Merry Christmas!!

Wow it is amazing that it is Christmas eve already.. This year flew by! With a new baby and a big move I think made it seem to go by even faster :-) Still mindboggling that we are this close to 2009

This will be short blog today. I have been lax - sorry! But it has been busy. We had Sebastian's offcie Christmas/Hanukkah party here the day after his parents arrived (last week) which is when we took the picture above. Ty was not real thrilled to sit for a picture which is unlike her...but with so many people around and so many things going on - well lets just say it was the end of the day and she was DONE :-)

We have not done a whole lot of travelling so far. We squeezed in going to Caesarea two days ago when the wind literally almost blew us over!! Casaerea is an old roman port by the sea and we were covered with salt & sand by the time things were done. It was a sign of things to come. The weather has not been great - windy, storming and rainy the last couple days (we found Alex does NOT like thunderstorms at night). So we are looking forward to the sun returning to do some day trips..

Making things more interesting, Sebastian and Ty have caught a cold/flu bug and I am not sure if I have that or an allergic reaction. For those that know me well, the 'godfather' voice is back and I feel like I swallowed razor blades! Ugh! Not quite what we wanted right before Christmas but what can you do? LOL Here's hoping the sore throats, etc disappear asap! (& that Alex and the in-laws do not get sick!!)

On that note I am off to start Christmas eve dinner.....tomorrow, weather (and health)permitting, we are off to have Christmas lunch at the Sea of Galilee so I will not be on for a couple days.....

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

When the Cats Away the Mice.....

....find the diaper creme and think it's skin lotion!!! LOL I was upstairs nursing Alex thinking Ty was still asleep in bed..I came downstairs and found that she was definitely NOT asleep anymore!! And quite proud of herself as well! Ahhhh well -she will have very moisturized skin, right?! :-)

Guess who likes to stand??

Sighs...Yes that is our 6 1/2 month old little chub legs standing already......Actually from this angle you cannot appreciate HOW chubby her lil thighs are :-) Skype me and I'll show ya!

Unlike her sister, Alex decided the 6th month would be a good time to become proficient at commando crawling and standing! Not quite what Mom wanted but as long as she cannot get past the stairs in the family room I am safe (not sure how long that is going to last).....

Missed the shot of her hands grabbing that bottom stair :) This is what happens when we leave the room for a moment and don't take her with us. Stubborn!!! Where in the world does she get that?!?! hahaha And yes that is marble tiled floors - one reason I was wishing she would take the slow route to crawling/walking. The rosy cheeks are not from the sun - she is teething though none have popped through yet!

All this movement has changed things haha Tyler is interacting with her more -often to 'save' something that is hers. Not surprisingly sharing changes from day to day with what is 'Ty's" and what can be shared.

Looking so sweet - till she lets loose her "terradactyl" screech...the one she uses when she wants your attention. Trust me - it works!! Tyler does not appreciate it and sometimes it results in the scream wars.....I thought that wasn't to start till they hit their teens?? LOL

You know you are a Dad when....

When your "Crackberry" - as your wife calls it - used to look all professional.........

...till your daughter gets a hold of it and now it looks like this......

Just so Daddy remembers her at work LMAO She did this to Sebastian's blackberry one night when we were out for dinner!

Dead Sea, En Gedi & Masada

Well Sebastian took some time off this Thanksgiving week and we really packed it in!!! First we hit the Dead Sea where you will also find En Gedi - a desert oasis. We also went to the fortress Masada, high up on the cliffs facing the Sea and Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found...

The kids were troopers - especially Ty. She really enjoyed En Gedi (as did we all) and the animals. But the next day at Masada I think she'd hit her limit for walking and site-seeing :-) Wednesday we went back to the house to take a quick break and re-pack for the Galilee trip.

Masada was impressive. I ended up carrying Tyler quite a bit (she had exhaustion and mama-citis at the same time) so missed a chunk so I am looking forward to our next outing there where I may have another opportunity to see it. (We live close enough that we can, and have, done it as a day trip) Qumran was not quite what I was expecting. Seeing the cave from a distance was sort of anti-climatic...other sites on the trip more than make up for it though!!

Alex is doing the inchworm crawl and wanting big Sisters stuff which is making things interesting LOL We ended up staying at the Youth Hostel of all places. It was fantastic. If any of you make it here (or are here) and need hotels DO check these places out. They are not the small dorm-room crappy types of things. The ones we have seen and stayed at are newer and with kids it works out great!! A lot less expensive too!! Which is saying alot give what they charge in Israel for hotel rooms (bloody ridiculous and for not much). The only bad thing if you can call it that is I usually push the beds together & against a wall so me and the kids sleep in one bed and Daddy lucks out with a bed of his own! (Sigh) Not fair, but with Alex still wanting to eat at night its the easiest way!

Next blog is Galilee...