Vancouver Olympics 2010

 

Jonathan and I had a wonderful time on our trip to Vancouver, Canada for the winter Olympics! We dropped David off with his adoraing grandparents Thursday evening and enjoyed sharing dinner together, then it was back home for some sleep before the drive up. We got a bit of sleep after watching the American Lysaceck take Gold in Mens figure skating :) it seemed like a good way to start the weekend. The drive up on Friday was BEAUTIFUL, the sun was shinging and the traffic impressivly cooperative. The wait to get thru the border a shocking 15 minutes... we were very pleasantly surprized! We mad our way into Vancouver and after a bit of "hordes of pedestrian humanity makes it difficult to drive in a strange city" stress we found a parking garage and prepared to hoof it the rest of the day. We walked around enjoying the atmosphere, seeing the sights and checking out the cauldron before our dinner reservations at Elixir Restaurant... a delicious French Bistro. After dinner it was more walking to see the cauldron and rings at night- a vast improvement! And to make the atmosphere even more fun, Canada got a Gold in Men's skeleton- the city was like one big cheering party :) it was thrilling to be a part of it!

Day 2: Afer a filling breakfast we headed back towards the city and continued past the thick of things to head to UBC's thunderbird arena to see Switzerland vs. China in Womens Hockey- it was a ton of fun- as my first hockey game I was happy to discover that it is an enjoyable sport to watch- it is fast paced and easy to follow :) Shockingly I ran into my friend Aleena while we were there and enjoyed spending a little bit of time with her on the drive back to Vancouver. The drive back home was just as beautiful.

 

 

 

Backyard exploration

 

David and I decided to accept the beautiful gift of sunshine from God and spent some time chasing Levi, finding rocks and shaking sticks in the backyard. We soaked up some cool sun and got rid of a little cabin fever.
On another note- we got a laptop so now I can blog and edit photos while watching cars with David- I have been freed from the office and am back to blogging :) Enjoy the photos :)

 

 

 

Davids 2nd Birthday

All sorts of fun reigned at David's party. It was chaos and fun contained in our little house. David was thrilled to wake up to find cars themed balloons hanging about the house. He had practice sharing his toys with 7 other children and had more fun with his Lightning McQueen cake topper than the cupcake itself. The kids colored Cars coloring pages and the only time David didn't have fun was when he was told he couldn't have a cupcake yet- we had to wait for the grandparents to arrive. He was devastated for about 5 minutes. Hope you all enjoy the video of his wild balloon fight :)

Gingerbread sneak peak

 

Gingerbread houses were a blast this year: we had quite a few participants: Jan, Laura, Teresa, Rikki, Linda, Gabby, Rosie, Grandma Ruth and myself! Despite having 9 people in the house all sifting through candy and constatnly needing more royal icing- it went very well and lots of fun was had by everyone :)

 

 

 

a few more photos from the childrens museum...

 

 

 

 

Seattle Adventure

 

Last Week, David and I took a break from housecleaning and gingerbread planning for a day out with Kira and Gabe. We headed to Seattle to check out the Aquarium, Pikes Place and the Children's Museum. The Boy's had a ton of fun as did Kira and I :)

 

 

 

Shi turns 2- David joins the celebration

 

Shi had her 2nd Birthday, David, Jonathan and I went to party with her :) there were LOTS of toys, all of Shi's favorite foods- which the kids just ate up, cake and giant Mickey and Minnie balloons! David had fun once he overcame his terror of all the people he din't know. Enjoy the pics- and yes the pink stroller one of of his favorite things there!

 

 

 

a walk in the park

 

Yesterday David and I went to Puyallup to get some fresh air and good ol vitamin D. Bradley :ake park offered play toys, a lake and a nice bit of fall color.
We met Grandma there and together we corralled a slightly grumpy David and had a nice bit of time out of the house.

 

 

 

Party

 

Our Annual Fall fest rolled around this year and landed on Halloween, we decided to throw costumes in the mix and had a great time :) Sadly we didn't get to enjoy the corn maze and pumpkin patch due to the large quantities of water falling from the sky... so we just headed back to the house and spent good times chatting and eating :)

 

 

 

Squirreling around

 

Earlier today I put up a little animal hammock in David's room because he was drowning in stuffed animals at night- well he spotted it - with several of his stuffed animals and got upset and insisted that ALL his animals go back to the crib where they belong (why can't he feel the same way about his toys?) so, I yielded and the critters went to the crib. he then insisted that he get in the crib too- even though it wasn't quite bedtime yet... and this is what happened:

 

 

 

Enjoy this video clip :)

So busy, nobody actually knows what I am up to

Hello my friends and family. I have been busy- summer was fun and wild and busy, and fall is apparently just as crazy- so instead of trying to catch up (and failing) I will just say a bit about the past and then jump right in with the present. Summer was awesome, its was hot, and fun- David and I went out of doors quite a lot, we played at the zoo, went to the park and visited friends with air-conditioning. I planned and packed for the Peru trip, got MOPS started with the rest of the steering team and every once in a while I got some sleep. David keeps growing- getting taller and smarter and heavier by the week. He is 29 pounds, and I am not sure how tall but is officially in 2 year old clothing cause his 18 month garb looked like high-waters. and that is never good. I am planning MOPS crafts, MOPS nights out and a rip-roaring fall fest that I share with Seattle friends every year- starting to think about my gingerbread house and Jonathan and I have joined a small group at our church- simply because "no" is not in my vocabulary. Its ALL good great, wonderful fun God-centered stuff and I love it. I just wish there were a few more days to the weekends so I could clean my house in between all the wild fun.

Peru was AMAZING, I am still editing the 1800 photos I took and organizing my thoughts and memories. Jonathan taught David to watch TV while I was gone and now he is only happy if he is watching "Cars" and he loves tractors and helicopters and tires- and he really wants to find a cat that will let him pet it. all the cats he sees, run away when he chases them. poor David and poor kitties.

I am inadvertently becoming a photographer- and I think I am excited by it. A friend asked me to take some pics of her kids and she loved them, another friend asked the same thing, when she saw the first set- and now I will be doing some family photos and getting reimbursed for them! not "real" money but somehting better a date night! They will be giving us a gift certificate for a restaurant and babysitting while we enjoy ourselves- and I get to take pics of the adorable family!

The rain has come and the leaves have changed so we have been getting into the fall with pumpkin patches, hay rides and pumpkin hats- that is what I will share with you simply because that is where we are- although today we are hiding from the drizzle except for necessary errands that must happen before MOPS tomorrow. Sorry about my extended absence, and I hope you enjoy some of the photos I am posting today.
God Bless!