William Redux: Christmas in Ecuador

Hi, Blog!  Nai Nai and Ye Ye let me do another blog entry!  This one is all about Ho Ho Ho (Ed.: Santa) and the Shu (Ed.: Christmas Tree)!

Ba Ba got us a Shu and we put it up a while ago.  I think it's really pretty.  I made a decoration in school and Ma Ma hung it on the Shu.  It's the blue one shaped like a corazon.

When we woke up this morning, Ba Ba and Ma Ma brought me into Nai Nai's and Ye Ye's bedroom to wake them up.  They were already awake!  They must have been even more excited about Christmas than I was.  We ran down the stairs to see what Ho Ho Ho left under the Shu.  Wow!  There were lots of presents and some big rojo stockings filled with lots of cool stuff:

As soon as we came downstairs, Ba Ba showed me the stockings and the tree:

My stocking was SO BIG, it held lots of great things!  I got some big colores:

Bubu had a stocking too.  Mine says, "William," but Bubu's says, "Woof!"  His stocking had two presents:  a squeaky orange dachsund and a squeaky blue bone.  Bubu loved the orange one most.  Here is Bubu protecting his new toy from Ye Ye, who was trying to grab it and throw it down the hall:

I didn't think that adults got presents at Christmas, but here is Nai Nai with a present she said was, "Really great!"  It looked like a picture book about castles:

Everyone got presents.  Here are Ba Ba, Ma Ma and Bubu looking at presents:

I think I got present overload, because, after everything was unwrapped, I didn't know what to do next.  Here is a photo of me with Ba Ba and Ye Ye.  Ba Ba is holding my panda bear, "Da Xiong" (Ed.: "Big Bear").  Ye Ye is showing me my favorite YouTube video, which is of the Minions (Ed.: characters in the movie, "Despicable Me") singing "Ba-Na-Na" (Ed.: the Minion version of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann"):

That just wasn't enough fun, so Nai Nai read me Dr. Seuss's "The Foot Book":

Another gift from Ho Ho Ho was a big bucket of magnetic numbers and letters.  I have a whole side of a refrigerator to use them on.  Here's a photo of Ma Ma helping me put all the letters and numbers on my refrigerator:

THEN we had the HIGHLIGHT of the morning - even MORE FUN than unwrapping presents (Ed.: perhaps unwrapping presents is more fun, but we will accept William's statement at face value.) - Skyping with Gu Gu (Ed.: Auntie Katie) and Mom Mom and Pop Pop:

Skyping and playing with presents is just too tiring.  So Ma Ma fixed us a big Chinese lunch.  Here we are enjoying it:

After lunch, it was almost time for my nap, but I had just enough time to sit with Nai Nai and put stickers on our noses.  Everyone does this on Christmas Day, I can assure you.

I started getting sleeping, so Ma Ma took me upstairs.  As she held me, I looked over her shoulder back at the Shu and saw a post-Christmas apocaplyptic vision:

My nap is over now and Ye Ye is letting me finish my blog entry.  Ma Ma is making dumplings for dinner.  Ba Ba made what he called a "Passionate Banana-Mango-Margarita." Nai Nai and I helped Ma Ma make dumplings.  I ate at least siete (Ed.: seven) dumplings already, and they all called me, "Empanada Monstro"! (Ed.: Dumpling Monster).

Well, it's almost dinner time and I want to be sure I get siete (Ed.: seven) more dumplings, so I'd better go and get in front of Ba Ba, Nai Nai and Ye Ye in the dinner line.

P.S.  - Ba Ba, Nai Nai and Ye Ye helped me take photos.  Here are photos of Ba Ba and me taking photos of each other:

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family.  GOD BLESS US EVERY ONE!

Preparing for Christmas

Hi Blog!  After we came back from the beach, it was time to get ready for Christmas.  We brought a number of presents down with us.  Matt and Weina had their presents shipped.  Little William didn't know when he offered to help stack the boxes that he was actually stacking up all his presents.

