Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving at Aunt Jill's parent's house, Gigou & Jerry. We had such a great time! The kids enjoyed being the center of attention :-)

Aunt Beth & Luke

Bagga Judy, Uncle Jason & Aunt Jill

Luke hamming it up

Our little prisoners

Mommy & her babies

Where's Luke?

There he is!

Maddie playing in her fort (underneath the dinner table). Thank goodness she didn't pull the table cloth off!!

Pizza Party!

Aunt Jill & Uncle Jason came home for Thanksgiving so Wednesday night we hosted a pizza party at our house! We missed Aunt Jill (she was hanging out with Gigou & Jerry & didn't come down until we were asleep). She did come over Wednesday morning with Aunt Beth for a little playdate :-)

Grandpa Silly & Luke


Luke-man & Uncle Jason


Madison's fashion statement...blanket sleeper & Bagga Judy's heels!


Bagga helping Maddie into her jammies


Luke wishing that the cap was off this water so he could really guzzle it


Madison & Bagga Judy


Madison & Grandpa Silly (making her rounds :-)


Posing with Uncle Jason

Mid-week Dinner with the Florios & Burks

Tuesday we squeezed in a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with our good friends the Florios & the Burks. The Burks were visiting for a few weeks from Moldova (outside of Romania) so it was so great to see them! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of their beautiful babies, Sadie & Hannah. I will be sure to snap some when they move back to the states in a few months. Here are a few of the pictures I did grab...

Madison & Paige in the rocking chair singing "Rock-a-bye-baby"



Paige & Luke climbing in & out of the Florio's sideboard

Bagga Judy's Birthday!

Thursday was Bagga Judy's birthday so we went to the Grill to celebrate! We had about 1 hour of good behavior & then complete meltdowns. It was still a great time :-)

The birthday girl & Madison.

What do you have to say Grandpa Silly?

Bagga, mind if I borrow your glasses?

Don't I look smart???

Give me that camera Mommy!

Luke's turn to chat with Grandpa Silly

Grandpa Silly you are so funny!

Road Trip to Lake Tahoe

This weekend we set out for Tahoe for the wedding reception of our good friends Kevin & Heather (Congratulations Sakai's!!!) Sean couldn't go so we packed Madison, Paige, Luke, Dara, Mike & I into one car and we hit the road. It was so much fun!

Full car...Madison & Paige sharing the 3rd row, Luke & Dara in the 2nd row.

The ladies were too much for Luke. He passed out halfway there.

Paige & Madison exploring the beach @ Sunnyside.

Dara & Peeeege (Maddie speak), "Paige" to the rest of us.

A little different lighting without the flash but very fuzzy. (It was a gloomy afternoon.)

The wedding! Kevin & Heather held their wedding reception @ Kevin's parent's house on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe (Rubicon). It was so great that it was at a home because there was a room specifically for kids! They even had babysitters. We dropped Madison & Paige off & went to eat & socialize a bit but we came back in time to catch the bubbles :-)

Brooke (Kevin's niece) & Paige chasing bubbles

Paige, Madison, Brooke & Brenna (Brenna is the only one that would give me a "cheese"!!)

Luke trying to find his way into the fun

Maybe I'll just stay here & enjoy the bubbles at a distance

Quick fast forward to Sunday morning...Paige & Madison posing for pictures while Auntie Dara & Mike pack the car.

Pretty soon Luke will be able to snuggle in for a close-up. Until then, he doesn't mind crawling in as close as possible :-)

Luke's 1st Date

This morning Luke & I walked to coffee with our friends Ashley & Reese. Happy 6 week birthday Reese!

Luke wishing there was still coffee in this cup


Coming over to give Reese a sip of my coffee


Mommy, I think she likes me!


The birthday girl, Reese


6 weeks today! And the cheeks to prove it!

Uncle Jason's 28th Birthday

This past weekend we went to Santa Barbara to celebrate Uncle Jason's birthday (11/2). We did what we normally do when the Luker's get together...we ate, drank, shopped & napped. It was fantastic.

Madison, the comedienne. She was hamming it up at dinner on Friday night.


Put a cork in it Maddie. Madison enjoying the wine we ordered.


Luke relaxing at Sambo's Saturday morning (appropriately dressed in his UCSB t-shirt that Aunt Jill had given him.)


This picture was taken at Luke's birthday party but I just received it from Aunt Jill & I had to post it. Big Luke looks so tough in Uncle Jason's aviators!

Luke-man!

Poor little Luke hasn't gotten much face time on the blog because so many things have been happening for his big sister. Still, things are changing for him everyday! He is such a chatter box. He can say "Mama, Dada, turtle, ball, gentle & football"! Of course, he can say "no, no, no" really well...he hears it enough :-) He just sprouted his top front two teeth which gives him a total of 5. He can cruise while holding onto things & today he practiced standing alone. He has done it once or twice before but today he just kept doing it over & over again. Up & down, up & down...at least 20 times! We're so excited...walking is right around the corner! Here are some cute pictures of him practicing standing...


Showing off his new moves without a shirt



Here's a great shot of all 5 of his teeth