Holiday Walk 2009 and a wee tree

This is the first year that Rafa (and now, Luca, under R's tutelage) has an awareness of Santa, reindeer, and all holiday trappings...he also knows to look through the jillions of toy catalogs that arrive by the day to find the trucks and tractors he and Luca most want. So far we've convinced them both that Santa brings ONE toy per child. And when we met Santa during the Holiday Walk last weekend, what did Rafa say he wanted? A blue tractor. Luca chimed in he wanted the same. Rafi since has amended this to be a fire engine. So it will be.

Snow is here in the Berkshires...a few shots of snowy fun during the Holiday Walk and of the wee Christmas tree (we are heading to Puerto Rico for actual Christmas, to further confound the Santa storyline) we put up, also last weekend.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Holidays to ALL!

Happy First Birthday, Luca

Happy first birthday to Luca!  We celebrated his big day with a small party on Saturday, his actual b-day.  Much fun was had by all, especially the special little guy.  Rafi loved it too, and spent much of the day practicing saying "happy birthday, Nuca!" then moved on to include us all, by saying throughout the day "happy birthday, mommy!", mama, rafi, even kiki (stella, the dog) got wished a happy day.  

Here are a few shots of the two of them just before the fete.  They are simply incredible. 

The big day!

We are official!  Luca's finalization in the Northampton court was on Thursday, February 26, 2009.  A memorable (if short) ceremony with the same judge who presided over Rafi's finalization.  We were 20 minutes late due to a snow storm that made our driving slow and a bit treacherous, but thankfully, the judge was later than we were!

We went to breakfast at the Hotel Northampton afterward, and Rafi and Luca took over the dining room.  It was a blissful and wonderful day to formally say welcome to Luca...

A couple of pics from our happy day here.   Have no idea what I am doing in the second photo but clearly a bit giddy with celebration.

Christmas morning 2008

Spent our first Christmas morning in Mass. together as a family!  Rafi and Luca woke early (nothing new) and we celebrated with pancakes and presents.  Rafi in particular loved his phone from Grandma and Grandpa Texas and his wooden trucks from us (still a fave).  Luca liked his choo-choo (still a fave in the bath) but we think he liked the wrapping paper best of all...and of course they both loved the Christmas tree lights!