Merry Christmas to all

Before we head down to warmer waters for Christmas, thought I'd share some pictures from our past week. Thanks to Lyssa Cole for lending me her camera until Santa brings mine! Hope everyone has a safe and blessed holiday.

Stockings hung with care


Getting so big!


My little reader


Annual shopping trip downtown with girlfriends



Ivar's Clam Lights




Gingerbread house making




The Winner

Christmas came early!

Will got to open his first Christmas present last night when Lyssa came over to hang out. It was a nice big Tonka truck which Will loves.
It was great spending time with Lyssa as always and Will sure put on a show for her. I think he's learned to show off already! Here's a video and some pictures I stole from Lyssa as well as a picture from the Cicero's Christmas party this past weekend:

Tis the Season

Let the Christmas festivities begin! This past week we had John's company Christmas party at Maggiano's and then another friend's get-together on Saturday. Another highlight from the weekend was a visit from Ben "Bill" Wilmarth, who is a childhood (and present) friend of Johnny's. Bill is moving to Idaho to pursue his career in golf course turf management, so we were glad to catch up and reminisce before he leaves.
One thing I love about Christmas is Christmas carols. Some of them are so beautiful and touching even though I've heard them a thousand times. A couple favorites in case you care to know are the "Little Drummer Boy" and "O Holy Night."
Let's see, what else...We got most of our decorations up, minus the tree which we decided to pass on since we'll be out of town over Christmas. Will loves looking at the lights and decorations at everyone's houses. We haven't taken him to see Santa yet. I can't wait to see his reaction. New developments for the little man in the past few weeks include waving at everyone and pulling himself up on furniture and cruising around. He's also chatting up a storm--can't be long before words start to form!
Hope everyone is having a good December!

So Cal Weekend

We just returned from a fun-filled weekend in Southern California. Too bad we missed the snow here in Seattle, but at least we got a little warm weather instead (that is, after the torrential rain on Friday). We spent Friday night at the beautiful home of Josh, Tiff, Cadence & Brielle Axene in Temecula, CA. The girls are seven months old and so sweet. Will had a great time with his cousins.
On Saturday, we drove to San Diego where the guys got to play golf at Torrey Pines and Tiff and I spent some time in the spa while Auntie Dawn and Mary watched the babies. It was wonderful! Saturday night, John and I got to tag along for the Axene Health Partners' "Annual Meeting" which consisted of lots of good food and fun times talking with the rest of the family. We spent the night at the beautiful lodge at Torrey Pines and then spent Sunday morning watching the Seahawks beat the Eagles. Wasn't a pretty game, but we'll take it.
Thanks for all your generosity, Axenes! We love you!
Unfortunately, our camera is out of commission so I'm hoping some pictures from the weekend will be sent our way.

Holiday Weekend

We had a great, family filled holiday weekend. Here are some pictures:

Grandparents with their grands
At Pike Place Market

Family game of Sequence

I Love Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is great. At our home it means low-key family time, food, naps, football watching, maybe some sort of physical activity and time reflecting on the blessings in our life. Not much fluff or over-preparation which means I'm never disappointed. I also find it special that Thanksgiving is a holiday unique to our country (well, maybe Canada celebrates it too, but on a different day). Oh, and I can't forget to mention that I LOVE all Thanksgiving foods! Mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, especially when they're all mixed together.

We're celebrating at my parent's house in Issaquah this year. Mom's oven just broke, so we're all pitching in to complete the meal. I've got my 20 lb bag of russet potatoes ready to go for the mashed potatoes and the Remlinger Farms pies are in the freezer.

Will helped me out at the grocery store today while I picked up a few items. Crowded grocery stores are the only thing I don't like about Thanksgiving, so I was glad to have my sidekick with me for support.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

Leaves keep falling on my head...

While our yard is pretty low maintenance, we spend a lot of time outside raking this time of year. Here is Will enjoying a pile of leaves:

p.s. Congrats to Todd & Laurel, we can't wait to have another niece!!

Yes, Halloween is over

Halloween is not an important holiday in our book, but we couldn't let it die tonight and had an impromptu costume try-on at Andrew Barfoot's house down in Auburn. Maybe it was that yummy creole food that Andrew cooked up that got us in a festive mood, or maybe we're just a little weird. Either way, Will enjoyed it, and apparently we did too.

Moving on to more important holidays, hope everyone has a good Veteran's Day weekend. Don't forget to honor those who have served and are serving our wonderful country!

First Halloween

As promised, here are some pictures of Will dressed as a tiger on his first Halloween. I'm sure that in in years to come I won't have as much of a say in what he wears, so I decided to make the most of this Will's first Halloween and get him a cute cuddly costume.

