Another New Year

New Year's Eve was spent with Los Lavelles in San Jose.














Maeve and Teaghan - New Year's Eve 2007














Scott, Bill and John ring in the New Year with some tunes














Papa Jack and Teaghan celebrate the New year with toys!














Maeve interrupts her call for a quick picture.




















And they're off!














They played hard and gave it everything they had.














In Los Lynches lore, the Holidays aren't over until the gingerbread house has either been eaten, carried away by ants or deposited in the trash. Shortly after this picture was taken, the gingerbread house was sent to live with other gingerbread houses on a farm out in the country. And with that, the Holidays were officially over.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

After Christmas, but before New Years, we headed down to Monterey to see the fishes.














Fish doing their thing.














Papa Jack performs his usual magic by REACHING INTO THE AQUARIUM!!!!














Maeve and her cousin Sara learn about one of the Ocean's many denizens.














Maeve, Anne, Sara, Jack and Teaghan reach for Bat Rays.














Teaghan and Papa Jack experience the wave tunnel.














Considering this thing didn't really have anything to do with fish, it was very popular with the kids. Kids like waves.














Maeve and Sara walking to and fro.














"I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my squishy! "














"So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb."














Teaghan and Daddy take a self portrait.














Los Lynches en Monterey (un poco frio)














Papa Jack tempts the sea, but stops just short of mockery.














Opposite of ugly.














Teaghan, Daddy and Maeve on the beach.














Ok, now Papa Jack is mocking the sea. And it's fighting back.




















Maeve and Sara on the beach.














Daddy and Maeve take a self portrait.




















Just sisters enjoying the view.

Los Lavelles

After Christmas, the Bay Area was invaded by Los Lavelles for an almost complete family reunion. Teaghan and Maeve had a blast with all of their Aunties, Uncles and Cousins, some of whom they had never met before.














Cousins Sara and Jack rock out!














Hey, let's take a picture of Grandma Bernia and Papa John with all the grandkids. How hard could that be?














See? No problem!














Los Lavelles Mas Viejos.














Colum and Steph.














Scott and Bill rock out the house.















The newly engaged Nora and Dan hold court on their favorite couch! Congrats to both of them. We'll have a blog up shortly where you can track their progress.

Christmas Day (Santa Came!)

The kids let us sleep in until 7am, and then it was time to venture downstairs to see if Santa had found our humble abode the night before.














Hmm.... There seems to have been some activity near the fireplace!














The cookies and milk are gone! Santa was here! And judging by the bites in the carrots, so were some reindeer!














Maeve doesn't really understand what's going on, but she does know babies. And she loves them!














Yes, Teaghan was excited. Maeve is getting a closer look at her babies.














Dr. Pepper pajamas and an Ireland hat. What else would somebody need?

After we opened presents at home, we ventured down to Saratoga for Part II with Papa Jack, Grandma Joanie and Great Grandma Joanna.














Teaghan dove right in.














But Maeve hit the wall, and then the couch.














Teaghan was loving life!




















Great Grandma Joanna and Papa Jack have a heated debate over who got the most presents.














I know it's hard to believe, but I think Papa Jack likes his Heineken Keg.














Later in the day, Grandma Bernie and Papa John joined us for Christmas dinner.














After dinner, Scott and Papa John played some tunes for the family.














Papa Jack and Teaghan break in her new big wheel.














Los Lynches y un Watt en el día de Navidad.

Christmas Eve

We hosted the Christmas Eve festivities in Redwood City this year. This kicked off the non-stop Holiday madness portion of our program.














Teaghan warms up for the party with an Xmas Eve hot cocoa.














As does Maeve...




















Anne busts out her delicious Holiday Cake.














Papa Jack gives Uri Gellar a run for his money.














After some initial hiccups, Scott, Jack and Bill succeeded in deep frying the turkey without immolating either themselves or the premises. It was muy sabroso (delicious).














Various Lynches, Hawkins, Lavelles et al enjoy their wonderful meal in the comfort of our family room.














Grandma Bernie, Great Grandma Joanna, Papa Jack, Papa John and Grandma Joanie pause to pose for this picture during dinner.














The whole gang stopped moving just long enough for this picture. They then fled for the comfort of their own homes to prepare for the arrival of Santa Claus.