Extended Family Times

Greetings friends and family,

Christmas morning was a huge success!  Easton and Layla are highly blessed and very grateful.  Seeing their happy demeanor and hearing excited thank you's for everyone made the efforts worthwhile.  The anticipation leading up to the big day and experience of it turned into the best Christmas I've had in many years.  Especially considering I didn't open a single gift.  Disneyland is about four months away and we're going into full financial lock-down starting January 6.  Forgoing gifts for adults was a sacrifice towards making Disneyland a reality.  So back to the kid's...

Layla took a big step towards royalty with her new tiara.

Easton spent the afternoon convincing me he was ready to begin ninja training now that he has an official turtle mask and staff.

Easton's favorite gift is measured by what he played with the most on Christmas day:  The Jedi fighter.  It separates into two aircraft (one for Luke Skywalker and one for R2D2).

Layla's favorite gift is measured by the volume and pitch of her voice when reacting to unwrapping it.  The Easy Bake Oven is something she's wanted for months now.  Where did she discover her love for the oven? TV commercials...  congratulations, Easy Bake Oven's marketing team.  You successfully convinced my sweet girl that life will not be complete until she has one of these.

2013 will be the year of commercial-free TV viewing as a result of our commercialized kids.  Statistics say we are bombarded with 3,000 commercials or "marketing impressions" per day.  I want to do what I can to reduce that without putting horse blinders on the twins or keeping them in a cave.  When we are done with our DirecTV contract, the TV bill will go to zero and we will shift to 100% internet streaming solution.  The technology is here and Kendra and I are done with network TV.

Christmas morning we went to Aunt Susie's house for the annual tradition.  Easton received a new sweater as a gift this year.  He wanted to wear to the family function and guess who else had the same idea?  Brodie was dressed in the same exact sweater!  Owen (the photobomber) is Easton's favorite cousin because although Owen is older, he plays with Easton like a pal.

The 4 Webb's annual Christmas photo turned out well.  This shows what's important and how much of a blessed man I am to have a great wife and two healthy, happy kids.

Here's a way-back-when picture from the first year we brought the twins to Sacramento for the holiday season.  One of my all-time favorites:

We ditched the holiday outfits because they are all grown up now.  Same house, same tree, four years later...

We also captured a family picture of Ouma and Oupa's legacy.  Uncle Casey worked this day and was unable to make it for the festivities.  Uncle Logan and his fiance, Bree, round out the family nicely.

Kendra and Ouma joined Bree for a bridesmaid's fitting event (or whatever that's called) where the ladies gets together and figure out what dresses to wear for the wedding.  Layla was still sick so she didn't join them, but her dress was determined even without her there.

Here are most of Kendra and Easton's cousins from Ouma's side of the family.  Alexa and a few others are missing, but you get the idea.  Most are older than the twins, but there are a few youngsters coming up quickly.

Family get togethers are so much more enjoyable now that Easton and Layla can roam around the house without us having to constantly take care of them like when they were babies.  somewhere around age three life got a whole lot easier and more fun as a father.  Situations like this highlight how independent the kids are becoming and I'm glad to help them grow in this way.