Christmas day

Christmas morning ready to go find what Santa brought!

Aunt Katie waiting with the boys

Heading downstairs to see….

Weston got a new bike!!

Ashton checking out his new camera!!

Gma, Nixon and the Minion

The twins with their new trucks from Grandpa and Mimi

Cooper, Gma and the Minion

Grandma and Grandpa Bell and Aunt Katie were here in Tokyo over Christmas. It was a fun day opening gifts and seeing what Santa brought :) The boys loved playing with everyone and of course eating treats! It was a fun day with everyone!

Nixon's Sony commercial :)

This picture above was the only one I got at the actual shoot. I was running around trying to keep Nixon happy, help change his clothes, get his attention, keep his attention, make him laugh and smile and to stand on his mark. But the crew was very patient and kind. They were very wise to put up big white walls in front of them and only expose the camera (there in the middle of the pic). They did this to hide from Nixon so he wouldn't get worked up about all of the people on set. 

Nixon was cast as the main baby roll and Cooper was cast as the sub-main for this Sony Xperia commercial. Having twins really has it's perks!! 

 It took a little bit for Nixon to warm up to the "mom" model, but she was patient and so loving and playful with Nixon. At one point, they had Cooper switch in for Nix and he looked around at the huge film crew and just sobbed. It was so, so funny (even though I was sweating bullets hoping the twins would do a good job!). 

We had Grandma Bell with us because any shoot or audition with twins requires extra hands! Cooper and Grandma played while Nixon was filming. Several people have seen this commercial on tv and loved seeing Nixon! Fun experience and keepsake :)

Twinners

These little (but not so little!) guys will be 2 in less than a month! They are very active, fun little boys. 

Don't let Cooper's size fool you (over 100%tile in height and 95th%tile for weight) because he is our cuddle bug. He is always in need of a hug or a kiss. Nixon is our adventurous boy (70th%tile for height and 50th%tile for weight) and is very agile. He can climb anything and proves it to us every day:)

They have both become very friendly to strangers and often have a "hi" for anyone passing. 

We are finally over the stranger anxiety and modeling auditions are much less stressful now!

In fact, over Christmas break they both books a Sony commercial! Nixon was the main and Cooper was the sub-main. After Nixon warmed up to the mom model and the 30+ crew members, he did just fine! 

I enjoy hanging out with these 2 while their brothers are at school. 

Twins have been so much fun!

Green belts

Ashton and I had our Karate belt examination in early December. 

We took the train about an hour away and performed in front of the Grand Master and a panel of judges. Since Ashton is only 6, he was able to test with another little boy. He did a great job and didn't seem nervous at all. I on the other hand was a bit nervous. Because I am an adult, I had to perform all of my routines on my own. The exam is all in Japanese so it makes it a little bit more nerve wracking. I felt good about my performance and was glad to get it done. Funny side note, right as I got called onto the floor to perform, one of the judges had to go to the bathroom. So instead of starting right away, I was left standing in front of everyone waiting! Luckily my coach was able to come and give me some pointers while I waited!

After the routines were finished, we had to spar for 2+ minutes.

While Ashton and I were putting on our gloves, our coach came and told us that even though were wouldn't get the official results for a few weeks, he was sure that we both passed! We were very happy to hear that:)

The sparring went great and Ashton and I both scored (it's very hard to score in sparring because your form and technique has to be perfect).

We were dead tired at the end of the day but still had a 10 minute bus ride to the station and then another hour train ride home. Luckily, we got some seats and relaxed.

In January, the Grand Master came to our dojo and presented us with our green belts. He stayed for all of class and gave us instructions and tips on how to get better.

We are enjoying karate and glad that we get to learn in Japan!

Weston's Christmas Program 2013

The twins waiting for the program to start :)

Weston's pre-school class put on a great show this year! This is his second year of pre-school, but they still surprised us with some catchy new songs and dances :)

At the end, of course Santa made an appearance and gave the kids a special gift. 

Weston is a great performer and let me know that his voice was the loudest!

Super Model Award….

This past year has been more than we ever imagined with all of the boys and their modeling. 

Ashton is definitely at the right age and height for a lot of the job opportunities and has worked so hard this last year. Some of his jobs have included music videos, a dvd cover, commercials, clothing, runway shows and various other things. 

 A lot of the jobs Ashton has had to audition for. Sometimes it's just to try on the clothes and other times he has to introduce himself and talk to strangers all while being recorded on camera. It takes a lot to have the kind of confidence at such a young age. This is one of the reasons that we have loved the modeling. 

This morning my phone started pinging me with texts and Facebook messages telling me to check out a link from one of our agencies website. We were so happy to see that Ashton received an award for being one of the top models:) 

This will definitely be a great keepsake and memory for us. 

We are grateful for the success of Ashton's "career" and are glad that all of our boys enjoy modeling. The memories and pictures that we have collected are priceless~

Ready…..

These 4 boys are soooo ready for Christmas! All are at the perfect age and the magic is still strong at our house!!

~Merry Christmas~