding her baby by the end of the day!

We have been crazy like usual, running around from place to place, trying to make the most of our time home. We were able to go spend a couple days with Grammy, Papa and the doggies after coming down from the cabin. Rilyn has really grown attached to their dog, Hector. Every morning she would wake up asking for him. When she went potty she would want Hector to come listen too! We will be heading back up to Clearlake to spend Christmas with Jeff's family, so I will definitely get a picture of Rilyn with her BFF Hector. Jeff was able to get to the Bay area for two days to see his friends, Oscar and Gene. I wish we were all able to spend time together, but with the two little ones it would have been too much work. I think Jeff probably enjoyed his time without having to be "Dad" too.

Lake Almanor with the Family

Guess what, we got very excited because FINALLY we had a big snow! What a difference a day can make. We probably got 2-3 feet of snow overnight. Rilyn was so anxious to get out a make a snowman and play.

Here's Auntie Hollie keeping Boo-Boo warm while the rest of us enjoyed watching Rilyn and Gramps out in the snow.This is a view of what we woke up to on our 3rd day up at the cabin. It was so beautiful and always fun to be the first tracks made in fresh snow.

Can you tell Rilyn was having a blast in the snow. She loved throwing it up in the air and watching it fall down.

Unfortunately the snow was so dry it was hard to pack, therefore this was the best snowman Gramps and Rilyn could make. At least she was able to finally make the hugely anticipated snowman, with a carrot nose and fruit snacks for eyes.
Rilyn and Grandpa decided to go for an "animal adventure" and follow the deer tracks. She explained to Grandpa that if they followed the tracks they would find where the deer live. I think they were out in the snow for over an hour, thank you to Gramps since the rest of us wanted to stay inside where it was nice and warm!

Lake Almanor With "The Kids Only"

The first day we got up to my parents cabin there was no snow, as you can see in the back ground. For the first two days it was just us, Jeff's sister, her kids and my brother. Rilyn loved playing with her aunt, uncle and cousins.

Here is Sarina giving some attention to her new cousin, Emerson.

Finally, there was some snow! Cheese everyone. Here is Michael, Leslie, Sarina, Auntie Jenn and Jeff.

Rilyn was so happy to finally get to go play in the snow, although there wasn't much yet.....