Eric's mom also had some fun activities planned for the kids. Here they are decorating cupcakes to look like tree ornaments. There was an amazing variety of candy to choose from... something both kiddies got really excited about! :)What a cute kid Gabe is!! He was really proud of that cupcake. I love how creative he is.
Nyah can't resist saying "CHEESE!" whenever a camera is pointed at her... so we get this face a lot in pictures!
The day ended with a story from Daddy...

Eliza had her 4th birthday in Utah! She had a princess and pirate party - 2 little princesses and whole gang of pirates! :) I didn't get a good picture of the princesses but I did get one of the games:And here is our bday princess with her pretty mama (and Sam) at a playland for lunch.
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!

Our first Christmas at home!

This year was special because it was the first year that we celebrated Christmas on our own! Santa even came to our house this year (instead of grandparents)! On Christmas Eve I made my family's traditional dinner of Chicken a la King, which we enjoyed by candlelight. Then we read the story of Christ's birth out of the bible, sang some Christmas songs, and read some Christmas stories. At this point we let Gabe and Nyah open a gift each - pjs plus a new Christmas book. So we read the book and made a plate of goodies for Santa and the reindeer then popped the kiddies into bed! Eric and I enjoyed a fun evening of preparation for the morning (wink wink!) and watching The Christmas Carol with George C Scott (a personal fave of mine...and hopefully Eric's one day)! It was such a fun night! The next morning the kids were up early (not so unusual for our Gabers) and ready to go see what Santa brought! He was so cute, getting Nyah all excited to go downstairs.Gabe was THRILLED with the awesome garbage truck that Santa brought for him!! This was one of the only pictures I could get of him looking at the camera! He was all eyes on the truck all day. :)Nyah got a baby doll and stroller from Santa. It took her a few minutes to warm up to it but in the end she loved it! Here is her funny little "CHEESE" face!I decided to add to that gift by sewing her baby doll a little bed and some blankies. I think Nyah liked it! We had a delicious breakfast (if I do say so myself!) of Christmas cream eggs, bacon, fruit and homemade pastry.Then it was back to opening presents and playing! Daddy decided to take a rest on the couch and Nyah came right over and made herself comfortable... right on his head! haha! "Oh wait, there's someone under there!" :)

days up to Christmas

In the days just before Christmas we had a lot of fun getting all those last minute things done... presents to wrap and put under the tree, goodies to make and take to friends, and fun outings to see all the Christmas festivities in the city! I spent a whole day making chocolates with some good friends. We did so much that day but to name a few: we made caramel, turtles, chocolate truffles, fudge, and dipped fondant (orange, lemon and mint)... yum!! It was so fun to hang out with the ladies all day and I loved all the goodies we had at the end of the day! :) The week before Christmas, Eric and I went on a date and walked around beautiful downtown Seattle, enjoying the lights and hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. It was a fun to get out and have a relaxing evening with my honey. We took the kids to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue again this year and it was a ton of fun. The only pictures I have are from Eric's phone so I'll have to add them later. I love love love Christmas and everything that comes along with it!

Here we go again!!

I don't know why I haven't posted this earlier but... we are having another baby!!! I'm already 22 weeks which means the baby is 11 inches long and about 1 pound. I feel him every day kicking and moving around (yes, it's a HIM!!) It is so fun to be pregnant again because with it comes all the excitement and anticipation of another child joining our family. I catch myself wondering all the time what his little personality will be like, what he'll look like, will he be a good baby (please), what will his little quirks be? I learned with Gabe and Nyah that siblings can be polar opposites, so I have no idea what to expect! :) All I know is that I am thrilled to add to our sweet family!

ward Christmas party

This year for the ward Christmas party I was in charge of organizing the dinner. Whew, what a project! But everything turned out well and we had a ton of fun. Of course the best was watching the kids run wild with their friends! :) For the program, every auxiliary sang a hymn. Here is our Gabers with the primary... see all those cute kids lined up singing? Not Gabe... he is on the far right standing in front of all the other kids! Not sure why, but he wandered around in front, not really singing, just kicking his leg and smiling a lot. It was pretty darn funny!Nyah thought the party was all about her. It was like she was a teenager already... as soon as we got there she took off like she needed to socialize with everyone! If I turned my attention away for a moment, she was gone. I even found her once on the pianist's lap while she was trying to play!

For the most part she could be found with her little buddy Lauren (in the pink shirt). They were running around giggling, crawling like babies, running and falling (on purpose) and just being silly goofy in general!Gabe couldn't help but join the fun for a bit...Of course the highlight of the evening was SANTA!!! Gabe was so excited he kept asking me in a whisper when Santa would be there, almost like it was a secret! It was adorable. That little man is just the cutest boy. When Santa finally did come, his face literally lit up and he raced to the stage to get in line! He was so quick that I missed a picture of him on Santa's lap, darn it! Eric was there though and told me that Gabe wouldn't really look into Santa's face but talked to him and was really happy to sit on his lap. (I remember last year I captured a picture of him talking out of the side of his mouth to Santa! Luckily Santa has good hearing because he still brought the gift Gabe really wanted!) The funniest part of the night was Nyah with Santa though. She LOVED him!! She would NOT leave his lap and the other kids were having to sit on Santa's other knee until I finally dragged her off his lap kicking and screaming! It was hilarious!! And she wiggled and squirmed her way back onto his lap again (of course cutting in line) before a very embarrassed Daddy finally put a stop to his child monopolizing Santa! Who ever heard of a 1 year old that adored Santa! Most are terrified! :) She would sit on his lap grinning from ear to ear and looking up into his face now and then. Mostly I think she just loved being the center of attention!! Uh oh, we're in trouble!!

