Christmas in Annapolis

Santa found us at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Santa brought Liam a Lundqvist (Ranger goaltender) jersey. Lundqvist is his favorite player.

Everyone changed for present opening, well except Grandpa Tony. He was waiting for his new bathrobe. Most exciting moment.

Grandma gave Liam a chef jacket. The two of them prepared Christmas dinner. And must say it was most delicious.

Grandpa Tony and Tonia spent hours listening to music on Grandpa's (oops, I mean Grandma's) new headset and Tonia's new IPod. Grandpa Tony helped Tonia load tons of cool music onto "Tony the Great's IPod," as her new IPod is now named.

Gigi and Tonia sharing the headset and dancing to "Thank God I'm a Country Boy."

Sheriff Dad. Liam bought Bobby a Sheriff's badge in Colorado. Bob does need a little work on his Western accent -- Grandma got a good laugh out of him speaking like some Sheriff out of a Hollywood Western.

Rocky Mountain High

When we got to Colorado we had the pleasure of lunching with the Welus. Liam thinks that Wyatt is the coolest kid. He said that he is sad that Wyatt doesn't live closer, because he wants him to go to his birthday party.

Skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads.
~ Unknown

We had an awesome time skiing Breckenridge and Vail. Sunday we were still on EST and of course up at 5:30 a.m. ready to hit the slopes. Lucky us -- we were some of the first on the lifts and enjoyed first tracks. It doesn't get much better than that!


Tonia heading for a Back Bowl warm-up. After a little T-bar mishap (Tonia didn't grab the bar and got hit in the head -- thank goodness for helmets), we headed back up for some Horseshoe Bowl fun.

This sign was at a lodge at the top of Peak 9. They weren't joking, it was very windy that afternoon. We actually saw two snowboards go flying at a much lower elevation.

Bob taking a break on one of our favorite runs -- Ore Bucket. Lots of fun tree skiing, with bumps and rolling hills. Parts of this run aren't heavily traveled, so on the last day with fresh snow, it was a powder haven.

Tonia skiing another favorite -- North Bowl.

The little guy loves to ski. He would cry every afternoon when the lifts closed. In the above photo, which was taken just before the lifts shut down, Daddy caught him coming off the Mercury Super Chair.

Liam has started skiing trees, skiing backwards, skiing on one ski pretending that it is a snowboard, and has expanded his trails to include blues. He told his teacher at ski school that he wanted to snowboard so that he could do tricks. She told him that skiing backwards on one ski is a trick.

Tonia happy as can be after enjoying powder up to her thighs on Contest Bowl.

The Noonans apres ski at The Maggie.

Bobby and Liam retrieving our bags. The three of us were very, very sad to leave and look forward to getting back to the Rockies soon.

Psst: Mendie, did you notice Liam's hat? It has become a staple of his wardrobe.

The first tooth fell out.

The picture Tonia likes.
The picture Liam prefers.

Tooth protection gear

After loosing the tooth, Liam felt that he needed a helmet to protect the remaining teeth. Mommy thinks that he needs the helmet because he has decided that sledding on the belly is boring. Liam's latest is sledding standing up. Why do it the way everyone else does?

Clearing Snow

Liam took it upon himself to clean off the cars. He is standing on top of the tank that is the 87' Merc. He is too short to clear the cars from the ground, so...you gotta do what you gotta do.

The Boys B-Day Gift for Mommy

Bob and Liam treated Tonia to an Army hockey game for her birthday. We had lots of fun, and Army won 4-2.

Thanksgiving Weekend - Family, Food & Fun

Grandma Irene and Grandpa Tony on Thanksgiving day. Tonia found it most amusing and somewhat disturbing that her parents have started wearing matching outfits. Have to say that Mom put out a delish spread, and Dad did a great job carving the turkey.
Gigi and Liam having a chat.
Putting the lights on Liam's tree.
Gigi and Liam snuggling to keep warm.
Bird-watching. What better place to start...the bird feeder, of course.
Bob decided that since Liam is almost six he can help with the leaf blowing. Tonia lucked out because Liam used her leaf blower (don't laugh, but we have his and her leaf blowers.) Traditionally, Bob handles the leaves, and Tonia gets to shovel the snow (which she actually enjoys -- no joke.)
Someone got his first tennis racket this weekend. The Noonans all played (and I use the term very loosely) tennis on Sunday. Several years ago, Bob and Tonia created "Noonan Rules." Basically, the ball stays in play no matter where it might fly or land -- this could include the neighboring court as long as it is player free. We are awful, but we have tons of fun.

