The end of 2007

Matt has been sick and of course he thought he would share it with me. Luckily Tim and Riley haven't gotten sick.

We have had a wonderful year, with some trying times in there too but all in all 2007 was a good year. The combined Buckner and Hammond clan are looking forward to what is ahead of us for 2008.

Matt will start his new position for Lee's Imperial Welding on February 1 and Tim starts back to school on January 9. Thomas and Brandy will be having a baby sometime in May, hoping for a girl or at least I am, LOL. Later on in 2008 Riley will start kindergarten and Shanna is going to college. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up but I guess I will figure it out soon enough.

From our family to yours, hope your Christmas was merry and that 2008 is all you want it to be and much deserved happiness to all.

Love,
Shanna, Matt, Tim and Riley

Christmas Day 2007

Then the big day finally arrived. Matt and I finally agreed to give Riley his gifts on Christmas Day rather than Christmas Eve, and that was an ongoing discussion for days leading up to the final agreement. Riley woke up around 8 and was raring to go. Our friend Laura came to share the holiday with us and was sweet enough to take pics of our little one opening gifts.

Santa Claus

Like all good parents we took Riley to see Santa Claus. We were hoping that this year he would actually tell him what he wanted. We practiced for days in advance and every time he would say "I want a Power Ranger Megazord and Diego boat." Well the day finally came and he wouldn't sit on Santa's lap without daddy being there...and as he is walking off he very quietly told Santa what he wanted. But luckily for Riley Santa did hear him loud and clear (wink wink).

Parties

The next fun thing that happened this month was the two Christmas parties that we got to attend through our mom's group. We had a great time at both of them.

Decorated tree

We got the tree decorated and it is really pretty. Riley had a great time standing on the ladder and hanging up the ornaments. As usual it was a little uneven as he likes to hang all of the ornaments on top of each other. We always buy new ornaments for us and one for Riley from Hallmark. This years new one for Matt and I was a picnic bench with little coffee cups and Rileys new one is the Ratatouie ornament.

Christmas tree

The next exciting thing that we did was go and pick out our Christmas tree. We went to the Smith Family Farm and got an eleven foot tree. It is the biggest tree I have ever had and it is beautiful.

Busy Busy December

We started out this month with the Discovery Bay Christmas parade of which our mom's group took part in. We helped get the float ready and fixed up Riley's wagon so he could be a part of it. The theme was Sharing is Caring, so our float was the Carebears. It turned out really cute and we won the award for Best Community float. Riley had a great time although he really wanted to ride on the float. But once we told him that he could throw candy to the kids in the crowd he was good to go. It was cold but we had a great time.

November

As you can tell November has been a really crazy month for us and December looks to be just as bad or good depending on how you look at it. We really feel as though we have found our home. Matt's job is going well, albeit busy busy busy. We are going to a local Presbyterian church and have just about decided to join. Riley is growing and prospering on a daily basis. I have made some great friends here thanks to the ModBay mom's group. Timothy will be going back to school soon and Thomas will be moving out here sometime next year along with his girlfriend Brandy and their new baby. Early next week we will be finding out what they are having and then I can start going crazy getting ready to be a Goddess. Love to you all from the Buckners in California.

Thanksgiving 2007

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Matt's dad flew into Sacramento for a visit. We had a great time visiting with him and he had a wonderful time watching and interacting with Riley. It had been two years since we had seen him so Riley was a little shy at first. We just had a great turkey day here at the house but on Friday we went to the lake down the street and took some photos. Whenever we get the three generations together I try to get some pictures for Riley's scrapbook. This time around he didn't really want to cooperate but I did finally get a few good ones. We are so very thankful that we still have two grandpas but we do miss the grandmas every day. I know they are watching over Riley and keeping him safe.

We are so very thankful for our family and friends and the good that has happened to our family this year.

Happy 4th Birthday to our Niblet

Riley turned 4 years old on November 14th and we had plans to go to Chuck E Cheese with some of our friends. So we let him open his presents on November 13th. We went to CEC on the 14th and on the 16th we had a small party here at the house with our playgroup. He had a really great birthday, at least I think so. He got some really nice toys and my dad sent him a picture that my mom had painted years ago of a red train. His favorite train is James from the Thomas train set, and James is red. So when he opened up his picture that nanny had painted he loved it. He didn't get to open it until late, so the very next morning he made me hang it in his room. It is now prominently displayed in his room, on the wall over his bed. Thanks to my sister Judy, sister-in-law Debbie and my dad for sending such a great gift to Riley. And mostly thanks to my mom for painting it...

Riley and Daddy in the city

On Saturday the 10th of November I spent the day scrapbooking at a friend's house, so Matt took Riley into San Francisco and hung out for the day. It was chilly and wet, matter of fact it rained most of the day, but they still had a good time. Riley loves riding the BART into the city and once they get there they always have to ride the trolley too. Sometimes the trolley is packed, but it doesn't bother Riley at all. Not sure where Matt found the beautiful Christmas tree at, but it sure was pretty. Riley had to pose for a picture with the umbrella. As always they spent some time checking out the sea lions on Pier 39. The Coast Guard was still cleaning up the oil spill so they watched them work on that for awhile. The guy with the drums is usually there and Riley likes listening to him play the drums on whatever he has handy.

Go Bananas

This is a fun place in Lathrop, CA that our playgroup went to and everyone had a great time. Riley really enjoyed playing there with friends that we have made in California. We were there with Kylie and Dominic Antonacci and Kaitlynn and Bronsun DeSimone. Tim came with us as he is just a big kid too.

Halloween in East Bay

Last night we took Riley around the neighborhood to trick or treat. We went up and down 2 long streets and his pumpkin was full after that. So we came home and called it a night. Riley looked so cute dressed as the muscular red Power Ranger. I think he enjoyed himself. When we got back home he finished handing out candy to the trick or treaters that came to the house. Hope everyone had a great Halloween like we had.

Our First Earthquake

Tonight as we were watching the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Matt and I noticed that our family room seemed to be moving. Just as we started to say something to each other, we could hear Timothy hollering from upstairs. "Mom is that an earthquake?" Like I would know what an earthquake felt like. It lasted about 10 seconds and we settled down to finish the Great Pumpkin. It felt like someone was moving the chair I was sitting in. Nothing fell off the walls or anything like that. About 10 minutes later the news reporter broke in that we had had a 5.6 earthquake in the San Jose area. Now San Jose is about 60 miles from us, so it wasn't as though we felt it like they did there. None the less it made for an exciting evening around our house. And not one that I have any desire to have again in the near future...

Love to all...

Riding the quad

Friday of last week, Riley and his new playgroup met to ride their bikes and scooters. One of the girls brought her quad out and Riley went nuts over the thing. Needless to say Matt and I now know what we will be buying our little one for his 4th birthday...a quad. Riley and all the kids had so much fun, he didn't want to leave.

Oakland Zoo

A few weeks ago I took Riley to the Oakland Zoo with some of our new friends. He had a great time and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. If you haven't been to the Oakland zoo then if you come this way you should go check it out. It isn't quite as big as San Diego zoo, but it is pretty good size. It also has an awesome kids area, where they can play and eat lunch...There is also an area where the kids can brush the goats and boy do they all love doing that.