Here he is in action.

After William went down for his nap, Santa's Elves got busy wrapping and rolling.  Dave is holding up William's new place mat.

 

On Christmas Eve, Jill and her son, Finn, came over to help make cookies for Santa Claus.  Here is William showing off his natural ability to decorate sugar cookies.

Kathy's Mom, who started a cookie baking tradition, would be very proud of our little baker.

When you are two years old, the hardest part of making cookies is waiting for them to be done.  William and Finn decided to pass the time by dancing to Christmas Carols and Nursery Rhymes.  Ring Around the Rosey anyone?

Finally, cookie time!  Here are Finn and Jill with William and Weina sampling the fruits of their labor.

Presents are wrapped and cookies baked.  Now all we have to do is wait for Santa to come.  Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Beach Blog by William

Hola! I had so much fun with my first blog, I asked YeYe and NaiNai if I could do another one.  They said "YES."  I thought and thought. I want to talk about something I really, really like.  I got it - let's go to the beach and play in the sand!

MaMa and BaBa thought this was a great idea.  Friday, December 20th was my last day of PreSchool. We are now on Christmas break.  BaBa is also off from work.  MaMa said we are going to have a long weekend at the beach.  What is a weekend?

MaMa and BaBa had to pack, so YeYe and NaiNai played a Christmas light show for me Gangnam Style.  Click the link and watch me dance.

We all jumped into the car.  We sang songs and ate snacks.  Look everybody it's the ocean!

After we dropped our stuff off at the beach house, we went to Montanita for lunch.  There's lots of people here from all over the world.  They take these big boards out into the ocean and stand up on them and let the waves bring them back.  It looks like fun.  I want to try, but BaBa says I have to be big enough to carry the board myself.  Maybe next year.  This is MaMa's favorite restaurant in Montanita. We eat here every time we come.  YeYe and NaiNai like it too, especially the passion fruit margaritas.  I wanted one, too, but MaMa said no.

After lunch is nap time.  I slept in a big boy bed and YeYe tried out the hammock.

When I woke up from my nap, we went down to the pool, played in the sand and soaked in the hot tub.  I forgot to remind YeYe to bring his camera, so I can't upload any more photos for today.  For dinner, we had a picnic on the balcony and watched the sun set.

For some reason, I always get sleepy when the sun goes away.  YeYa and BaBa read stories to me just before I fell asleep.

As soon as the sun came back, I wanted to go down and play in the sand.  YeYe and NaiNai took me down to the sandbox while MaMa and BaBa slept some more.

The owners of the beach house, Uncle Shel and Aunt Marsha, made breakfast for us.  As soon as they are ready, they turn music on.  I like to march up the stairs to the patio.  I ate mango, pineapple and yummy pineapple banana bread.  After breakfast, I put my swimmy on and jumped into the pool.

Today, I went down the slide for the first time.  I wanted to go all the way from the top, but MaMa and BaBa said it was too fast, so YeYe helped me start from the middle.  When I am a big boy, I am going to go down all by myself as many times as I want!

Uncle Shel and Aunt Marsha have a dog called "Choco." He's a chocolate lab.  He loves to chase tennis balls.  He loves them so much he carries two of them around in his mouth all the time.  Choco loves NaiNai because she would throw the balls to him over and over again.

We played all day.  I had so much fun.  We sailed boats, had dinosaur battles, built sand castles, made sand balls and soaked in the hot tub.  We went back to Montanita for lunch.  After my nap, we played all over again.  For dinner, we had pizza on the patio.  See, the sun is almost down.

On Monday, we had time to play again both before and after breakfast.  We said goodbye to Uncle Shel and Aunt Marsha and Choco.  We stopped for lunch before driving back.  I don't remember the drive because I fell asleep.  All I remember is MaMa and BaBa talking to YeYe and NaiNai about getting ready for Christmas.  I can't wait.  I don't remember last Christmas, but they tell me it was fun.  I like fun.

