Zoo Lights

We have been trying to take the kids to the Zoo Lights, but with this crazy weather, no day has worked. But since it wasn't raining today, YET, we figured now was as good a time as any. We invited the Bradshaw's to come with us and it turned out to be a great time. A little WET, but still fun! Also, it would be nice if Starbuck's stayed open past 9pm.
This is how the night started:
This is how it ended:

This One's For Grama

Christmas 2008

What a wonderful Christmas we had! Christmas Eve we were invited to Jake's parents. Ryan was so excited to go to Kennedy's grandma's house. We played bingo and I even won a round! We were then very fortunate to have Santa make a visit! He brought each kid a present of new Christmas jammies. Ryan was so excited and not at all shy about Santa, but Peyton just kept screaming at him. Troy had to take her up to get her present and she wasn't about to have her picture taken. She did enjoy opening her present and wanted to put her jammies on with the rest of the kids. We then had a wonderful dinner prepared by Jake's mom, Cheryl. The children then prepared for the nativity. All the children participated and most of them, including Ryan were beautiful angels. Thank you Sarah and Jake for including us in this special time!
Christmas morning we woke with two very excited girls. Peyton woke extra early and we gave her some bread, chocolate milk and animal crackers to tide her over until Ryan woke up. We finally sent Peyton in for Ryan and she was SO excited! We went downstairs and the girls were so happy that Santa had come. They both have enjoyed their presents so much and played so well together. Peyton was really in to opening the presents. She loved ripping off the paper and handing it to me! We spent the day watching the girls play with their toys and enjoying afternoon naps! We then had a wonderful Christmas dinner and just really enjoyed our time together.

Dashing through the Snow!

Even though school was canceled everywhere yesterday, Ryan's preschool still held their Christmas party. When school was over, Sarah and I decided to be good moms and take our two CRAZY girls sledding. They had each been begging to go. We had them start out about half way up the little hill. I would stand at the top and hold the sled while they got on and then they would ZOOM down! They got a little braver and wanted to do it themselves, so they would trek back up the hill and slide down on their bellies. After watching and laughing for a bit, they came over to tell Sarah and I that they were going to the "tippy-top". We let them go and the crazy girls they are went FLYING down on their bellies again. They had so much fun and are a lot more brave than either Sarah or I gave them credit for. Ryan fell off once and rolled a bit, but that didn't deter her, she just walked back up and went again. Sarah took Pieper down a little "hill" once and she was good. I stuck Peyton on a saucer and pushed her down the little hill a couple of times, but she didn't seem too thrilled. Peyton's not much of a fan of clothes, so she kept kicking off her boots and socks and wouldn't keep her mittens on. When we left her hands were bright red! We had such a great time and Ryan has been begging to go again ever since!!

Nutcracker Tea

Ryan attended the Nutcracker Tea yesterday at her dance studio. She had such a fun time dressing up in her dance costume from the spring and putting glitter in her hair. She was able to have cookies, brownies and yummy hot cocoa. She spilled a little cocoa on their rug, but "it was just an accident". She got to meet Clara and Snowflake. The little girls all learned a little dance to the "Chinese song" (whatever that is!) and then performed it at the end. She seemed to have a really good time when I picked her up, unfortunately I didn't get there in time for the little performance. I did snap a quick picture when they were done though, so not a total loss (for me!).

Let it snow!

It snowed overnight and the girls were so EXCITED! When Peyton and I came downstairs this morning and opened the blinds, she let out a big WOW! Ryan wanted to go outside and Peyton wasn't about to be left behind. I put them both in their snowpants, coats, boots and hats and let them loose out on the deck. I'm not sure it was even five minutes before Peyton wanted back in and Ryan followed. They sure have fun looking at it though!!

I'm no Martha!

I was making a QUADRUPLE batch of these today and I dropped half an egg shell into the dough while my Bosch was happily mixing along. Needless to say, I threw it all in the garbage and got to start over again with ANOTHER pound of butter, 4 MORE cups of sugar and ANOTHER 2 cups of peanut butter. Lesson learned: Turn the mixer off while adding in eggs!

