Our Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Christmas Eve, traditionally at my parents home went well, despite crazy weather. Christmas Day was just Paul, Ryan, me, Demeter, Joey and Louie. We enjoyed a quiet day and watched another 3-4 inches of snow fall. The Saturday after Christmas we went to Paul's parents place to celebrate the holiday with them. Here are pictures of each day.

Christmas Eve, playing with a new toy:

Cousin Michael and Ryan, playing with some one's expensive i-Phone!

Christmas Morning, opening a stocking. Joey and Demeter-kitty not wanting to miss a thing.

Ryan and a very tired looking Mom, playing with the new dinosaur that Santa brought.

December 27, 2008 at Paul's parents place. Ryan had a great time playing with his cousins, Ruby, 6 yrs. old & Kimberly 2 yrs. old.

Catching up on Ryan's Facebook. : )

More snow!

Lately this very much reminds me of living in the Midwest (shout out to Trenton!) - snow, continuous snowing, snow drifting, bitter cold. It's all been fun and beautiful!

Cold Stuff

Cold and beautiful

Joey loves the snow.

Stuck

I heard an unusual squeal from the living room, so I investigate and see this:He was stuck. But once he saw me laugh about it, he brought out the smiles.

Before and After

The second haircut of Ryan's life happened today. He pretty much hated it, just like he did the first time. We did get some smiles from him in the midst of his misery however. : ) Here is a before and after shot.

The picture below is also kind of a "before haircut" photo because it was taken this morning, but I took it because how cute is he just sitting there amongst all those books?! I LOVE it when he does this. It's not often, but on occasion he will sit in front of the book shelf after pulling most of the books down and go through them. He was content there for a good 30 minutes today. So sweet.

Happy Birthday Dad!

We love you and are so thankful we will be able to spend the day with you on your actual birthday!

Copy Cat

I've been a tad envious of some recent blog face lifts, so I jumped on that band wagon and found one for my blog.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

We took another trip to Carkeek Park today. Once again only saw one live fish and a few not so live fish. We were told by a friendly gentleman that the salmon are running when it's raining and make themselves scarce with the sunshine.

My favorite part of today's trip to the park was being on the pedestrian overpass, connecting the beach to the park, as a train went below us. Ryan and I waved and the conductor blew the whistle and waved back. The whistle startled Ryan so much that he shuddered from head to toe, but he continued to stand in awe as the train choo-choo'd on below us. This is a picture of the tracks, and the stairs leading up to the overpass.

Overpass

Here fishy fishy. . . .

Chum salmon typically run in Seattle streams in November and December.... but they're not there quite yet. We saw one live salmon (although it was not very lively. . . in fact it barely moved) and two dead salmon. : ( We'll try again next weekend. Ryan kept saying "Ohhhhhh" to the water. I think he enjoyed being there.

15 Months

Stats: wgt is 26 lbs 8 oz = 75% hgt is 31.5" = 65% Lots of "chatter" goes on constantly. Consistent words are Ma-ma, Da-da, Ni-Night, Na-Na (banana), ditty (kitty) & Hi!..... put with an exclamation point after it, because he always sounds so enthusiastic when he says it. If I listen closely he will imitate many other words, but I think I often miss it since he's not real clear. I am having so much fun with him at this age. Every day is a new adventure for him and I am lucky enough to explore this life as he does it.

Thanks Nurse/Auntie Korrynee for being our nurse and doing all his shots to date! We love you!

Rough life

My other kids:

They have it pretty easy.

Demeter-kitty looks a bit possessed there, but she is a very sweet kitty. Joey is so furry you can't even see her eyes at the moment. . . grooming appt. for next week! Below are a few from Halloween when Korryn brought Ryan to the office in costume for a visit.

Ahh Geez. . . Who knew I could screw up a tag!?

So, I am showing Paul my "Tagged" post and he questioned how I picked that particular photo. Thinking I am hot stuff, I go to "My Pictures", pick the 4th folder and then the 4th photo. See, I tell him, it's you... holding the salmon. He says something about me being wrong and before he can finish I am pointing out that I am indeed right, when I see that as usual, he is right. In my 4th folder, I have another folder and some pictures. I counted the folder as a picture, on my way to picture #4. Rats. He is always right! This is the true 4th photo and it's a good one.... my little man on the day he was born.

I got TAGGED! (Thanks Marcia!)

The assignment: To post the 4th picture, in the 4th folder in the "My Pictures" folder. Sorry Paul, you're going to hate this, but truly, this is the photo that meets the criteria. It's a picture taken not too long ago, since we have only had our laptop for a short time. The older pictures are on the desk top computer, which unfortunately right now is DEAD. The picture: Paul after a day of fishing on 9/4/07. Very proud of his 4 salmon.

I now tag: Amy B., Leslie M., Betty T., and Jenn L!

And a very Happy Halloween to all of you!

A Giraffe Sighting . . . .

Sitting on his tail!

Craven Pumpkin Farm

A little muddy, but an adventure none the less. We got there about 9:45 am, before the big crowds - and even at that time there were probably already 50+ people there. It was quite cold... in the 40's and very foggy. We found an awesome pumpkin and that's important because we'll be carving it at a pumpkin carving party next week! Ryan found one just his size too.

Husky Game

Always a pleasure to come into free tickets to a football game at the last minute and be able to go. Even though the Huskies are having a rough year, it's still a fun environment to be in. A sea of purple.

Above: Ryan at his first Husky game on 10/20/07.

Today's game was his third. 10/18/08

Awwww. . .

Usually a good sleeper, last night Ryan had a rough time going to sleep. I could not pass up the chance to capture this on camera. There are not many snuggly moments these days, he must have needed his Daddy to get to sleep last night. He almost looks like an infant again. . .

Portland Marathon

This weekend I went to Portland, Oregon to watch and support my sister Kerri and Dad run the Portland Marathon. They both did amazing, running in it just about 4.5 hours. My Dad is 65 and this was his 19th marathon! You GO DAD! I am so proud and inspired by both Kerri and Dad, as well as Korryn. The determination and commitment it takes all of them to run and train is a big one, I so respect that. I am a runner at heart, but that runner is a bit trapped right now. I am not sure I have what it takes to run 26.2 miles, but I know deep in my heart I will run a half marathon someday. Until then I will watch and marvel at my family. They are so strong in more than just a physical way!

As the marathoners start their run this drum core is there giving them a great reason to keep it going. These drummers amaze me and they go for probably close to an hour, non stop until all the marathoners go by. The video does not do them justice. They are LOUD and amazing!

And a few pictures of Ryan enjoying Portland. He was looking at a beautiful fountain.

The picture below just cracks me up. He had found some mud in the grass and was so not pleased we (Mom and I) thought it best he not frolick in it.