We were debating about getting an artificial tree as Stuart had been busy at work to pick up a real one and we heard about the low supply of trees this year.  So we ordered one online and it was on its way.  But then few days ago the boys asked about why we didn’t have a tree yet, so Stuart felt bad and quickly rushed out to get one for us.  Thus we were able to have the tree last weekend and decorated it together.  Now we are getting a bit more ready for Christmas.

    Last Wednesday was my pharmacy group holiday party.  I went straight from work to Magianno for dinner.  Our work group is getting larger, and it was a full room of people when everyone arrived.  I sat with some of my closer work friends, then we got a nice drink and enjoyed a yummy meal.  We took some pictures from the photo booth.  We also played the white elephant gift exchange.  This was the biggest group I ever played this with, and it was honestly hard to pay attention to all 70 gifts.  At the end everyone seemed happy with their gifts.  This was a long day with work and the dinner party; I left with dessert after 9 something so I could head home and shared the dessert with Stuart.

   It was the Medicine party on Saturday in the afternoon.  This time was for Stuart and I to attend, and the boys were happy to go to Cole’s house for 4 hours.  The party was at Fogo De Chao, so we knew it would be a good meal.  We sat with a nice couple, so we enjoyed the food with a nice chat.  We also had a white elephant at this party; my gift was stolen twice, and everyone had a good laugh. After being stuffed with meats, we topped it off with delicious dessert before we said goodbye to everyone.  We then took a brief stroll at Santana Row to walk off the good lunch before heading home.

   On Sunday morning, I joined my coworkers for a hike.  At the end there was only the three of us, so we changed our initial location to the Stanford Dish Trail.  It was chilly and foggy in the morning but quite pretty there.  The loop had the perfect slopes and good length.  The three of us had a good chat while keeping a good pace and finishing the hike in a good time.  We had a nice workout. 

     I had arranged Maxim to come play with the boys while I was gone.  I finished the hike, picked up some grocery and got home in just in time to say bye to Maxim and for us to have lunch.  In the afternoon, we wanted to get the boys out for some exercise.  We went for a short ride around the neighborhood in the cold.  The boys were still wearing their shorts, but for some reasons, they did not look cold and never complained.  They even played around the structures too while Stuart and I continued to ride around.  Afterward, we took out a board game that we had not played for awhile, and we ended up spending two hours and had fun.  Just in time, Cole came to ask to play, so the three boys played some video game before dinner time.  While they were occupied, it allowed me to wrap up some CE hours for the year.  This was a productive weekend.

   I took Connor to Jacob’s birthday party on Saturday afternoon at Sky high Trampoline Park.  After they settled in and started jumping, one of the moms and I attempted to go shop at the nearby Costco.  Unfortunately with this crazy crowded location, 15 to 20 frustrating minutes later we decided to give up and returned to the party instead.  After jumping and eating cake, Connor had a good time and we headed home.

   For the evening, I had bought tickets for the boys and I to support Jesselyn.  Her ballet school had a production Winter Wonderland at a theater in Campbell.  Stuart offered to drive us, and after my afternoon of frustrating parking, I definitely appreciated that.  At the theater, after the boys and I said hi to Jennifer and Jonathan, we found our seats and comfortably situated.  This was the first time the boys watched a ballet, so I was a bit worried if the boys would be patient.  Once Jennifer told us the characters Jesselyn was, we started reading the program to prepare ourselves.  The show began and it was wonderful.  The dancing was great and the costumes were beautiful.  There was a range of ages of dancers and everyone did great.  Logan was the first to spot Jesselyn when her group came on stage.  It was like celebrity sighting; the boys were excited.  At intermission, the boys were happy to find snacks to purchase; they quickly ate them and preferred to return to our seats.  We enjoyed the second act just as much.  The written program allowed the boys to be more engaged and followed through based on the dancer costumes.  Jesselyn sighting was cool too.  At the end we all really enjoyed the show.  Unfortunately we could not go back inside to see Jesselyn, so we gave the flowers to Jennifer instead, and met for Stuart who just arrived to pick us up. 

     My second volunteering at Connor’s class was Friday.  I took the morning off, so I could walk the boys to school, then I took a break on my own before I returned to school.  This science class was about rollercoasters and it was taught by one of my favorite science instructors who rotated in.  So it was a great class with good information and the hands-on part was a lot of fun.  Connor initially seemed quiet and not happy when the class came to the science classroom, but he warmed up and had more smile when the experience started.

    It was rainy on Saturday, thus no tennis.  We became lazy and stayed in pajamas for majority of the day.  We finally took out the ping pong table while Cole came over to play too.  On Sunday we finally remembered about Christmas decoration.  Connor was very excited to look for the advent calendar; once he found it in the garage, he quickly took it inside the house.  Later he and I also hang up the stockings.  For some reasons, Logan suddenly asked about Scottie’s stocking, then the boys decided to hang his up as well. 

    Next Stuart put up the exterior lights while I cleaned up the front yard.  It seemed too early for the big snowman to make his appearance, thus we would wait to take him out.  After lunch when the ground was dry, we finally had a chance to play tennis.  It was good exercise and we enjoyed it.  In the evening, the boys were thrilled that I had dinner plan with my girls, so that they could have pizza and a movie night.  So I heard that they liked the Tin Tin movie while I had a nice dinner with my friends.