Seaside

We love our weekends in Seaside!

Now this is what you call a good weekend.  Slept the entire way home!!  Even Chloe too if you look between the seats.

Big News!

Emily & Ellery are proud to announce they are going to be big sisters!!!  Little bro is due in early June.  We got great news from the geneticist on New Years Eve ruling out a few scary situations so we've decided to share our excitement!!!

NYE Party Time!

This year we planned on a low key New Years Eve. We bought "party tooters", sparkling cider, streamers, and hats and watched the ball drop at 9pm. The girls loved the noise and making a mess of the streamers but when it was over they were like..."is that it?". Well yes...when you are 4 that is what a New Years Eve celebration is like. They had been told by a teacher that she used to run outside and bang pots and pans so the girls were expecting that too. We didn't get that far and figured the neighbors wouldn't appreciate it. Maybe next year?? Wishing you and your family and happy and healthy 2013!!!

 

Go Blazers

To celebrate our friend Lyla's 1st bday we took the girls to their first Blazer game! The girls loved all the action at the Rose Garden and I'm pretty sure ate every snack they could get their hands on. The Blazers won which made it and even better night...but in the girls opinion after Lyla's bday cupcakes it couldn't get much better.

Christmas

This was the first Christmas in our new house (we've actually been able to say that about every other year based on how often we move). We are definitely staying put for a while. Grammy Bobbi, Grandpa Bill, and Uncle Cody and his family came up to Portland to celebrate with us. We had 5 kids 5 and younger in the house. Very fun and lots of excitement with all the cousins running around.

Ellery with her baby cousin

 

Daddy lifting his weights

 

All the kiddos on the night before

 



 

Hannah and Ellery showing off their new PJ's

 

 



 

More Pjs.  Ellery & Emily's had matching nightgowns for their dolls or stuffed animals.

 

Stocking time!

 

 

 



 

 

Update in Pictures 2012

Just some random pictures of the girls




 

Before Ballet Class

 

First time bowling!

Surprise!  I slipped this one in there!   We're having a new baby in 2013!!

Elf On The Shelf 2012

Our Elf on the Shelf  "Snowflake" was a busy girl this year...as long as someone (me) would remember to move her.  I forgot for the first FIVE days in a row and finally added a reminder to my outlook calendar.  I dont' know why it was so difficult to remember.  Anyway, here are some of her best poses.   The girls would get up each morning to see where she was an what kind of trouble she had gotten into overnight.  Our Elf (me) isn't as creative as some other people but she got a little adventurous eventually.

Hanukkah

I only have photos from one of the first nights of Hanukkah but they are some cute ones. Inspired by Pinterest, the girls and I made dradles out of pretzels, marshmallows, Hershey kisses, and blue sugar. They looked super cute but in my opinion were gross. Super sweet. However, we took them to Grammy Linda's party and the plate was clean. I think the kids loved them....adults...not so much. ;-)

Tree Hunt

As a kid I remember going out to tree farms with my parents and looking for the perfect Christmas tree. I couldn't wait to start that tradition with my own family but we found ourselves buying from the neighborhood lots or even having a faux tree these last few years. I decided this would be the year that we went on our first official hunt. We went to tree farm just outside of Bethany. Of course as we pulled into the lot it started raining so we knew we had to make it quick. Bundled up Emily & Ellery, found a hack saw, and we were off. The girls loved running around and looking at all the tress. They kept picking trees that were just slightly above 3' and perfect kiddo trees while we were really looking for something a lot bigger. Once we found "the one" and convinced the girls that they helped make the decision we had the lumberjack (Andy) start cutting with the help of two little assistant lumberjacks. The tree farm offered services to shake the needles our of your tree and bundle it with twine so it went from this huge awkward thing to a nice compact package that we stuck inside our car instead of tying on the roof. Not quite the memories I had as a kid but I sure can appreciate the upgrades that tree farms have implemented. Not to mention the fact that the excess needles that can go on and on for days were already removed. Can't wait to go pick out our tree next year!

Thanksgiving

This year we went down to Eugene for Thanksgiving. We had a great time at Grammy Bobbi's house. The girls were able to have a extra special visit and stayed a few days longer when Andy and I came home. Here's some pics of them modeling their turkey t shirts that I made the night before. Not too shabby for a less than crafty mom.