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Here we are in front of a cool, old church in La Serana, Chile. This was a charming town - it had some great shopping too!

All dressed up and ready for dinner. Here we are on the ship early on in our South American cruise. Dinner time was always a favorite!

Today we embarked on a new adventure! We took some very long flights to Santiago, Chile to begin a 15-night South American Cruise. We went through Mexico City where many people were wearing masks due the the outbreak of swine flu. (Luckily, we did not catch the flu, but sadly, the ship did not stop in three scheduled Mexican ports of call - just as a precaution. We did get to go to four countries - Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Then - lots of days at sea! We had a blast!

Keaton is hugging the giraffe that he got for Christmas from his grandparents and he loves playing in his new jungle room. Lisa decorated the jungle room for Keaton over the summer. He still sleeps in the nursery (which has a Noah's Ark theme), but when when our second baby comes along, Keaton can easily make the move to his own new room.

Right now the plan is to keep the Noah's Ark theme for the next baby, but if we get a girl, We'll add a lot more pink!

Here we are having a mini snowball fight in the front yard. (Keaton and Lisa won!) Keaton loves to eat the snow!

This picture was taken from our bedroom window looking out on the back yard. It was snowing and the horses behind our fence looked so cool (literally) foraging through the snow. We thought it would make a nice picture.

Our lot is on a 1/2 acre and we are zoned for horses. I love that our neighborhood looks new and suburban, but that our back yard looks and feels like a big open ranch. We love to look at and feed the horses often. Keaton used to be a little shy of the horses, but now he likes feeding them (apples and carrots are their favorite).

Christmas day! Keaton had a blast opening his Christmas presents. We played all day long! Sadly, Doug had a bad cold, but managed to have fun in spite of it. Keaton's birth-mom, along with her mom and sister, came over to see Keaton and wish us all a Merry Christmas. It was fun to have a two-year-old this year!

Everyone grab a bell and jingle along! (Even Keaton knows the words to "Jingle Bells!" Enjoying the festivities on Christmas Eve with some of Lisa's family.

We also had a big party on Christmas Eve-Eve (the 23rd) with Doug's family. There on lots of kids on his side and they did a great job acting out the "nativity." (Sadly, we only captured it on video, and not still shots.)

Keaton has an "Elmo" Christmas! He opened his Elmo items on Christmas Eve and modeled them for the family. I think he looks 'smashing!'

Tonight we took Keaton to see Santa Clause at Thanksgiving point. He was a little hesitant once he actually got placed on Santa's lap, but he managed to ask for a kite, and a baby sister. (At least Santa brought the kite!) He did enjoy the candy cane, however! He also liked petting the live reindeer that were outside - they were pretty cool. We also drove through the drive through light show. It was fun and festive.

This evening we went to our church Christmas dinner party. Every one got an instrument to play and we sung Christmas carols and ate yummy food. We love our friends and neighbors and have a great time when we get together. It is fun teaching Keaton about "Santa" but we also try to emphasize the REAL meaning of Christmas. Keaton understands that Christmas is a celebration of the day Jesus was born.