S-N-O-W!!!!!

One of the things we love about living in Sacramento is being at the feet of the Sierra Nevadas. In Summer, it gives us endless camping opportunities. In the Winter, on the other hand, it gives us SNOW!!!!!
Tommy decided on Christmas Eve morning that Baby Carrie needed to take her first trip to the Snow. So we all got bundled up, loaded up our warm clothes and sleds, and headed out. Here are some pics of the fun:

And I couldn't resist posting this clip of Mama and Tommy sledding:

Thanksgiving in Los Angeles

Okay, I realize that I'm putting up my Thanksgiving post on New Year's Eve........

I finally got the T-Giving pictures and Christmas ones downloaded, so I'm going to do several posts today if I can.
For Thanksgiving we made our traditional trek to Los Angeles to hang out with Obaachan, Jma, Grandpa Ed, and Auntie Ashley. While we were there, we went hiking:

Took the kids to Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific:

And hung out with the Family:

On the wany back up, the whole family followed us halfway back up the state and we took a side trip out to Yosemite! Even though the weather didn't cooperate, we got some great pics of the kids and the mountains:

More to come........

Updates (Pre-Thanksgiving version)

Uncle Carl and Aunt Karen reminded us that we haven't updated the blog in a while. So here goes.......

Since we last wrote, Tommy and Carrie have been up to some very important work.

They picked out pumpkins from the pumpkin patch:

Used Papa as a jungle jim

And went hiking at Lake Clementine Dam.

There will be more pictures and updates once I get the Thanksgiving pictures downloaded.

Tommy Performs For an Audience

Tonight, Tommy was jumping around while Baby Carrie sat in her high chair. Apparently, Baby Carrie thought her big brother was hilarious! Papa ran for the camera, and we captured a few moments we just had to share:

Is there anything better than a laughing baby?

A Trip to Apple Hill

This weekend we took a trip up to Apple Hill. It's an area East of Sacramento, about 1000 feet up in the mountains. As the name indicates, it's an area with apple picking, apple cider, apple donuts, and apple everything else!

We came home with about 5 pounds of the best apples we've ever had!

Here's a couple of action shots of Tommy picking apples with Papa:

There were also some cool things to do that didn't involve apples, like......

.....paddle boating........

.....and riding the train........

We all had a great time! For anyone reading this in or around Sacramento, check out Apple Hill!

Tommy and Papa Go Camping

This weekend, Tommy and Papa took a camping trip up to Indian Valley, a very small spot along the Yuba River (about an hour and a half northeast of Sacramento). We set up the perfect campsite:

Tommy enjoyed throwing rocks in the river:

And just generally hanging out:

Here's a picture of Tommy just having fun:

It was a great weekend!

Pre-School

Tommy started pre-school today! Twice a week from 9am to noon the little man gets to play and paint and have yummy snacks. Here he is in the car this morning, and with the class heading back in after time at the park. He had a blast and so did mama and baby Carrie, who enjoyed a thrilling trip to the grocery store.

I find it fitting that he picked out the AU shirt Grandma printed for his first day of school. Look out world here he comes!

Happy Birthday, Obaachan!

In the middle of August, we all traveled from Sacramento down to San Diego to wish Obaachan a happy birthday in person. Baby Carrie's first flight!

Everyone had very important jobs to do. For example, Tommy had to help Obaachan blow out the candles on her cake:

Then, of course, he had to help Obaachan eat her cake:

Baby Carrie's jobs involved letting everyone love all over her:

And sleeping:

In other news, our little girl's way too eager to get moving. We haven't gotten video of her turning over yet, but here's a snapshot of one of the times she did:

Can crawling be far behind?

That's all for now. We'll see you......

next time!

A new Ford, a new blog

Well, it's been quite some time since we added to the Touchdown Tommy blog. So long, in fact, that we've added a whole new member to the Ford Clan of the Golden West.
On May 15th, little Carolyn came into the world. Actually, little doesn't at all fit Baby Carrie, who arrived weighing 10 lbs, 5.6 oz, and 21.5 inches long. Anyway, Big Brother Tommy was very excited to meet his new sister:

(Thanks to Grandma for the picture.)
Since then, we've all been having a great time getting to know our amazing new baby girl.
Tommy is, if anything, almost too excited about the new addition to the family, and he spends a lot of time with Baby Carrie. Here are some pics:

And, of course, Baby Carrie has been introduced to other important people in her life, including JMa:

And Obaachan:

There's absolutley no doubt about Baby Carrie's favorite place in the world; it's the bouncy chair!

And here's one I took while I was writing this:

Unfortunately for us, our baby girl is so big, the bouncy chair's not going to last much longer. you can probably tell that from the picture!