Hola! Me Llamo William!

Hello!  My name is William.  I am helping my YeYe and NaiNai with their first blog post from Ecuador.  I live here with my MaMa and BaBa and our dog, BuBu.  Here NaiNai is showing me how to upload the photos we took this weekend.

YeYe and NaiNai live in an RV and drive all over the United States.  On Friday, December 13th, they flew from Phoenix to Miami before coming down to see us in Guayaquil.  They got here real late, so I didn't get to see them until I woke up on Saturday.  While I see them on Skype all the time, they seem so much bigger in person.  Here YeYe is reading to me from my favorite book.  I know how to read, but it makes YeYe happy to read to me, so I let him.

It is so much fun to have them here with me.  I had to show NaiNai how to color.

While I am helping NaiNai, BuBu keeps YeYe busy.  That's MaMa in the background, doing some important stuff on her laptop.

Baba played golf on Saturday.  We met him at the country club and got to go for a swim.  No pictures from the pool.  The smartphone is not waterproof.

On Sunday, we all got up and had a big breakfast and went to the park.  I was so tired from playing all day with YeYe and NaiNai that I fell asleep before we got there.  MaMa pushed me in the stroller while BaBa took YeYe and NaiNai down to see the Guayas River, the third largest river in South America.  The airport is right across from the park and you can watch the big planes come in for a landing.  I was asleep, so I missed it.

I don't know about you, but I believe in magic.  One minute I was in the car seat, and the next I was in the historic park.  My favorite part of the park is where the little animals live.  I saw baby bunnies, guinea pigs, turtle and little ducklings.  Here I am in the tree house with my Baba and YeYe.

Walking around the park makes me hungry.  MaMa and BaBa wanted to take YeYe and NaiNai to a famous Ecuadorean restaurant, Lo Nuestro.  We tried lots of good dishes.  NaiNai had empanada (with crab) and YeYe had llapingachos (sausage, egg and peanut patties).  MaMa and BaBa made me eat my shrimp and potato soup before I could eat my cheesecake.  Sometimes, life is not fair.  After lunch, we stopped to say "Hola!" to Santa Claus.

The rest of Sunday, we just hung around the house.  I got to show YeYe and NaiNai all of my toys.  We read lots of books.  MaMa made a little dinner for us.  I was too tired to stay awake very long.  We all went to bed early.  

This morning, BaBa went to work and MaMa took me to school.  A school van picks us up.  MaMa rides with me to school and then the van brings her home.  She picks me up in the van at midday.  The van comes everyday.

I will be back from school in time for lunch.  See you then.

Ciao!

William

See ya in 2014!

Preparing for Hibernation...

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on, our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

So hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on, our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

So hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

We thought, and we thought, and we thought, and we decided that this is the Christmas song that most expresses our feelings this year.  Here we are as in olden days.  Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more.  We'd like to share with you some of those memories - some older, some newer - but the spirits of these loved ones are always with us.

1996 - We loved our Christmases at Charleston Greene.  Every year, we went tree killing, and then trimmed the tree with great love and attention.  We made handmade tree ornaments and gave them to relatives.  These are the usual suspects:  Matt, David, Katie and Kathy.

* * *

1997 - We like to call this the "Mr. Hankey Christmas" because that famous South Park episode aired the night this photo was taken, and we all watched, some in horror, some in disbelief, some rolling on the floor laughing.  The above photo was taken at Leslie's house in Tigard, Oregon.  The whole Scranton gang was there.  See if you can find some familiar faces!

* * *

1999 - A photo of a typical tree killing. We'd drive out to our favorite tree farm.  Hunt down the perfect specimen.  Take turns sawing and dragging and heaving our prize back to the car. We would then celebrate with a hearty, warm lunch at our favorite local pub.

* * *

2003 - Two of our most favorite people:  Aunt Jane and Kathy's Mom.

