Batman Legos

Merry Christmas!!!

A few pictures from Christmas morning

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas from the Fitzpatricks! We have fond memories of the time spent with family this year. Highlights include a trip to Idaho for a triathlon, where Justin and Becca competed against each other. (For the record, Becca would like to point out she bested Justin by thirteen minutes. For the record, Justin would like to point out he was scammed.) We also spent a great Thanksgiving with Justin's family.

Justin still enjoys work at Intel, but looks forward to the day he quits with much anticipation. He occupies his free time with competitive volleyball, community service, video games and financial engineering. (Riley would like to point out one more thing: Dad enjoys sending people to their rooms.)

Becca had a breakthrough year, and sold her romantic thriller to Simon & Schuster for publication in January 2010. The book will also be published in the UK, Germany, France, Brazil, Holland and Japan. She is writing the sequel, and hopes to make a career in writing. When she's not writing, Becca plays chauffeur to her children, referees their wrestling matches and reads bedtime stories. She also enjoys kickboxing, running and spending money on shoes.

Riley is A Very Busy Boy. He started kindergarten this year, and especially enjoys the social aspect. His reading is improving and I'll often find him in his bedroom reading Star Wars books to Jace. Riley's love for Legos is an enduring passion, and he and Jace build spaceships and hold battles. Almost indefinitely, Riley plays Darth Vader and Jace is Luke Skywalker. Riley is very curious about the world around him, and he and Justin spend time every night reading How Things Work by David Macauley. Soccer took up a large chunk of Riley's time this past fall, and Chess Club ends just before Christmas.

Our nickname for Jace is “Curious George,” and he upholds the title well. He has a strong personality and when he's determined to do something, nothing will stop him. For example, Riley usually plugs in the outdoor Christmas lights at dusk, but feeling left out, Jace wanted his turn. He sat out in the snow for ten minutes, freezing, but refusing any help until he accomplished the task by himself. Jace loves trains, especially electric trains and Thomas. He finds much glee in chasing Riley around the house, and the chasing usually ends with a wrestling match in the living room. Although he is four years younger, Jace is comparable in size, and the match is anybody's game. One of Jace's passions is food, and he never hesitates to try something new. His favorite word at the table is “more.”

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season!

Justin, Becca, Riley & Jace

Christmas par-tay!

Some of my awesome lady friends here in Colorado, enjoying a dinner out and exchanging gifts to sprinkle a little holiday cheer on our busy mom-lives.

Chess Club

Today was Riley's last day of Chess Club. At the award ceremony, Riley received the 5th place trophy for all players in the K - 3rd grade division! He was the only kindergartner to place in the top ten. Go Riley!

Thanksgiving

Evan, Nana, Justin & Riley

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner together

Happy Halloween!

It was 76 degrees on Halloween - a first for Ft. Collins!

Trick-or-treating at Intel (this is Justin's luxury cubicle)

Riley was a ninja! (He's missing his mask.)

Jace was fascinated by all the monsters and spooky decorations. (He's the red-and-blue dragon at the top of the stairs.)

Jace knocking and saying "trick-or-treat!"

All the kids on our street went together. Riley is in the back row on the left, and Jace is on the far right.

Riley's Birthday!

Riley's day started off with mom and dad making a birthday breakfast . . .

After breakfast, mom and dad gave into The Negotiating Powers of Riley and allowed him to open one present . . .

Riley's cake with six candles . . .

Playing in the leaves after school with friends . . .

Becca's book sold in France!

Just a quick note to let everyone know there was an auction in France this week . . . Becca's book will be published by Editions JC Lattes!

We know it gets a little confusing, so here are the sales so far:

US: Simon & Schuster
UK: Simon & Schuster
Brazil: Intrinseca
France: Lattes

Autumn

In school, Riley had to write a story about his favorite thing to do in the fall. He said: Go to the pumpkin patch!

Riley throwing hay at the camera

Justin and Jace hunting for the perfect pumpkin. We always have a jack-o-lantern carving contest . . . and Becca always wins ;)

Jace wants to throw hay, too!

On top of the world.

Jace went into a state of 2-yr-old euphoria at the sight of a "big tractor." I'm pretty sure he would have stayed there all night, were that an option.

Summertime!

We stayed close to home this summer, but the boys enjoyed our neighborhood pool and all the fountains around town.

Riley learned to swim in the deep end . . .

Vacation to Whidbey Island

Some pictures from our trip to Whidbey Island to visit Nana and Pop-pop.

Justin and Jace checking out sailboats

Jace trudging through sand . . . there were quite a few seashells

Riley had fun walking on the driftwood

Justin, Evan and Tod enjoying the ocean view

We're blogging!

Want the latest Fitzpatrick news? It's coming soon! This blog will be all-Fitzpatrick-all-the-time. And that's something even Jace can get excited about :)