Inauguration Day

Zion was wildly happy to go to school on Inauguration Day. Not only did students not have to wear their uniforms, they spent the day in the gym watching the festivities on a huge movie screen and eating popcorn and cupcakes. Zion paid special attention to his appearance, donning all of his Obama gear and spray painting his hair red, white and blue. He even insisted on doing Zen's hair, though Zen was too squirmy to pose for a photograph of his 'do. Zen and I stayed home to watch the hoopla. We were joined by Wendy and Esther, which was very nice. When Sam came home, we celebrated his birthday. A very good day.

Lego Discovery Center

We spent MLK at the lego discovery center. Legos are still Zion's passion--he put together a 1,009 piece set (a gift from Uncle Michael) a few weeks ago in under 6 hours, working patiently with a few breaks for food and water. This may be useful someday. I'm guessing that we probably have close to a million legos in our house right now, but Zion uses them over and over and is always seeking to add to his collection.

Sam's Family Birthday Celebration

Betty made a delicious Mexican dinner for Sam's birthday--Zen had fun playing with his cousins, especially Madison and Brian.

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year with Larry and Ben in a low-key fashion. Sam and I cooked dozens of tamales and a double batch of his famous chili while Larry and the boys watched a movie. We ordered Chinese food (a Pam Russell tradition that we've kept alive for years) and read our fortunes in the cookies. Some of us made it to at least see the ball drop in NYC, but Zion passed out early in his room and Ben crashed on the couch.

The next day we had Sam's side of the family over to celebrate a late Christmas. It was nice to have everyone in our Evanston home and to see the kids interact. Here are some pictures.

Ink'd

For Christmas this year, Sam and I decided to exchange tattoos. Sam went with both boys' names in a design he and a friend designed. I decided (after advice from the tattoo artist that Sam's was too masculine and large for me) on getting a tribal-like Z on my forearm. Never again will I need to look away when getting blood drawn ... I'll always have the boys' Z to look at. Here are our new tats.

Zen's New Groove

Enjoy this video of Zen dancing to tunes from Zion's phone.

A few more shots from Missouri...

Christmas in Missouri--pictured below:

The boys gather to show off new gear, Zen and Grandma on Christmas, Jake proudly rides Grandma's big wheel, Great Grandma shares a cuddle with Zen.

Christmas in Missouri

It was so nice to get together with Rebecca,Jess, Jake, Michael, Mom and Grandma for the holidays. Jasper fell and broke his hip on Christmas Eve, but he got through surgery and was recovering nicely by the time we left. Jedi is taking a vacation--with Rebecca and Jess in Atlanta! They decided she would be a good dog for a trial run, as they are expecting to get one of their own in the future. Our time in Missouri was spent cooking, enjoying each other, watching Jake and Zen interact, and taking advantage of the mild weather in the south to spend some time outside. Here are some pictures.

Rub a Dub Dub...

2 cousins in the tub. This was at the beginning of their time together, so they were a little subdued. Very polite, actually. Such beautiful boys!