christmas 2012!

We are so thankful for a good year filled with family time and look forward to another year. The kids continue to amaze us everyday and are now 8 and 5. Noble has started kindergarten and although he is doing well and is thrilled to be there, he has been completely exhausted by it.  He loves math, is eager to read, loves to play rummy and seems to like basketball. Mahala is now in third grade and is still an avid reader, loves science and began running cross country. She became the owner of two guinea pigs and also just began her orthodontic adventures. These two kids continue to love each other as much as they dislike each other! Yes, this year was filled with sibling rivalry and Douglas and I are just trying to keep our sanity through it all. Douglas is starting his 8th year at San Quentin and is dreaming of a private practice one day. I have returned to work and since I work flexible hours from home, I can still keep up with my "other job". We also now have tenants in our rental unit downstairs. We spent some amazing time with our families this year. We began our summer with a wonderful cruise of Alaska with my family. We then celebrated Douglas's parents' 50th anniversary at Lake Shasta on a houseboat and later with a party. We look forward to hearing from all of you soon. You can still keep up with us on our blog peterfrankids.blogspot.com. Merry Christmas!

cookies and gingerbread houses

there were cookies and cookies and cookies and whole gingerbread villages! we had fun with the milsteads decorating sweets for the season.

guinea pig love!

the brownies make soap

the brownies were busy making soaps and packaging them to sell in order to raise money for the elderly housing complex in town. they turned out amazing!

(second) (vegan) thanksgiving

i guess one cannot have too many thanksgivings! we had a small impromptu one here at home with our friends - our vegan friends - making it very easy to agree on food choices. YUM!

shooting hoops

the day after thanksgiving, before heading home from santa rosa, we got to watch david play basketball in a  tournament. we all loved seeing him in action. we even got noble excited about basketball, so he may take a class after the new year!

8th birthday science party!

 mahala and her friend tyler, who share the same birthday, had a great science party with about 20 of their friends at tyler's mom's chemistry classroom. the kids had a "blast" doing experiments, watching experiments and then going outside to burn off sugar and shoot rockets. we're so grateful to have such great friends to help throw mahala a party. we know that we couldn't have possibly made it that cool!

the franks' 50th

the franks celebrated 50 years of marriage this past weekend. it was a beautiful event in san jose and so many friends and family came out. and douglas gave a great speech!

photo shoot

part of the 50th anniversary party was having a photo session right before. look at how grown-up all of the cousins look (we missed tanner though!)

felt and glue guns

they think they own the place. where are my clean floors?? they were having fun gluing scraps of felt with a glue gun.

academy fieldtrip

the third graders had a fieldtrip to the academy of sciences and i got this cool picture down int he aquarium. i call it jacques cousteau meets charlies angels!

birthday invite

mahala, who is turning 8, shares her birthday with a  classmate, tyler, who is turning 9. tyler had the great idea of combining birthday parties this year and so thanks to his mom, a chemistry teacher, we are planning  a science party - this was the invite picture!

mahala's a runner!

cross country was a big hit this fall...and she's looking forward to track and field int eh spring :)

happy halloween from hermoine and hedwig!

elkshorn slough

probably the best place i have been too for wildlife viewing! south of santa cruz....100s of seals and dozens of sea otters. birds of all kinds...simply amazing!

the third graders take on F.L.W.

today's fieldtrip was to frank lloyd wright's marin civic center....so alright, not the best work of his in my humble opinion, but i guess it's never too early to learn about this architect! the kids really seemed to like this building, they knew there was something different about it. it was pretty neat to hear their opinions!

weekend in santa cruz

 a special trip just for the four of us down to santa cruz. what a beautiful city it is. we had a great time at the beach and ate some good food while we were there. kids just loved staying in a hotel too!

first day of school

check out the 3rd grader and the kindergartener! it was the first day of school and it went well for both. noble's smile after being let out tells it all right?

bodega bay

an old friend of douglas's invited us up to bodega bay where he and his family were vacationing. it was foggy and cold but it was nice to get out on a beach.

adventure playground with friends

stowe lake

mahala and noble waterskiing!!!

shasta lake with the franks

mud bath

little fish in a big lake

neverending game of parcheesi and kids playing enchanted forest

view of lake shasta from shasta caverns

the boats with the setting sun

we spent the week up at shasta lake with the whole frank clan! grandma and papa, deena, gil and he boys, david and karen and the kids, geri and chuck and the girls, and susie and jim. full of waterskiing, swimming, games, big family meals, hot tubbing, dancing, water polo and campfires.

brian's angels

nikolai's wedding

nikolai and kimberley were married up in tilden park this past friday. a few other virginia tech cowgill alumni were there as well making for a fun evening. it was a beautiful outdoor wedding and i could not complain about the great view from my seat at the table :)