Last but not least, here is Eric in all his vocalizing glory, treating us to the song "I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas" with the EQ. I still can't believe he got up and sang... he takes his calling very seriously! ;)

Christmas Time is here!

The day after Thanksgiving Gabe was so excited that it was "Christmas time"! He has been asking me for weeks when it would be Christmas Time. Probably because of all the wonderful things I've been talking about! First of all came out the decorations which were really exciting, then even better, the tree. He exclaimed excitedly over each ornament and was so sweet with how he showed each one to Nyah. It was adorable. We had a little party decorating the tree on Saturday night. (I had to give myself time to finish up frantic shopping on Black Friday, haha!) Here is our gorgeous finished product: That weekend we had so much fun relaxing with the whole family home and together. Here is Gabe cuddling up with Daddy on the floor in the office... watching a football game (not available on tv) on our tiny computer monitor! They even munched on goodies while they watched their game. It was so cute I had to capture the moment.Nyah has been a little sick, poor sweetheart. I think it hit right after Thanksgiving and has kind of lingered for awhile now. On this afternoon she woke up sad from her nap (very unusual for our bouncy girl!) and so I bundled her up and went downstairs to make her a baby cup of Grammy's special lemon-honey tea. She loved it so much!! Here are my two cuties playing make believe. Gabe transformed Nyah's cushion from her changing table (it was laundry day) into a pirate ship. He made sure there was room for her aboard too. They were sailing the seas - well actually he got them both oars so I'm not sure what kind of boat it was! Then he ran off and brought back a pen and paper to make a map (like in Dora the Explorer)! It was so creative and cute!! Of course Nyah disappeared soon after and came back with a scavenged pen from somewhere and a scrap of paper to scribble on! I just sat on the chair and enjoyed watching them play. :)Gabe's fantastic gingerbread house!! This is the first time we have attempted it...and I'm not ashamed to admit I bought the premade house at Costco!! Hee hee! It was so fun to open it up with all the different candy right there, the frosting in tubes ready to use, and a house all put together and waiting! We got to focus on the fun stuff - where to put all those yummies! We did all this art work at a luncheon hosted by a good friend with a whole bunch of other ladies and kids. It was a blast and we enjoyed a delicious lunch, to boot. What a way to kick off Christmas Time!

autumn hiking and THANKSGIVING

Daddy's zest for the outdoors does not go down with the temperature! Fall hiking is always fun too because the leaves are so beautiful to see changing colors. We were a little late for that on this trip but we had a blast crunching through all the leaves on the ground. We did find out that our little Nyah noodle is not really a fan of hiking in the cold. Maybe it has to do with being confined to the backpack - no real way to warm up or explore like that! But then even when we let her loose, she was still very unhappy with her circumstances! I'm afraid for the rest of the year, it will be the boys alone braving the outdoors. Nyah and I will stay cozy and warm at home!We went on the "Bus Trail" and found out why it was named that! Gabe and I had fun wondering how on earth this old bus ever got this far up the mountain! Thanksgiving morning the kids kept busy by painting and painting and more painting... a new, passionate interest for both! Of course Nyah just wants to do whatever Gabe is doing so I'm not sure that is accurate! But Gabe's face always lights up when I suggest he paint!
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving feast with friends at the Paternosters later that afternoon. Absolutely everything tasted heavenly! I can't believe I forgot to take a single picture. Probably because I was enjoying myself so much! Eric and I are so happy to have such wonderful friends here. It's like having family around you, even when your family is really so far away.

family movie night

Eric rented Cars 2 for Gabe as a surprise the other night and we had a fun family movie night. I had to take a picture of the seating arrangement...Gabe did not want to sit on the couch. I guess the edge of the table is closer to the action and keeps him on alert! Since Nyah does whatever Gabe does, we had true stadium seating going on at our house that night with the kids up front and center while Eric and I relaxed on the couches behind them! It was so fun to spend an evening watching this "intense" movie together. :) I can't believe my kids are getting old enough for these kinds of activities. It's so fun!

Puppy Love...the real thing

Every morning Nyah comes downstairs, goes immediately over to Denali's bed, puts her hands on her knees, crouches down and says "Hiiiiiiiii, do-dee!" right in sleeping Denali's face. It is so adorable!! Then throughout the day I'll see her take toys over to Denali (who spends 90% of the day in her bed) and tell the dog about them. Sometimes she'll just climb right on in and join her in bed for awhile! Other times Denali gets ridden like a bucking bronco (no joke) or climbed all over and mauled lovingly. Of course the dog never complains and sits through it all with a long suffering look on her face. :) I can't say that I love the dog hair that inevitably ends up all over my baby after these play dates, but I have to admit that I do enjoy seeing her love the dog so much. I think it's been really good for Nyah and Gabe to be around Denali. If there ever was a dog for little kids, this is it!