Christmas with Mimi and Pop

We had Christmas over our house this year. We did it early since we were heading down to Grandpa's to surprise him for Christmas. Rocco enjoyed tearing through all the gifts. He even noticed he got one of the cool remote control cars that we also scored for the Giving Tree.

It was a fun day filled with love and family.

Special Christmas Message

Mimi and Pop ordered Rocco a special Christmas message that kept coming in special ways. The first was a letter from Santa, then an email from him and then a phone call. Each one was personalized with special things about Rocco. The email message included Rocco's picture hanging on Santa Good List wall. It was fun to watch him light up with all the magic these messages delivered.

The True Meaning of Christmas

My favorite thing about this year's Christmas was participating in the Giving Tree again and Rocco for his first time really getting to take part in it. Instead of buying gifts for each other (the parents and us) we focused the Christmas on the kids.

We went to pizza and then finished the night off with a fun filled shopping spree. We went to Kohl's for their Friday night shopping special and armed with some additional coupons. I was telling Rocco leading up to this that this is not about what toys he wants and that we were not going to buy any toys for him but it is about giving to those that might not get any presents under their tree.

It was a blast watching him pick out toys for both girls and boys. He was all smiles and he was working hard. He would find a gift and run to the scanner to see how much it was. We were looking for great deals. During the shopping Dad found something that he thought Rocco would like. He asked Rocco, "isn't this cool, I think you would like this toy." Rocco turned to Dad and said, "Dad, this is about me it is about what the kids need." I gave him a huge high five and told him I was so proud of his answer. He was on a mission.

Between the two families, we had a great amount of gifts to donate. We went to the local fire station to drop them off. They were so impressed with our amount they gave us something special. Rocco and I got to ride in truck around the block. They let Rocco wear the headphones so he could talk to them during the ride. They rolled out the hose so he could spray down an orange cone. It was so cool and he was so happy it almost made him completely speechless during it.

This is what Christmas is all about.

Always in the Mix

We split a cord of wood with the neighbors. Jared but his magic on the wonderful stack job and Rocco and Daktari were there to help. Daktari had a great time climbing all over the wood. He enjoys when we are out in the yard hanging out.

Rocco was a big help loading the wood and stacking it to Dad's liking. Towards the end of the work, Rocco spotted a rainbow and climbed on the spa to get a better look. It had been a while since he saw one, I think he even thought it was his first one.

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my family, but gosh, why didn't I take a family photo on this day? We were actually kind of matching. (Jared and Rocco actually had matching shirts) I took cute ones of the boys and Rocco took a cute one of Jared and I but we didn't get one all together. Man oh man, next time for sure.

We had thanksgiving at Mimi and Pop's house. Jared's cousin Cora was there too and we had fun catching up with her.  We went around the table saying what we are thankful for. When it came to Rocco he said nothing. I think he felt like he was in the spot light and everyone was watching. He was the second one to go. It reminded me of the time we did this at the Long's and we each had to say something nice about the person next to us. Stephanie had to say something nice about me and she said she couldn't think of anything. I know, the funny things we remember. She got in trouble a little because it was not nice.

Rocco next time be prepared to answer this question!

Derby Session

Brian came to visit and they took Rocco to skate derby on the westside. Rocco had fun going down the snake with Dad following behind. He is just learning to stand up but this session he just rode on his knee. Trying to keep up with the big kids and ride fast.

The Skateboarding Cat

Put Daktari on the skateboard and he actually didn't mind it. He actually road on it a couple of time back and forth. Made both Rocco and I laugh. Not only is he 17 years old, he skateboards too.