What a Weekend

This has been quite an eventful weekend! We decided to pick Troy up from work on Friday so that we could hurry downtown to see Santa at Nordstrom. When we arrived at the line for Santa at 5:45pm, I was told that the wait for Santa was about 3 hours and in fact the line had already been closed off. Seriously??? So instead we went to Cheesecake Factory!! We also took the girls on the Winter Wonderland Carousel. Saturday night we were invited to two holiday parties. One at our neighbors and the other at Troy's friend he carpools with. It was a great time to spend together enjoying company and visiting with new people.
Sunday was a typical day at church, until Peyton threw up on me. It wasn't much and she seemed fine. I cleaned us both up and headed back to class because Troy was teaching. Unfortunately, it happened again, A LOT! My good friend Cristie helped me clean Peyton up and I grabbed Ryan and headed home. We had made plans to go to Scott and Cristie's for dinner, being the good home teacher he is to us, and they said to go ahead and bring Peyton. We had a great dinner and were just finishing up when Peyton started crying for me to pick her up. Once she was finally in my lap, she threw up all over me AGAIN and a bit in my mouth. SICK. I grabbed my things and left Troy and Ryan to have dessert and we headed home for a nice LONG shower. I got her cleaned and changed and we rocked for a bit and then I happily put the poor tired girl to bed.
What an end to a fun holiday weekend!!!

Leavenworth

Last weekend we were introduced to Leavenworth from our good friends, the Jacksons. They had made plans to run-off last weekend and very kindly asked it we'd like to go. Since Jac had to take off on Friday we were happy to jump at the chance for a little "getaway". We took off on Saturday and it was the perfect ending to Thanksgiving and kick-off for Christmas. We stayed at a great little Inn that had an indoor pool and a great breakfast. Stealing a line from Sarah, "we enjoyed the company of our friends, ate lots of good food, shopped til we dropped, swam, laughed and tried to keep up with our girls." Seriously Sarah, I couldn't have said it any better! Unfortunately there wasn't any snow yet, but it was definitely a little cold. Everyone knows I'm rarely dressed for the cold and I can happily say I was cozily layered in Uggs, sweaters, coats and mittens all weekend. Sarah very kindly took some great family pictures for me. We did some "urban" shots around the town and then went out past the town and got some great shots on the river.Overall, it was the perfect little getaway and we can't wait to do it again. Thanks Sarah and Jake for all the fun!P.S. Ryan wanted to wear mascara for the family pictures and when she had a meltdown later, her mascara ran all down her face!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Our good friend Jacalyn came to visit us for Thanksgiving. We had such a great visit even though it was only for a couple of days. Our day started bright and early Tuesday morning when Jac arrived. We went straight downtown and had breakfast at our favorite spot in Pikes Market downtown, we got hot chocolate at the original Starbucks, tried on silly hats in Anthropologie (where we bought matching boots!), and enjoyed a fun, rainy Seattle day!Wednesday morning we started our turkey in the brine. After putting all of the brine mixture and turkey into the brining bag, we discovered a leak. We then had to transfer all to another bag and in the process dumped a bunch of the solution ALL OVER the kitchen! After cleaning up the mess we ran up to Bellevue to do a quick Christmas run and then got some grocery shopping done for our feast the next day. That night we hit two movies (and paid for both of them)!! We saw Four Christmases and then we had to see Twilight again, together. We also wanted Troy to see it, however he was less than thrilled!Thanksgiving started bright and early with a trip over to Gig Harbor for the Turkey Trot. No one was very motivated to get up that morning, but we were all pretty happy after we did! The weather was chilly, but beautiful and sunny. After our walk we stopped for donuts and chocolate milk. We then headed home and started our turkey on the grill. This was my first "real" turkey I've made and I must say it was FABULOUS. The turkey was so moist and tasted EXTREMELY good! I know I'm biased, but seriously, it was good! While I was cooking Troy put up the tree and then Jac decorated it. I didn't do one thing with putting up my tree this year and I was completely okay with it!
Thanks again Jac for decorating my tree, making yummy appetizers and providing lots of love and laughter!!!

Primary Program

Ryan participated as a Sunbeam in the primary program. She was SO cute and did such a great job. She was paired up with her "older" friend Courtney. She was so excited to sit up on the stand and get to talk into the microphone. She said her part almost perfectly with just a bit of help from Courtney and she sang beautifully in her little trio. For a Sunbeam, we haven't had to worry about her being shy!!