Merry Christmas!

Greetings from sunny California - where it's 70 degrees as I type this, and Ricky just finished his tryouts for AAA (Little League). We're well into our fourth year in California, and though we don't (yet) take the weather for granted, it's rather easy to grow accustomed to.

It goes without saying, but 2010 was a busy year for us - all three kids are in elementary school at Live Oak in San Ramon (Ricky: 5th grade, Robby: 3rd grade, Becca: Kindergarten), Robin remains active with the Live Oak PTA and has also started a Daisy troop as Becca joins Girl Scouts, and my employee badge continues to work on the doors at Google, something that still amazes me.

We took full advantage of living in California this year: in April we took a long-talked-about RV trip down through the central coast, Robin and the kids took her parents to Yosemite in the early summer, we hosted many friends for our annual Apple Cider party in the fall, and we surprised the kids with a long weekend in Disneyland in November. In between, we've spent many a day in San Francisco, showed off Muir Woods to the Connellys, attended Michael & Lydia's wedding in Napa Valley, and visited Tahoe in both the winter (sledding!) and the summer (camping!).

This year, we asked the boys to tell us what they wanted to share with all of you. Here are their contributions to the Christmas letter:

Ricky:

I really liked the RV trip in April. The top bunk was awesome - though I kept dropping my pillow when I fell asleep! I played on the Mets in AA baseball last spring, and almost hit a home run in my last game (which was the championship game)! I went skiing in Breckenridge in February, and even got to ski from the top of the mountain on double-blue-square trails. I'm very excited about bridging to Boy Scouts next week, and earned my Arrow of Light in Webelos - I can't wait to join Troop 1776! In school, I played Patrick Henry in "A Walk Through the Revolution", where I got to recite parts of his famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech. I've started learning computer programming with Scratch, a language that MIT wrote to help kids like me learn how to program. My favorite sports team is the Red Sox (who I got to see play the Giants in June), and my favorite band is still Coldplay.

Robby:

My favorite thing this year was skiing in Breckenridge - on my last run, I skied the whole mountain with my Dad! This summer, I went to Cub Scout camp, where I did some archery, shot BB guns, and a lot of swimming. I played A ball in the spring, and moved up to AA ball with Ricky in the fall. Disneyland was so awesome - I rode the Indiana Jones ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan's adventure, the tea cups, Nemo's submarine, and I even got to meet Darth Vader! I've been taking lessons at American Swim Academy where Mom says I'm advancing really quickly. I like building new game levels in Little Big Planet on my Dad's PS3. My favorite sports teams are the Red Sox and the Giants, and I love listening to Black Eyed Peas ("I've got a feeling" is my favorite song!).

Becca:

(This is not dictated, as I'm not at all certain she'd stop talking long enough to get this published...!) Becca finished her last year of pre-school at Stratford, a fantastic balance of arts and academics (check out the picture of her in the school musical!). This summer, she spent a week in ballet camp, and had her very first dance recital on Father's Day. In February, she took her first ski lessons - and by the end of the trip was riding the ski lift and skiing the bunny slope with her brothers and grandparents! She played soccer this fall, and starts t-ball in the spring, and continues her swimming lessons with her brothers where she's a fearless fish in the water. She has adjusted well to kindergarten, and just started a new Daisy troop with a bunch of her friends. Her princess birthday party was a big hit for her and her fellow princesses, and getting to meet Cinderella in Disneyland was a highlight.

We hope this letter finds you all in good health, and that your year was filled with as much joy and family time as ours was. We already have plans to go skiing in January, visit friends in Illinois for a wedding, will be back east for a summer visit to DC and the Jersey shore, and we're also scouting locations for our next RV trip!

Have a wonderful 2011, and please keep in touch!