What We Missed While on Vacation

We just returned from an 18 day driving trip down to California. We went to Southern California to spend time with Steph's family, then to Northern California for Christmas with Greg's family, then back home to the Evergreen State! While we were gone, we missed the snow event of the decade! Our neighbor was kind enough to take this photo of our house so we could see it in all it's snow glory!

I have more unpacking to do, more mail to open, and all the other responsibilities of a mom of four kiddos, but I will try to post some pictures from our trip in the next few days!

Nutcracker and Space Needle!

I took Erica to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker again this year. Our seats were MUCH better than last year! Last year, we were the 2nd row from the back in the highest balcony. This year, I arranged for a group to go and we ended up in the middle orchestra, Row M!

We saw some of the cast rehearsing when we walked in to find our seats.



Here are Erica and Kennedy!

Erica, Meghan, Kennedy and Aria

Mommy and Daughter

Erica found a bar to show me some ballet.
After the show, Greg brought Kyle, Caroline and Trevor up to Seattle to enjoy the rest of the day with us! In the Seattle Center House, the kids had the opportunity to operated the trains.

We had some tickets for the Space Needle that were going to expire soon, so we took the kids up the 520 feet up to the top! Here's the carousel from way up high!

McCaw Hall, where we saw the Nutcracker and the parking lot where we parked!

Fun rollercoaster!

Here are some beautiful shots of the city with Mt. Rainier in the background as the sun went down...

We live in a beautiful state!

View from below...

...and everyone looking at it!

After our trek up high, we took the kids back to the Center House for dinner and to burn off some energy.

Caroline set up this movie theater for the "show!"

1-2-3 JUMP!

Our final stop was the candy store, where the kids each chose their own candies for the ride home.

Trevor was adorable in his big jacket and mittens. Here's a short video of him practicing his Rose Parade wave!

Caroline was enamored with the outdoor carousel!

This is what we found when we returned to the parking lot. Argh! There was no note left at all. It suddenly became a very expensive day!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

December hit and with it came the chocolate Advent calendars and Christmas tree ornaments and decorations!

Every year we give the kids an ornament that reflects something in their life from the year. Here they are enjoying them!

Erica - the Barbie ballerina for our ballerina girl

Kyle - the Hot Wheels ornament (the cars really move on it!)

Caroline - Care Bear (remember her birthday party?!)

Trevor - Elmo!

Wednesday night was Kyle's turn to bring snacks for Awana and he also helped to lead the Cubbies song. These other kids (including Caroline) helped too!

Thanksgiving Week!

Here it is...the long awaited blog entry with a bazillion photos! We love Thanksgiving around here! Ever since we bought our house, we've been celebrating Thanksgiving with Steph's family (minus one year). It's changed a bit since Grandma Caroline passed away a few years ago (and we really miss her!), but it's also evolved a bit with the addition of all of our kids! We missed Steph's sister Cindy and her family this year, but we've all agreed that next year we'll all be together again!

The week started off with Steph's mom arriving on Sunday, November 23rd. That afternoon, Greg and Kyle put up the Christmas lights. Grandma Louise and a smiley Trevor.

"Sorry!" Everyone enjoyed playing with Grandma!
We went out to dinner one night during the week and Trevor decided to start playing Peek-a-Boo! Where is Trevor?!
Here I am!

Thanksgiving Day!

My little sister, Alexandra (or Lexi as she is affectionately called among family members), Steph, and my mom.

Uncle Ron and Caroline

Erica, Mr. Turkey, and Lexi

Lexi and Kyle

We made turkey cookies out of Oreos, Candy Corn, Whoppers and frosting. The kids enjoyed eating these with their pie after dinner!

My goofy brother and mom!

Uncle Ron jammin' on the ukelele with the kiddos.

Aunt Lexi with Trevor

Tom Turkey with Grandma Louise!

The whole gang

After dinner, Kyle got very creative with some books. He can play with pretty much anything successfully!

Trevor was intrigued with Uncle Ron's mustache and beard all weekend!

Cousins Gale, Stan, and Janet joined us for dessert on Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for them!Trevor is becoming quite the little boy... he always wants to know what is going on everywhere, even when he is getting ready for bed!

We played Scrabble and Erica was the winner (with a little help from her mommy!). Here she is posing with Grandma and the scoring sheet!

Trevor had his first Peanut Butter and Jelly! In our house, that's quite a milestone as we wait to see if there will be an allergic reaction. There was none and he LOVED it!

On Friday, we took the kids roller skating again! Thanks, Uncle Ron!

Saturday was the day for the annual Lexi-supervised Gingerbread House!

Daddy got in on it this year too!

The final product with some goofballs in the background. :)

More fun Trevor and Uncle Ron time!

Late that night, Lexi and Steph enjoyed some sister time at "The Melting Pot" where we enjoyed some chocolate fondue together!

More "Sorry!"

The girlies show off their pink and purple nails, done by beauticians Aunt Lexi and Grandma Louise!

Silly Aunt Lexi!

Uncle Ron reading "Mary Poppins" to Caroline and Kyle. I posted a couple of pictures of my brother reading to my sister (Cindy) and I that very same book when we were kids and wearing 70's clothes!

On Sunday, we took a trip up to Seattle to experience some of the holiday festivities. Our first stop was the carousel across from Westlake Center.

Here's Grandma Louise and Trevor on the carousel! Trevor was enamored with it!

Aunt Lexi with Caroline

Daddy and Ron with Kyle and Erica

We visited Pike Place Market and one of the guys who throws the fish at Pike Place Fish Market showed the kids a crab. Erica and Kyle enjoyed learning about crabs and touching it...this kind man even gave us this crabs EYES to take home. Yes, we have them in the bag still. What does one do with crab eyes?!

Our Four Kids on the landmark piggy bank at Pike's Place. It is the unofficial mascot of Pike's Place Market and is named Rachel!

We enjoyed a yummy meal at the Crab Pot for dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!