The Cabin 2013

This year's annual trip to The Cabin was quite an ordeal.  As our family gets bigger, schedules get more conflicted.  In years past, we have stayed 2 nights and have all been together.  But this year, not everyone could come at the same time, so we stayed 3 nights and people came and went as they could.  Hopefully we will be able to coordinate our schedules better in the future.

But we did end up going!  And as always, it was an absolute blast.  We ended up staying in a smaller cabin the first night with barely enough room for all the food we brought!

The kids shared a big bed in Grandma and Grandpa's room upstairs.

Everyone was a little squished that night, but we made it through and moved into a larger cabin the next day.  So much more room!

Aaahhh!  Much better!

 

And the snowmobiles!  Of course we rode snowmobiles!  A2 couldn't wait to get started.

Grandpa happily obliged this cute little guy in his goal to be a speed demon.

Last year, A2 cried when we drove faster than 5 mph.  This year he begged us to go faster and faster.

 

And why don't I have any pictures of A1 on her snowmobile?  She was WAY too excited to hang around for photography.  Just like A2, she begged to go faster and faster.  And this year was the first time in 3 years that I got to go snowmobiling (pregnancy and breastfeeding really put a damper on fun, you know).

 

However, the best part of the whole trip was playing games with family.  Erin stayed inside for most of the trip because she had to take care of her new little one, Molly.  Isn't she a doll?

So I stayed inside quite a bit and played games with Erin and Molly and Grandpa (after he was done driving A1 and A2 faster and faster).  We also got some serious movie-watching in.

 

And what about L2?  What did he do at his first cabin trip?  Well, he mostly just hung around with the adults.

How we love the cabin!  I sure hope everyone's schedule works out so we can all get together next year too.

Winter Wonderland

A couple weeks ago we visited friends and family in Utah.  They have been hit by some major snowstorms, receiving 2-3 feet of snow with each storm.  We haven't received any snow at our house, so the kids were ecstatic to enjoy the mounds of snow left in Grandma J's yard.

A1, stuck in the snow (look at the pure joy the snow brings)

A2 decided to help out with the shoveling (the driveway was clear, so he tried to uncover the grass)

What an amazing snowman!  These kids are talented!

I am so glad that we were able to enjoy the snow without having to do much driving in it and that we don't have to deal with it at our house!  Snow is nice to visit, but not to live in.

AC Gilbert House

As a Christmas gift to ourselves, we bought an annual pass to the local children's museum, the AC Gilbert House.  It is a series of buildings, each with a different theme.  Each room within the building is a different theme within the theme of the building.  The outside playground was huge!  There were so many things to do: A1 loved climbing the rope nets, A2 loved sliding down the 3-story tall slide, and L2 enjoyed banging on the xylophones made out of wood and steel pipes.  The kids had quite a good time exploring the place.  We will be visiting quite often, I think.

the Asian room in the Animal House

the African safari room in the Animal House

Watch out, L2!  A wild animal approaches!

the over-sized porch leading into the Dinosaur House

A1 and A2 are so silly!

the outside playground

Christmas 2012

Christmas was so fun this year.  We decided to stay in Oregon and let the party come to us.

My parents brought my youngest sister (yay for Aunt Meggie!) and spent the weekend before Christmas at our house.  The kids were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa!

When A1 heard that we would have visitors for Christmas, she made a gift: she wrote her own version of "12 Days of Christmas" and presented it to each of them.

A2 was especially glad to see Aunt Meggie (she's his favorite person, and the feeling is quite mutual - I feel a little bad for Megan's boyfriend that he has to compete with such a cute little guy for her heart).

On Christmas Eve we skyped with R's family and opened a few presents with them.  It was so nice to see them and share some time even though we are so far away.

Can you see Grandma and Grandpa J?

opening presents while skyping

And Christmas was wonderful with just us.  We took our time, we tried to focus on what was really important, we even took a break in the middle of opening presents to share with others.

our Christmas (yes, that is a bike for A1)

L2 was completely adorable opening presents for the first time.  He seemed to instinctively know that wrapping paper is for tearing!

Hoping that you had a merry Christmas and were able to focus on Christ's birth and find joy in the season.

Homemade gifts

This year the kids and I decided to make presents for the grandparents.  My kids beg to "do crafting" (as they call it) almost everyday, so turning their new passion into presents was the greatest thing they could think of.

My parents have game night at least once a week.  All of my siblings (we join too if we are in town) gather in my parents' basement around the game table and play game after game after game late into the night.  Snacks and sodas are heavily involved, and I have often heard both my parents complain about water spots left on the table from cans and glasses.  So we "did crafting" to make some coasters to protect the game table.  A1 and A2 drew pictures and I decoupaged pictures of each of the grandchildren onto tiles (wouldn't you know, I forgot to take pictures of my coasters), glued some cork on the back, and (ta da) coasters!

As for R's parents, we turned our recent family photo shoot into wall art for them to hang.  I found a cheap way to turn regular pictures into canvas pictures (I love Pinterest), so we could provide them an entire gallery!

We loved making gifts.  I think this may become a new family tradition!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

I know I say this over and over, but life is going really well now that we have settled down into a job and a house and we aren't waiting to move on to the next part of our life (like we were during school and residency).  We can focus on the little things that lead to family traditions.

This Christmas started one such tradition: we were able to visit Santa Claus!  The kids wrote letters last year, and they have seen the TV specials, but this year they actually got to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

A1 loved it!  She told Santa that she wanted a sewing machine, a flute with a case, and a movie.  She still believes in Santa, but is starting to question certain aspects (like how does he get to all the children in the world in one night and she noticed that the presents he left this year were in the exact same wrapping paper as the presents R and I gave the kids and his handwriting looks suspiciously like mine).  We may need to have a talk about him before next Christmas.

A2 also loved it!  He told Santa that he wanted a flute with a case (he has to be the same as his older sister), a movie, and a game.  He wholeheartedly believes in Santa, no questioning at all.  I think that may all change once A1 no longer believes, though.

 L2 would have nothing to do with Santa, which was okay.  He still has plenty of time left to join in the Santa tradition.

9 months old!

L2 hit the 9 month mark in December.  He is just the cutest little thing to ever live!

He dropped to the 50th percentile in height and weight, but his head circumference continues to be off the chart (gotta hold in all those brains!).  He finally perfected crawling forward (he could crawl backward for the longest time, but then would get stuck against a wall and cry until I turned him around - facing the wall - so he could get away), started pulling himself up to standing, and discovered his tongue (he now sticks his tongue out all day, twisting and feeling it, leaving pools of drool everywhere he goes).

We love you, sweet L2.  You are a wonderful addition to our family.