Happy Christmas!

Wishing you a very happy Christmas from the Hampton household.

We had a wonderful day celebrating, playing, and relaxing! Some highlights include a delicious homemade Chinese dinner with friends Christmas Eve, singing carols early Christmas morning, playing games, and talking with family via Vontage.

Christmas Eve dinner at our house

Indiana Jones and his whip - this was the perfect gift for Joseph!


William really wanted an airsoft shotgun, and I managed to get it in through customs and airport security. He is enjoying shooting tin cans and targets in our backyard. So far, the neighbors haven't complained!


Thomas!


And, of course, time for the Wii!

We wish you and your family a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior. May you enjoy this great time of year!

Joseph's Buddy

Joseph has a great time with the kitten - dragging around a piece of trash for him to chase, hauling him around the house, and just generally "loving on" him. For his part, Purrcy doesn't really seem to mind and rarely uses his claws.

Joseph and Purrcy

Preschool Studies

Joseph goes to preschool three days a week, and he is loving it, especially his enthusiastic teachers and all the great kids. Twice a week, he carpools with four sweet girls, whom he especially loves. But this school isn't just about education and social interaction; Sunday, at church, we noticed that Joseph was singing all the praise songs - he had learned them at school! We are so thankful for these great teachers.

Joseph and "his girls"

The Library

You know, it has always been my dream to live in a house with a library; and here it is! Of course, it is also in process. But there are shelves and books - and boys!

Home Repair Projects

As you can imagine, our home is full of projects (and potential). Bill is always busy with something - and there is always more to do. Here, he is weatherstripping (and grinding) our outside doors. (Notice that he is wearing safety glasses!)

Welcome to the mess!

After more than two months, we are still not completely moved in - but it isn't stopping us from enjoying the house! Really, I'd like to have everything cleaned up and pretty before I show you what it's like - but maybe this can be a before and after series. Here are some pictures of Thomas and Joseph's room. The idea is to make it a jungle theme, but the only evidence of that is the hanging vines at the doorway. We envision dark green curtains and some cool artwork - and I, personally, envision a clean room!

That's Thomas' desk bed in the background. The door is a little off (we'll fix it soon).

And this is Joseph's bunk bed. The bottom bunk doesn't have a mattress yet.This bare light bulb is going to be replaced with a fan and three lights, which is down in the basement. It's on Bill's list - but now that the weather has changed, it's not a priority!

So, you can see that we have a lot to do! It is a really great room, though. Not pictured are two closets (without doors but nicely shelved) and two nice windows (with good views but no curtains.) Hopefully, we'll see improvements soon!

Our View

This is the view from our balcony. It isn't very clear, but that is the sea out there; it just seems to be the same color as the horizon. Our neighbor's lot there (the one with the large, rusty water container) is for sale. One day it might hold a large, expensive house, but for now, it is just interesting.

What do you think about this blue door? Doesn't it look like it goes nowhere? It always makes me smile when I look up at it! We have these people to thank for the first part of our paved road.

And this is our back yard - also taken from the balcony. Bill planted grass and is faithfully watering it twice a day. So far, though, only weeds are coming up!

The New Kitten

I know - our very first blog entry ever, and I post a picture of our cat; not our house, not our neighborhood or schools or anything you really want to see. But, look, he really is cute! The boys are so excited, even William likes him. We named him Purrcy (really Perseus, like the hero) and he is just 7 weeks old. We have been promising the boys pets for three years now - and Purrcy is the first part of the deal. I think we'll wait until after winter to get the puppy. And I don't know about the bunnies; we'll have to see how we do with the kitten first.