Christmas 2008

We braved the crowds and cooler than normal temperature to take Chance and Michael to Disneyland this weekend. Tom, Pat, Kyle, Jessica, Hannah, Bert and Mary Lou joined us too! The highlights included "It's a Small World, the Disneyland Train, and the Carousel at California Adventure. A great time was had by all. Here's a slideshow of the fun.

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas Family and Friends! We hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy. It's been quite a year for our family here in Southern California. We've been busy settling in to our routine with both Gerard and Lori working full time and the twins running the household.

Chance and Michael are now two years old. They are busy, funny, fun-loving little guys who are constantly working toward turning the house upside down. Chance chose to start walking last December while Michael waited until March (at Mariner's Spring Training to be exact). The boys are being cared for by a great nanny, Brenda, and enjoy daily outings to the park, the Children's Museum and classes at My Gym. When they are not on the go, they like to draw and paint, and watch their favorite movies - Cars, Polar Express and Flushed Away (this month). Their taste in music continues to evolve - Michael is partial to AC/DC these days. Chance is more of a Bon Jovi man.

Lori will officially take over as president of Albert Association Management in January. The company has grown to 58 employees, including Gerard as operations manager. 2009 will prove to be a challenging year in this uncertain economy, but we are confident good customer service and effecient operations will help the business continue to grow.

With summers being slow around here - we had an opportunity to travel to Montana in July, and Washington in August for Gerard's 40th birthday. Gerard and the twins were able to stay in Washington for three weeks. We hope this trend continues, as we dearly miss our friends and family to the north.

In November, Gerard's parents stayed with Chance and Michael for a week while we traveled to Ixtapa, Mexico with a group of wonderful friends. It was a much needed week of lounging and fun for this busy set of working parents.

As we slow down to officially enjoy the Christmas holiday, we are reminded of all our blessings: good health, close friends and caring family. We wish you a very merry Christmas and happy new year.

Love,
Gerard, Lori, Chance and Michael

More Washington photos and vids...

Just wanted to add a few more photos and vids from our recent Washington trip...

Lolo cuts chances hair.

Nappy time on lola's couch

Flowers from Grandma Mimi's garden.

A conversation with Uncle Noah.

Havin' fun with cousin Aiden

Havin' a snack with our best bud Fischer.

Washington Summer Vacation

We finally made it back to WA for our first visit since moving to CA one year ago. Celebrated Gj's 40th birthday with his family and Whidbey Island friends on Saturday.

Chance and Michael enjoyed playing with their cousins and good friends in the yard all day long.

Thanks to everyone for making the trip to Whidbey to help us celebrate.

Beat the Heat Bowling

With afternoon temperatures in the triple digits this time of year in the desert, we've had to create fun games to play inside. Bowling is a new hit!

Montana 2008

We made our annual trip to Montana June 28 - July 6th this year. Special times included playing with all of our aunts, uncles, cousins and the Bear Creek Downs pig races for Uncle Mike's 50th birthday.

Mother's Day 2008

Washington Guests

Uncle Noah, Aunt Karen, Fisher, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Leslie all came for a visit to get out of the cold and wet Washington weather. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

Mariners Spring Training

Team Gonzales recently drove to Peoria, AZ to meet Grandma Mimi and attend Mariners Spring Training Camp. Chance and Michael had a ton of fun at their first baseball game. Go M's!

First Artwork by Chance and Michael

Chance and Michael have been busy working on their abstract art.