Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas in our little snow covered house! We ventured out on Christmas Eve to Greg's parent's house to celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Mike and Aunt Maureen. The kids had so much fun opening presents and the hit of the evening was Eli's remote controlled hummer! Addison ran around after it squealing with joy! The snow kept flying all through the evening as we went to an open house at Greg's Aunt and Uncle's house. We were able to see lots of cousins and extended family that we only see a few times a year. We even managed to get an x-large group picture of everyone!

Here is a shot of our first artificial tree. I never thought I 'd cave to the pressure but this year it just made sense. We got an extra compact one to fit our tiny house. It works quite nicely!All of the stockings were hung by the shutters with care since we don't have a toasty fireplace to call our own. And oh how we wish we had one with all this cold snow!Eli on Christmas morning after he opened his "big" present. This was a last minute Christmas Eve purchase after he told us this was what he was hoping for. Yes, we are spoilers!The kids with the ultra cool vintage kitchen Papa and Nama gave them. Greg didn't get the doors on yet but they had fun anyway! We got them way to much stuff to go with their kitchen...it will forever be scattered around the house!Addison playing with her kitchen later in the day.This was not on Christmas but the other day. They were on the table taking turns licking the gingerbread house! The little cutie posing in some new Christmas duds.Grandma Mary and Eli being silly late Christmas night.

Christmas day we stayed home, thankful we didn't have to drive anywhere in the snowy weather. The kids unwrapped what seemed like a load of presents but had so much fun doing it. Traditionally we get to see my folks Christmas day but since the weather has been so bad, they stayed home. We sure missed having them and their presents are still sitting under our tree waiting.
Greg's parents came for dinner and I attempted a Prime Rib for the first time. My Mom always handles the food and does so superbly so when they decided they weren't coming, I had to manage dinner on my own! It was fun and pretty much a success although I was a little worried the Prime Rib wasn't done enough.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Mom and Dad, hope you enjoyed the peek at what you missed. We hope to see you soon!

From warm, balmy weather to blustery, cold snow storms....

We have been back from Maui for a week now and suffering some of the worst winter weather we have seen in this area. We have so much snow and it isn't stopping! It is really pretty and oh so Christmasy but it is starting to interfere with Christmas plans and just getting around safely!

We had a wonderful time in Maui and even though we extended our trip by two days over our previous visit there, it still wasn't long enough! We combined pictures from all four cameras and ended up with over a thousand pictures! Don't worry, I won't post all of them. Here are a few highlights from the week!My sweet niece Ashtyn, look at those curls! They are to die for!

Addison and Ashtyn - have you ever seen two cuter cousins?


We went to a Luau on Friday night and it was so fun! The kids loved it - it held all of their attentions to the end. The fire dancer was the coolest part! This is my sis and her darling girl.


Addison at the Aquarium .


A hammerhead shark at the Aquarium. So cool to see this close!


Cousins Eli and Peyton checking out the first fish exhibit.


Uncle Ian getting friendly with the birds at our condo's pool. The birds were so aggressive and annoying!
Tide coming in at Lahaina.


Greg and Addison enjoying the all -you-can-drink beverages at the Luau.


Beautiful flowers...no idea what they are called.


A beach in Wailea. This was the nicest beach we went to...right in front of some really ritzy hotels. Maybe next time I'll get to be a guest at one of those? I can dream ....


Eli playing in the sand.


We had one day where it rained and rained and rained. The girls went shopping and we needed hair protection! This was how my Mom arrived at our condo. (In case you can't tell, she is wearing a plastic shopping bag on her head!)


Addison playing in the sand her second time at the beach. The freaked out the first time we took her to a beach. She hated the sand! I was so happy that she took to it her second time around!


This was the family one night when I went to check on them. The boys had crashed and Addison was laying there with her book like she was getting away with something.
Eli burying himself in the sand.


Greg and Eli enjoying a beautiful sunset at the beach.


The cousins being so cute and holding hands. They can only do this when they are young you know...


Another beautiful sunset.


Oh, how I wish I was still there!

It's a.......

B-O-Y!

I don't feel surprised because I really felt the little one was of the male variety but it is so good to know for sure! We got back from Maui Monday and drove home from Seattle yesterday just beating the horrendous weather. My dear friend Laura went with the kids and I to the ultrasound this morning since Greg was just returning to work today. The baby was so still -probably sleeping- despite the two chocolate truffles I ate in the parking garage! It wasn't till the ultrasound tech was almost done that she was able to see "the part". She switched to 3-D pictures a little bit at the end and I was able to see a cute nose and mouth!

I met with my doctor after the ultrasound and he said the baby looks fine but I have a blood clot on my placenta. He said it would probably be fine - either going away on it's own or shrinking. The worry is that it would grow and cause the placenta to separate early and cut off the baby's nourishment. He didn't seem to think that was likely but we will do ultrasounds every month to monitor it. I'm not too worried yet, we will see if anything changes with the next ultrasound. Just another reason to pray right?

I have a zillion Maui pictures to go through and will do a post soon about our wonderful trip! We had such a wonderful time but had to come back to horrible winter weather. Makes it feel more like Christmas I guess!

Almost off....

The bags are almost packed with more stuff than we will wear.....
The laundry is almost done, folded and put away (hardly ever happens)...
The kids bags are full of random toys they quickly stuffed in (will have to repack when they aren't looking)....
My pumpkin hued fake tan will almost pass for the real thing.....
I'm feeling almost confident about driving across the state tomorrow all by myself with the kids.....
I'm almost but not quite done with my knitting assignment for class tonight....
And I'm almost not totally overwhelmed with stuff to do today....

Really though, I am very grateful that my family and I, my parents and sissy and her family get to fly to Maui on Saturday for 9 days of fun in the sun! I feel a little guilty for taking such an extravagant vacation when the economy is falling apart around us and the future is so uncertain but we did buy our tickets eleven months ago! So I am going to thank God for His blessing on my family. Enjoy this wonderful opportunity to spend time relaxing and show my kids some cool new things! I will see you all in two weeks with a load of fun pictures to share! Oh, and hopefully some fun baby news! (My ultrasound is the day after we get back although I feel certain in my heart that the babe is a little boy - and already with a name!)