Christmas and the new year

Joaquin's Christmas list-this is the first formal list we have written and also our first letter to Santa Claus:

Trampoline
Robot
Toy gun
Digger
Toy airplane that flies
Box of super heroes
Blue bicycle (he has a red one, but red is not his favorite color)
Pogo stick
Periscope

Joaquin's Christmas list for Rhiannon:

Elmo

We also did our first visit to Santa at a Victorian Christmas celebration at the Banning house.  Santa is in a sleigh and you could climb up with him and take a picture.  We didn't get that far, but Joaquin did manage to ask for his robot while standing below on the ground.

I had a week and a half off between Christmas and the new year and although Gideon had to work on the eves and New Year's day, it was the most family together time we've had in a long time.  We also had some scheduling problems with Gideon's family celebrations, which caused us to have a smaller group in our home instead.  That had its advantages and disadvantages as Joaquin is finally enjoying being around bigger groups and hanging out with his family, so sad that we missed that, but it also required alot less 'schedule' and travel and that was nice.

This year, we went to the Mission Inn with its 9M lights, saw ice sculptures in Long Beach, and headed up to Frazier Park for an overnight in the snow.  The snow was largely a big hit with Joaquin and Gideon making a snowman, all of us throwing snowballs, Rhiannon trying to eat her first batch and staying in a cozy cabin for the night.  It was also a reminder of how picky Joaquin has gotten with his clothing and day 2 of his activities were totally shot as he could not find anything acceptably warm and soft for the day.  Joaquin has only grown about an inch in the past year while his feet continue to grow, which means growth spurt coming up for me, and I dread the clothing and shoe conversations that will likely come with it. 

2012 was a great, if not hectic, year for us.  My new job offers us growth opportunity that we could have never accomplished in our previous situation.  It definitely felt like a new era with our transition into a 4 person family, a rebalancing of parental roles and responsibilities, new professional opportunities, and beginning our search for what Joaquin's grade school years will look like.  2013 promises more change and is such an unknown right now depending on our housing and school...major disruption or a continued ease into our 'new' pattern?