Christmas in Corpus Christi 2005 with Gail, Grandpa Billy, and Aunt Claire was lots of fun. We also had the four dogs Ginger and Holly and Gail and Grandpa Billy's two dogs Pico and Honey. Gail and Granpa Billy are getting ready to move into their new house in a few weeks, so we made a number of trips to check the progress on the renovations. The new house has a big playscape in the backyard
and some kids next door, so it should be lots of fun for Ethan. Even though we were not in Corpus on Christmas day, we planned our own Christmas morning celebration. This year Gail decorated the house with a great blinking snowman display. Ethan gots lots of neat toys for Christmas. One of the toys was a giant castle complete with horses, knights, a drawbridge, and a catapult. He also got a remote control Hummer and a hot wheel track from his great grandma and grandpa Baevich in San Antonio. Aunt Claire got Ethan a bug catching and collecting kit. We are looking forward to our next trip to Corpus to see the new house and to go to the beach of course!

Thanksgiving 2005 was a great one! We had the opportunity to spend an evening with my grandparents and Ethan's great grandparents in San Antonio. Ethan loved eating tangerines off grandma Baevich's tree and playing ball with them (that got a little messy). Ethan also got to visit with his Cousin Joseph while we were in San Antonio and that was a real treat. After our visit in San Antonio we headed for Phoenix for a Bond family reunion of sorts. It was really great. We definitely do not see the Bond family enough. Here is a picture of the group.
The real highlight of our trip to Phoenix was Ethan getting to meet and play with his cousin Torrey. We had lots of fun going on hikes on the "mountains" behind Grandpa Bond's house. The boys also had a great time at the Christmas festival where their favorite attraction was the super slide! Here are some pictures of Torrey and Ethan going down the Super Slide. The boys also enjoyed making crafts that Grandma Leanna provided for them. Ethan and Torrey decorated the bread basket with turkey feathers and later in the week Ethan, Mom, and Grandma Leanna made sock puppets and put on a production of the Tortise and the Hare during a car ride.
After Thanksgiving, we went to see the Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo. The whole zoo was lit up and it looked beautiful. We really had a great time going to Zoo Lights. One picture of the Zoo lights is below. We are definitely looking forward to our next visit!