Merry Christmas... From our family to yours :)

Watching the twinkling lights... the Christmas cookies disappearing... The kids throwing wrapping paper over their heads, hugs and greetings from family upon our arrival... The annual reading of the Christmas story from the Bible- these are the things that make Christmas the wonderful day that it is for our family.
And these are the photos that make it infamous:

Merry Christmas Cookies!

 
 
 
Life is always fun when we are visiting Longview, David and Lynn are surrounded by grandparents and aunts to play with. We had Great Grandma over to help with the all important sugar-cookie making and had a lot of fun :) David got lots of attention (and frosting!) in a relaxing low key setting, which is perfect for him, and the cookies look and taste fantastic :) We have already visited the lake and the playground and there are a lot more fun times coming up.

Lynn is entralled by the pretty lights and decorated packages... has done a little practicing on one of her brothers ribbons and should be a lot of fun to watch come present time. She is finding the dog a little challenging as his tail is at just the right height to catch her in the face and she lacks the skill to block or avoid it, but overall she is having fun and being her usual charming self. Merry Christmas Adam, and God Bless!

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

 

And May All your Christmases be white :)

Happy Birthday Lynn!

 

You are such a seet girl..adventurous, brave and so happy! We are blessed to have you in our lives :)

TSO...

 
 
 
 
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Concert was AMAZING... the English language cannot do it justice, to understand it you must speak the language of music, and only to see and hear it yourself can you truly understand the amazing awesome-ness of the show. That said, we had a blast and I hope to see them again :) Jonathan and I decided that concert tickets would be our Christmas gifts to each other and enjoyed good seats and had a fantastic time. The Show, the Colors, the Lights.... and the MUSIC!... it was all fantastic... I really can't describe it. Have a Merry Christmas!

So Busy!

We have been having so much fun... The Summer Flew By and autumn has nearly come and gone... I am going to be posting a few photos and descriptions over the next few weeks :)Lynn will be one year old in just 8 days! I can't believe how quickly the world is spinning.

I am back to leading MOPS crafts at Lighthouse Christian Center and it keeps me hopping, David is constantly talking and Lynn is doing her best to walk. I miss the bright and sunny summer days, but can't wait to get ready for Christmas. In the meantime... HAVE A FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!

Gingerbread houses

 
 
 
This years gingerbread expedition had extra oomph added to our expectations of ourselves. The Daily News announced a Gingerbread house Competition and we decided that we simply had to enter... so lots of the designs are top secret and won't be pictured on the blog till after the Dec 6th judging. I have decided that I want mine up anyway! We worked hard and had a few minor catastrophes (I had to completly recreate my roof) but they all turned out fantastic- and as usual we got them done in one weekend!
Enjoy :) and God Bless!

Fall Fest

 
 
 
 
As we left summer behind and embraced the beautiful autumn weather we anticipated our annual fall fest, where we invite lots of our college friends over for a big hurrah before the Holiday season. We met at our favorite corn maze and pumpkin patch... got lost and found our way out again and then returned home for some fantastic food. It was a blast :)

And then I got purple highlights... just because I could :)

Disneyland!

 
 
 
 
 
 
As September approached we made plans to go to California... Primarily to visit my grandma Arnelle and my aunt Barbara and Uncle Dave- but we hit Disneyland for a 2 day adventure while we were there. It was fantastic! David had a blast, Lynn seemed happy and I got sunburned... it was just as it should have been! David LOVES roller coasters and Mickey Mouse, I love EVERYTHING and Lynn liked seeing so many new things :) After the general splendor of Disneyland it was off to Bakersfield. We hadn't seen my grandma or aunt and uncle since our wedding, so it was wonderful to see them and visit for a few days. Grandma Arnelle loved meeting her great grandkids for the first time and she and aunt Barbara took me out for my first pedicure- and I thouroughly enjoyed it. Leaving was rather sad, but it was nice to get home to sleep in our own beds. I do wish we could visit more often though.
God Bless!

part 4

 
 
 
 
 
 
Family Photos- David glared a lot, sigh... but he looked cute while he did it ;)

The Puyallup fair.... food, rides- all that good stuff (and yes, this is all I have to say- Lynn is hanging on my leg and begging me to play with her, so thats what I am going to do)
God Bless!

summer marches on... part 3

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We went to the King Couty Fair... where we looked at animals, tractors and quilts. We ate Cotton candy while listening to country music and took really cute photos of Lynn wearing my cowgal hat :)
David let me take his picture with my new tripod and Teresa came up to visit which means having LOTS of fun. We made ice cream... 4 batches of ice cream- each a unique flavor (oatmeal cookie dough, orange swirl, blueberry colada and cake batter) we made doctor who t-shirts, and watched chick flicks :) it was a blast! To clebrate Labor Day, Jonathan and the kids and I met my parents to hike to a waterfall, David loved it and did an impressive amount of walking.. I am quite proud of that boy of mine. The waterfall was impressive too :)