Countdown to Christmas

This year Amy's brother, Shawn, and his family came back from Tokyo to spend Christmas with the family here. That meant 6 additional cousins to play with, and 13 cousins in all. Amy's brother, Robert, has recently moved back to the area, and he suggested a Christmas Eve (day) bowling trip for the cousins.

Gavin was the youngest bowler and his feet were two sizes smaller than their smallest bowling shoe. No matter! He jumped right in and bowled a respectable 59. He couldn't get much speed on his release, so we'd have to wait a loooooong time for his ball to crawl down the lane, being redirected by the bumpers several times until it final kissed the pins every so gently. He had a great time though!

Sahara was new to bowling too, but she managed a bit better than Gavi. Initially, she needed some help, but after a few turns she rebuffed my efforts to help her and tossed the ball down the lane on her own. She also had a great time, enjoying both the bowling and the fact that she was surrounded by her cousins.

Twas the night before Christmas. OK, this was taken several nights before Christmas, but it's so darn cute we had to throw it in. Sahara and Gavin share a room, and often have a hard time getting to sleep because they talk and laugh. But there are always tears when we take one of them out of the room. Though they may dispute it when they're older, they genuinely love each other. So the other night Gavin got to sleep first and we left Sahara to fall asleep on her own. We came back in later that evening and discovered them both in Gavin's bed. Sahara had apparently crawled into Gavin's bed then fallen asleep.