* * *

2003 - What Christmas would be complete without the "Rug Rats" (thanks, Tom, for purchasing the rights to the name, "Rug Rats," from Vicki, Mike and Nick)?  Those three are all a lot older now, but somehow the name stuck for them as little ones.  Here Sue is enjoying Vicki and Mike enjoying their prezzies.

* * *

2004 - What Christmas wouldn't be complete without Great Guacamole Dip???  Thanks to our friends Darla and Jackie who always made sure we had plenty of avocados and Great Guacamole Mix to last us through each holiday season.  It just wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas Guac!

* * *

2004 - Here are the McNee Men (for some reason now known, the most McNee of the McNee Men - Steve - was not in this photo - perhaps he was opening his prezzies at the time).  We're not sure if these four are lined up for Christmas goodies, or waiting for their Christmas punishments...  There's Kathy's Dad, and Thomas O., and Thomas J. and David.  This photo was taken at the famous annual Miller Pollyanna Party.

* * *

2006 - The Miller Pollyanna Party was the scene of many great photos, including this one of Katie, David and Kathy.  (Note that David is wearing the same green Christmas sweater he wore to the party in 2004.)

* * *

2006 - The McNee Women:  Kathy's Mom, Jen, Vicki, Sue, Eileen and Barb.  Kathy is the only one missing from this photo, but that's because she was the photographer!

* * *

2006 - was Baxter's first Christmas.  As a young kitten, he loved to drag the laundry from the bedroom and bring it to us wherever we were in the house.  I guess he figured it was ours and we needed it. Imagine our surprise when we came home from work and found that Baxter had taken all the socks from the laundry basket and put them under the Christmas tree.  While he didn't hang them with care, he did arrange them neatly on the tree skirt.  Thus, a legend was born.

* * *

2008 - Here's another Miller Pollyanna Party photo, this time of Kathy's brother Steve (the Main McNee), Kathy's nephew and Steve's son Ryan, and Steve's wife Lea Ann.  Why does the youngest member of the family always gets the biggest present baggies???  Just saying.

* * *

2009 - This is an extremely rare photo, and, in fact, we may be violating certain legal rights of Isaac by even publishing it.  But - believe it or not - this is Isaac and his girlfriend Alex actually holding Christmas stockings!  We were so pleased they were able to join us for our little pagan celebration.  Note the fake video Christmas fire in the background.

* * *

2009 - Some people are having too much fun!  This is yet another Miller Pollyanna Party, and we found that one of the snacks on the menu was a Nick Sandwich on Kathy and Eileen.  I'm not sure who started tickling whoms first.

* * *

2009 - This was a special year.  Matt, Weina, William and their puppy Bubu had just moved back to the States from China, and Katie was in from San Francisco.  Here, the two are cuddling the little Bu.

* * * 

2009 - The same celebration included the Three Mrs. Scrantons, all in one place at the same time.  Note Bubu's photobomb.

* * * 

2010 - Speaking of Bubu, he and Maggie had a chance to catch up on old times over Christmas 2010.

* * * 

2010 - The puppies must have done something funny, because Risa and Laird could hardly contain themselves.

* * *

2011 - Christmas 2011 was MOST special, because Weina's sister, Haini, was able to come visit, AND, little William made his first Christmas appearance.  Here the two of them appear very amused by something.  William was sporting his Santa suit.

* * *

2011 - Matt, William and Weina are all sharing a photo moment, while David photobombs.

* * *

2012 - Meet the Millers.  This is a great photo, because by this time next year, they truly will be an entire family:  Tom J. and Eileen, Drew and Jen (who will be getting married next June), and Tom O. and Michelle (who were married in November 2013).  They're our very favorite people named Miller (with the exception, perhaps, of niece Kim Miller and her parents).

* * *

That was quite a trip down memory lane.  Same themes each year.  Many of the same people.  But the family keeps growing (and some of us look like we might be growing a little older).  What can make us happier?

And, so, as the song says:  Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow.  Have a merry little Christmas.  Let your hearts be light!  Have yourself a merry little Christmas now!