Sorry Dad, time to jump off the bandwagon

What a beautiful weekend we had! Thanks to the nice weather, we got to do lots (and lots) of leaf raking and mowing and strolling around the neighborhood with Will. Charlie and Lyssa (& Clicquot) Cole spent Sunday afternoon with us and brought homemade mac n' cheese with them, which was yummy (thanks, Lyss!)
This will be our first year as a family where trick-or-treaters will (hopefully) come to our door. We got the candy ready and Olive's got her bark finely tuned for a night of fun door-answering. We'll be sure to get Will in his costume this week and post some pics.
Oh, and sorry about those Rockies, Mom & Dad (they jumped on the bandwagon last year when living in Denver).

Impromptu bbq on the deck during our 70+ degree day last week

Lyssa, Will & I

Clicquot and Olive

Willy J

All-American Weekend

This weekend was filled with some of America's favorite pastimes: football (flag football game in the fields of Monroe, Huskies, Seahawks), baseball playoffs, and ice cream at our local DQ (see below for highlights).

Hunting for Pugs

Will LOVES Olive. I'm not so sure the feeling is mutual, but Olive is a good sport. Here's a video of Will chasing after Olive on all fours. Look out, little pug, he'll only get faster.

Evey & Will

Up until recently, when I got together with other moms and their babies, our time mostly consisted of us moms talking while babies played wherever we placed them. My have times changed! Will and his cousin, Evey are both crawling and beginning to figure out that they can interact with each other. Here's a video of them "interacting" (aka Evey fighting off Will) and another one of Evan shakin' what her mama (and daddy) gave her. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Gretchen

Even though you're a continent away without telephone access, we wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. We love you!

p.s. Olive says Happy Birthday too, she is also a b-day girl, turning #2 today.

Join Us

It is a well known fact that HIV/AIDS is running rampant in the world, with some of the highest rates of new infection and mortality being in Africa.

World Vision has begun work in many countries in Africa to bring Caregiver Kits to those who are providing aid to patients and their families. These kits include pain relievers, antibacterial cream, gauze and cotton balls, soap, washcloth, a flashlight for the caregiver to see their way, and more. They are vitally important in the fight against AIDS.

Pine Lake Covenant Church and our community, partnering with World Vision, are hosting an event in November to build 7500 of these kits to send to the country of Zambia. This Sunday, September 30th, there is a "BBQ with a purpose," with the goal being to raise money to purchase these kits, which cost $25/piece for supplies and shipping. Not all of us can go to Africa, but we can do something here. E-mail or call me if you would like more information.

If it seems that Caregiver Kits won't make much of a difference in the problem of AIDS, watch this video, made by Gretchen Myers on PLCC's recent trip to Kenya and you will see otherwise. While these kits won't cure the disease or necessarily change cultural stigmas associated with it, they do carry an important message: "You have not been forgotten or abandoned. While we can't heal you on this earth, let us love you and care for you. Some day you can be made whole again."

Patriotic Will

Last weekend, Will got a hold of one of those little American flags that real estate agents and such tend to stick in your lawn around the fourth of July. I was wearing him in my front pack while I ran some errands. Throughout the 45 minutes we spent at the grocery store, etc, he waved the little flag proudly and let out lots of little yells which, of course, drew some attention. It didn't help that I had the world's squeakiest cart besides having a little baby waving an American flag strapped to my front. We must have been a sight walking through the store. I'm sure Will looked very cute--too bad I couldn't see from my vantage point. Anyway, I did get a quick video of Will waving his flag later that same day.
The other video was taken when I heard Will waking up from a nap and thought I'd catch it on camera. He is so sweet!

Besides that, here are a few new pictures of Will from the past weekend. My personal favorite is the photo of Will caught mid-push. He always makes this hilarious face when he's working on a little "something." See if you can guess which picture it is :-)
Patriotic Will

Will waking up

The Big Move

We're in our new house and loving it. Nevermind the mounds of stuff to unpack, it's great to be here. We have a garage to put stuff in so the unpacking isn't quite as urgent (out of sight, out of mind, maybe not such a good thing for us procrastinators). We promise to have a party in the next couple months so people can get the formal tour, but hopefully you locals can see it before then.

We've been delinquent in our blogging thanks to a lack of internet access at our new home, but just got back on-line today. In our absence from blogging, we had a great visit from Josh, Tiff and the twins over Labor Day weekend. Grandpa Mel and Grandma Margaret also made the drive over from MN which is always a special time. Another big news item is Gretchen's departure to Bolivia where she will spend her first three months as a nurse (yep, she passed her exam!) Here are some pics from our past few weeks: