Reaching Out

Here's another cute photo from Thanksgiving, Sam usually lights up like this when a camera is around...
Upcoming events (and photos!) include Anna's Christmas performances for school and church...

Thanksgiving 2005

Here's Thanksgiving at the Tsurimoto home. The turkey was about 23 pounds, the same weight as Sammy (who was napping during this time). The menu also included the traditional stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and surprise, Almond Roca bars for dessert.

A nice family photo, which we don't have too many of. Grandpa was picking persimmons from the tree in the background... had to get that in there!

Happy Turkey Day!

Curly

The look of Sam still amazes me. His curly blonde hair, the blue eyes... it's interesting to hear comments of those who just stare at him. The other week someone wasn't sure if Sam was a boy or girl... then while I was holding Sam another person asked, "Is he yours?" Also, Anna noted his cheeks are puffy even though nothing is inside them. It sure is constant entertainment to say the least.

Artist Anna

Anna is really into drawing right now, she has a variety of writing devices but prefers the ballpoint-type glitter pens right now.

Look at how Anna wrote the beginning letter sounds next to these pictures. "F" for flower, "s" for sun... although she does have "b" for dinosaur, I'm still impressed.
P.S. The way the gingerbread house in the photo above is from Costco... also doesn't Anna look like she's older than 4 1/2 here?... eek...

California Adventure

Here are some photos from our recent trip to California Adventure. This photo was taken under the "Golden Gate Bridge" near the entry. Don't Sammy and Steve look alike here?

We met up with our friends on Veterans Day for a few hours, it was quite crowded but lots of fun nonetheless. These are the Bug's Life bumper cars, Kayleen and dad Jeff are next to Steve and Anna. I like this ride because the bumps are surprisingly gentle.

Here is the main tree at California Adventure, the one at Disneyland is much bigger and decorated in all-gold ornaments to commmemorate the 50th anniversary. Still, I really like this multicolored tree with the pretty snowflakes.

Happy Birthday Mari!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Mari,
Happy Birthday to you!

(This photo was taken about two years ago!)

Michi

Michi hasn't been a focus on a blog entry although she is an important part of our family. She is protects our family well and gives us lots of love even though she is the fifth wheel these days and seems to know it. Michi's favorite member of the family by far is Steve who feeds her and walks her and gives her more attention than the rest of us do, although Sammy seems also very smitten. Sometimes of one us, like Anna here, will show Michi a lot of sweetness which really catches Michi off guard.

Then and Now

How quickly this year has gone, and how much Sammy has changed. Look at the little "Sir" when he was born, little blue hands and swollen face. (It seems like he's wearing a very similiar cap in the new photo.)
Interesting note, Steve does call Sammy "Sir" quite a bit, and when I looked at Steve's baby book recently, Marilyn wrote that Ted also called Steve "Sir" when Steve was a little fellow. When I pointed that out to Steve, he was quite surprised and did not remember that, but it must have stuck in his memory bank somehow.

Sleeper

Kids grow up so fast, but it's nice to see Anna looking very young in certain types of clothing. She used to live in sleepers, now she can barely fit into them.

A Duo

Sammy gets perturbed at times when Anna has a toy he wants and Anna's not always so gentle when she interacts with him but they enjoy each other's company (most of the time).

Harvest Festival

On October 31st we attended the Harvest Festival at our church. Anna still had a bad cough from her 4-day cold and fever from last Thursday and Sam had a flu shot that day so our kids were not in the best shape but still had fun nonetheless. Steve dressed up as Japanese Mail/Male, I was a pirate (but was mistaken as a hippie and a biker) and Anna was Belle. Sammy was a bumblebee but shed his costume quickly. Here we are with Anna's two pals, Ladybug Tasha and Princess Brooke.

Here is Anna with the boy she'd like to marry one day, Ian. He is a younger man but a great choice! We're ready to start planning... hee hee!

Backyardigans

Anna is crazy about the "Backyardigans", cartoon characters on a Nick Jr show. This is one of the characters, Pablo the penguin. This stuffed animal is being sold as a pillow through Linens-n-Things for $19.99, much less than what's been seen on EBay. Let's just say this is an early Christmas present for Anna. She's quite smitten, as is her favorite Snowbear.