Thanksgiving Feast at William O'Schaefer

Liam's class, along with two other K classes, gathered for a Thanksgiving Feast yesterday. All the kindergartners took Native American names -- Liam's is Snow Squirrel. He wanted Rink Rat, but between that and Snow Squirrel, all felt SS was a better choice.

The above table was set for 60. The cuties enjoyed apple juice, grapes, carrots, mini muffins, and popcorn.
Liam (left) and Michael (right). The cousins enjoying the festivities.

We Love New York!

Liam and Tonia had an incredible time on a Mommy/Liam Day in NYC. The festivities began with yoga at Dharma Yoga Center. After yoga it was off to Rockefeller Center for ice skating and then a fancy lunch at The Sea Grill. Once the delicious meal was finished we were in a cab heading for the Museum of Natural History.

Liam thought this was a perfect day -- ice skating and dinosaurs in one day! Doesn't get any better than that for a five-year-old.

Liam didn't remember riding in cabs. He couldn't believe that he wouldn't remember such a fun thing. He loves the new computer screens where you can check the news, weather, etc. He also loves chatting with the drivers (definitely takes after his mommy and daddy.)

We took the subway as well, which he enjoyed. Toward the end of the day, however, he was tired and asked if we could get a cab.

Liam and Michael spent the day together. They started the day at work with their Dads, then they were off with Tonia for an afternoon of hockey, hanging out at West Point, and church. You should have heard them singing their hearts out to the radio. Who knew that five-year-olds were so up on the hip-to-the-trip music -- they knew all the words. Unbelievable!
Liam's team played the Bear Mountain Bears at West Point's state-of-the-art ice rink. Above you will see the boys chillin' in the locker room before the game. It was so cute, Michael would point at Liam and tell people, "I'm his cousin." He was very proud of his cuz.
Grandpa Tony, can you believe that Liam is playing hockey at West Point? Liam is No. 5, playing Right Wing on center ice.
So cool to see the teams shake on the "A" mid-rink. The Pirates and Bears tied at 3-3

After the game we took a tour of the Academy. Of course the "monkeys" (as we were calling them all day) wanted to stop and play on the cannons.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was to be able to see a Cadets room. They were rather impressed with the Cadets as well. Liam and Michael declared "Cadets are cool."

The boys were told that they could pick out a hat or shirt. Both picked the same shirt and hat, and they were so excited -- Tonia just couldn't say no, so they got both. The cousins were so happy to look like twins. Liam is holding a penny that was pressed with the USMA seal. The boys were calling it "Army Gold."

We ended the day with Mass. Aunt Sinead and Uncle Tommy got Michael after church. You would have thought we were separating these two for the rest of time.

Party, Party, Party, From Morning to Night

Liam was Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.
His class had a fun Halloween party where they played games, got tattoos, did a craft, and had some very yummy snacks. The party was followed by a cool parade of all the Kindergartners and First Graders. Psst...the girl in the back row wearing black is Liam's "girlfriend", Kristin.

Liam's cousin Michael, who is in his class.

These characters stopped by the party for a visit.


After school, we went to Aunt Sinead and Uncle Tommy's house to meet up with Liam's cousins to go trick-or-treating. After walking around their neighborhood we headed over to Sinead's brother Sean's house for more trick-or-treating and a pizza party.
The youngest Noonan, Joanna (she is a fairy -- not so happy about the head-piece -- but cute non the less.)

Eoighan -- he can be very shy, but not for the camera.
Tonia as Hannah Montana, and Sinead as a devil. After Liam's class party, Tonia had to run a few errands before picking him up from school. You should have seen the looks she got from a couple ladies in the craft store.

Let it Snow!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!

Liam is ready for ski season to get started. We picked his skies up today. While we were at the shop, we found this nice suit from Spyder -- half off, we might add.

As soon as we got home he put everything on to make sure that it would fit well. He asked Daddy to get his ski helmet out to see if it would work with the new suit. He tried to tell Mommy that he needed a new helmet as well -- nice try kid, no way.

Someone else was spotted wearing his ski boots around the house. When the photographer asked why, she was told that it isn't too early to start breaking the old boots in. One needs to get used to the feel of them again -- they have been in the closet for six months.