Thursday, December 24, 2009

the twelve days of christmas

1) on december 8th, abc aired "a charlie brown christmas", my favorite holiday tradition by far! airing during prime-time hours since 1965, this animated special inspires me to find my own true meaning of christmas each year. i am pleasantly surprise that despite the religious connotation of the movie, it still airs on national television for over 40 consecutive years.
2) on december 12th, we had our very first tucci christmas event for our learners. all of our families were invited to attend to take pictures with santa. vicci was extremely generous and purchased gifts for all of our learners and even their siblings. it was definitely a success and i hope to see it become an annual event!
3) on december 24th, the north american aerospace defense command begins tracking santa claus' journey as he leaves the north pole to deliver toys to children all over the world. children can watch video clips of santa's travels, and anxiously await his arrival to their cities.
4) on december 1st, ryan took me to the same tree farm we went to last holiday season. we picked out a 5-foot douglas fir, perfectly trimmed and shaped. since we did the usc theme, i decided to switch to a lakers color scheme (they're having a better season anyway). i strung popcorn for 3 hours but loved every minute of the decoration process!
5) on november 23, kuma had surgery on her back paw to remove a tumor. cindy's been taking extra special care of her, including making a sweatshirt to keep her warm this winter season.
6) on december 16th, marianne gave birth to her and fritzi's daughter, lucia. weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces, measuring 20 inches long, mare decided to deliver her naturally, without an epidural. she sent me this darling picture of her in a stocking on christmas morning.
7) on december 24th, we received a care package from the lannons filled with hawaiian treats. i snagged the lemon bars from the cookie basket!
8) on december 24th, cindy, jacob, dj, zoe and i had fun playing with the special effects on photo booth app on my macbook. i've played around on it before but have never laughed so hard with the results.
9) on december 30th, melanie gave zavey my christmas presents. he has such an affection for horses. i'm so happy he didn't already have the toys i got him.
10) christmastide, commonly known as the twelve days of christmas or yuletide, is the period between christmas eve and january 5th. between christmas, dj's birthday, new year's eve, rommel, dad and cindy's birthdays, there are numerous things to be happy for.