John's 1st Program

Here is John hammin' it up for the camera at his preschool Christmas program. (Yes, it was a Christmas, not a "Holiday" program - he goes to a catholic preschool.) Next to him in the red and white striped shirt is his bestest school buddy, Jayden.

Several years of practicing in the basement, the living room, at Grandpa John and Grandma Terrie's cabin, and Grandpa Leo and Grandma Mary's "fun room" finally paid off. He did really well and had a huge audience. Waiving to him from the crowd along with mom and dad were Grandpa John, Grandma Terrie, Uncle Tom (with hair), Auntie Anne, Aunt Molly, Grace, Bailey, Ms. Liz and Tyler.

Kaitlin is a Natural

Kaitlin has been so generous with her time. She came up last weekend so that Davin and I could have a night out. She came up again this morning to watch the twins while we went to John's preschool program. Thank you, Kaitlin! We really appreciate your time.

(On a side note, if you think you are starting to see a pattern with the twins in pictures, you'd be right. Despite Luke's naturally smiley personality, he always seems to go into shock when the camera comes out.)

Visiting Santa

Here is a shot of the boys with Santa from Saturday, Dec 5th. We were not sure what sort of experience this was going to be for everyone. Would Luke and Leo freak out sitting with old Chris? Would John say "snow way Jose"? Would Mom and Dad have to deal with long lines and a crying dynamic duo? Well.... it was a big nope for all the aforementioned.

Our visit with Santa took all of 12 minutes from the time we got the twins out of the car seats to the time we strapped them back in. John was excited too because he got to give Santa the Christmas list he had cousin Sarah write for him. He was also surprised that Santa already knew he was going to be at Grandma & Grandpa Beranek's for Christmas.

This year we are making the 300 mile cross country trek to Miller,SD for Christmas. I hope to beat our last road trip time of 10+ hours. This should be doable as long as we don't get another flat and can avoid bad weather. Rest assure though, I am always prepared for an impromptu overnight ditch party with my clan.

Merry Christmas.

Buddies

The Excitement is Mounting

John is getting pretty pumped for Christmas this year. I admit that I have been exploiting his excitement just a little. The other night I told him that if he went right to bed, I'd send Santa another letter explaining that John wants a Home Depot Work Bench for Christmas. (You know, just in case Santa lost the first letter that was hand-delivered.) It worked; he went right to bed. Christmas really is a magical time of year.

Bath Time

Here is a great shot from tonight - Bath time.

As of 6:50 we have the twins down for the night and John is bundled up in front of the Brandt Sunday night Movie, The Polar Express. As for Angela and I, some quiet time over dinner, then Football. Go VIKES!

Meeting Santa

On Saturday morning, we took the boys to have their picture taken with Santa. John was also very happy to hand-deliver his Christmas list to the big guy (you never know how reliable the post office will be). The twins were a little luke warm on St. Nick. They didn't give him any smiles, but there weren't any tears, either. I'm sure Luke and Leo will get more into the Christmas spirit when they see all the beautifully wrapped gifts they can rip apart (and then promptly try to eat).

The Running of the Santas

On Saturday afternoon, John and I had another fun experience with Santa - well, many Santas. My law firm participated in the 2009 Santa Run down Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Money raised for the run is donated to Legal Aid to provide legal services to those who could not otherwise afford them. In addition to hundreds of Santas, there was also a Grinch sighting. (After witnessing the "Grinch" take off his gloves to adjust his shoe laces, John exclaimed "Mommy! The Grinch is not real."

John took his role very seriously and actually ran a good part of the way - winter boots and all. For his efforts, John made the local news. I have not been able to find the news story on line, but if I do, I will post a link. The video file for the video I shot was too large to load into the blog, but you can watch it by clicking here. (Once the link comes up, you may have to click on "Brandt 5" on the left hand side of the screen to get to the video.)

And here are the Elves

For a couple of giggles, check out the Brandt family as elves by clicking here.

Ups and Downs

As it turns out....

Due to mounting pressure from my mother (she was very nice about it), we ordered away for a DNA test to answer the question on everyone's mind. YES...they are IDENTICAL.

My mother was not surprised in the least. In fact, she told me that if the test had said otherwise, she would have said the test was wrong.

As time passes, I can see that they are looking more and more alike. In looking back at older pictures, I am very surprised at how similar they look. This photo was taken over the 4th of July weekend. At the time, I was convinced they didn't look much alike. I guess I was wrong.