Chocolate Factory

For December we went to Boehm's chocolate factory in Issaquah for the preschool field trip...yum! I love this picture because it shows all the kids running around playing and all the moms crowded around the window to see the workers hand dip the chocolates! Haha - obviously this activity was more exciting to us than to the kids!

Santa Claus

Gabe is new to the whole Santa thing. Sure, he heard about Santa last year... but he was only 2 and didn't quite grasp the concept. This year he is thrilled with Santa and loves to talk about him, give out presents, pretend he is him, makes sleighs out of pretty much everything, and has an ever changing wish list for him!
The best though was witnessing Gabe's reaction when Santa showed up to our ward Christmas party. His eyes got big and round and I could tell he was trying so hard not to smile but he couldn't contain it and ended up covering his mouth with his hands instead!! (He is such a reserved little guy - I think that is why he was trying not to show a reaction.) It was utterly adorable. Knowing how shy my little guy is, I was literally shocked when he eagerly got in line to sit on Santa's lap...and had the patience to wait 30 minutes too! When it was finally his turn, he started jumping up and down in excitement and waving his arms saying "is it my turn?! is it my turn?!" Once he got up there though, his shyness almost got the best of him but he ended up being able to talk to Santa... out of the side of his mouth!! Haha it was so funny! Poor Santa could barely hear Gabe - he even thought he wanted a plane instead of a crane (which Gabe explained to me by saying he asked for a crane and a plane!!) What a darling boy! I love these pictures because you can see how stiff and nervous he is with his little hands clasped together and how he is talking out of the side of his mouth. And yet I can still see his happiness and excitement too. Oh, I love that brave little guy so much!!

Had to add this adorable picture of Eric and Nyah at the party. What a happy baby... she has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger! :)

Christmas Dinner Party

I am in a dinner group with some friends that also love to cook and I have to say it is such a blast!! I love it! We get together once a month - taking turns hosting a dinner of whatever we choose. Then the hostess gives out all the recipes she used that evening. No kids, no cooking (except when it's your turn to host!), no dishes, no bill, no men... it's just about perfect. (I'm just kidding about the 'no men' part being perfect - haha! But you ladies have to admit that it is something special to just hang out with the girls occasionally!) Anyway, it is a special treat and I look forward to it every month.

So you can imagine how excited I was when it was my turn to host... and I even got December - my favorite month of the year! I will admit I put far more time into preparing the table setting as I did preparing the dinner! But to me, ambiance is everything. I wanted this Christmas dinner to be something special. Each of these women had given me such a wonderful evening at their houses this past year, I was anxious that everyone have a lovely time that evening at my home. Here is the table, ready to go: The ladies enjoying baked Brie en Croute (one of my all time favorite appetizers) and chatting while I put the finishing touches on dinner...All of my wonderful dinner group buddies! Thanks for taking the picture Eric...and for taking the kids out to dinner so we could have a quiet evening. :)
and Happy Birthday Alexia!!
I will be posting the menu on Sisters Cafe next week for those of you that are interested!

giggle giggle giggle

This video is so adorable - I just love it! To hear this you really need to scroll to the bottom of the page and turn off my music first. Gabe has to be the silliest, funniest little man ever! He comes up with the craziest, most creative things lately - Eric and I are LOVING it!

Look who's got a tooth!

Nyah's little gummy smile is changing! I'm a little sad but excited too because any new stage is fun with babies. We can't believe she has been toothless for so long. Gabe had a tooth by 2 1/2 months... Nyah is 8 months! Wow! I had to post a comparison picture of Gabe doing the same thing when he got his first tooth... he is 3 1/2 months here. Love the finger-in-the-mouth pictures!!

broccoli, anyone?

Nyah is teething and not too thrilled about it. Neither am I! It seems her life is just not right unless Mama is holding her. Fun but a little tiring after a few hours... days... weeks. Ok, it's just a few days now but it feels like weeks! :) So anyway, one evening as I was attempting to make dinner, she was protesting loudly at being left on the floor amidst a tempting array of toys. She wanted to be held NOW! Well, we reached a truce of sorts as I plopped her on the counter next to me. She seemed more than happy at this arrangement and immediately dove for the broccoli... and here is the sequence of events:

Whoa, what is this cool stuff??and it goes straight to the mouth of course...hmmm, not too bad....and she's on to seconds...Whatever makes you happy, babe!! :)(and no, she didn't actually eat any - just a lick here and there!)

Christmas tree decorating

Decorating the Christmas tree is one of my favorite activities during the holidays. It is so exciting getting it out and unwrapping all the ornaments. We get a new ornament each year, usually on a vacation or to celebrate something special that year - like a new baby! - so it's fun to reminisce as we hang them on the tree. We had the missionaries over for dinner that night so they stayed and joined in the fun!
The night before, while we were setting up the tree (and watching a little football), Gabe was so excited about the star on top he jumped the gun...! :)But when it was time, Daddy helped him put it all the way up top!The Christmas tree is done and we are loving it's festive colors and warm glow! And look what we found underneath... now that has to be the most precious gift ever!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving this year! We were so happy to share it with good friends since it was our first Thanksgiving away from family. We had a lovely evening... the food was delicious and the company was even better! Luckily my friend Lomney brought some brie en croute to snack on because the turkey took an extra 90 minutes to finish roasting. Everyone was about half starved when we finally ate! It was worth the wait though... everything was absolutely delicious from the turkey and mashed potatoes to the pumpkin pie.

Marcie and Lomney slaving away in the kitchen!Eric carving his own bird for the first time! He was thrilled, let me tell ya! :)

Hear are some pictures of the tables. Gabe helped me make the Mayflower boat for sailing on his table! Each child also had a little boat name card. I'm not sure why I didn't get pictures of us eating at the table! Oh well! Marcie helped the kids make apple turkeys after dinner... fun!!And the night would not be complete if everyone didn't get a "ride" on Denali! :)

Bring on the snow, Seattle!

We Love Love Love the snow in this family! It's one of the things we have missed the most here in Washington. So when we woke up to the white stuff one morning, all of us were pretty excited. Gabe starting exclaiming about how it was Christmas now and Santa was coming! Despite learning that we had another month to wait for that momentous occasion, he was still bouncing around with excitement and couldn't wait to go out and dig around with is trucks in all that snow (all of a 1/4 inch at this time!!) He looked so adorable out there trying in vain to "dig" in the snow. He was so cute and good natured about it though - just told me it was too hard with his big digger so he was going to try it with his little digger. (He could not figure out why the big one wouldn't work since, as he explained to me, it had the "claws" on the front - evidently perfect for digging in the snow... but not so much with half frozen dirt!) Later he had a bit more success as the snow finally started to stick. (He is crouched behind the digger in this picture) It was so beautiful. Here are some pics of the house and neighborhood. (I wasn't the only one out taking pictures of it, either... it was so fun to see other flashes going off as the neighbors captured the moment too!)

I was so happy all day watching it fall gently down while we were snug and warm in our cozy house. It was a perfect winter day...

play hard... sleep hard

I was thrilled to find my computer cord in the mail today - yippee!! I can finally post about all the fun things we have been up to! Where to begin?!! Well, I thought I better start with some good ole playtime with Gabe and Nyah....

I love to hear these two giggling away on the floor... Nyah absolutely adores her big brother, and he thinks she is pretty cool too!

Gabe's puppy mask he made in preschool... he was being so silly and giggling almost as much as I was!

who thought the laundry basket could be so much fun?

Seeing my darlings sleep is almost as special as seeing them play... they are so precious.