I'm dreaming....

of a White Christmas...

Bill and Karen have never seen this much snow at their house. The estimate is 30 inches! It's crazy. We are usually praying for a White Christmas in this neck of the woods, and all of our prayers were answered...times 10!

Michael and Bill had to shovel the roof of the donkey barn on Christmas Eve. The weight of the snow cracked a beam, so the donkeys had to be saved!

We've had so much fun playing in the mass amounts of snow. Melanie and I went out while everyone else was napping and built 2 snowmen. We placed the first one on the front doorstep, rang the door bell and ran!! We had the best time!

Our morning walk ended up in a snow fight...with me losing. Michael would toss Ryan in the deep snow, and he'd go "whoosh". He liked it for a minute, but soon was yelling "stuck".

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Boehm's in Castle Rock. Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bill decorated the tree with cars and play food for Ryan. They also set up a train that went around the tree. Ryan loved it all!! What a spoiled little boy!

He had so much fun opening presents. He loved the kitchen he got, but do think the semi-truck filled with match-box cars was his favorite. He's been playing with them non-stop since he opened the gift.

Grandma Karen made us a wonderful turkey for dinner. It was a great day!

Snow, snow and more snow!

It's been snowing like crazy in Seattle all week. The most fell last night so Ryan and I headed out to shovel a path this afternoon. When I mentioned going out he said, "brrr....cold". I made him go out anyway, and as you can see he had a blast! We've got about 8 inches, and it is still coming down pretty good.

Downtown

We spent a few days in downtown Seattle last week. We try to do it every year to enjoy the light and festitivies.

This year was fun, but also back fired. We enjoyed taking Ryan on the trolley, to see the trains in the Macy's window (the favorite), the Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont and viewing all the holiday lights (especially the Macy's star). We also took him to see Santa Claus, which was not a hit at all. As soon as we placed him on Santa's lap he said, "all done". He did manage to sit nice for a few minutes, but there was no smiling involved!!

We don't know if it was all the excitement of a new environment, the buses outside the window, or all the lights, but the boy refused to sleep. He was up until 2AM, and was up and ready to go at 8AM. David and I were exhausted! Needless to say, we were happy to get home to sleep in our own beds the following night.

Cars, trains, cars....

Ryan is obsessed with cars and trains. He gets into these moods, and becomes fixed on his little system. They all have to be parked the same way, so he lines them all up, then moves them - but only after ALL of them are in place. He creates tunnels under couch cushions and pillows. It really is fun to watch him.

He got a new car garage from the McNamee's for Chirstmas, and has been having a blast playing with that. He either fills up the elevator with cars, or has each car and train take their turn down the ramp. What a funny kid!

On December 4th, as we were getting ready for dinner guests, Ryan got his finger stuck in the hinged side of the front door. As I was running to his rescue, he ripped his finger free.

He ripped off his finger nail and part of the tip in the process. I picked him up, saw the damage, yelled for David and we were off to the ER. Our ER experience was horrific. We had to watch as the put Ryan in a "straight-jacket" to get the finger stitched up. The entire process took much longer than a 2 year old can bear...especially this 2 year old. He screamed the entire time - "wiggle, wiggle", "all done". It was more than both David and I could handle, let alone Ryan. Once they freed him, he did amazing.

He's handled it all so well. What a little trooper! He got his stitches out a week ago, and the finger is healing quite nicely.

Our routine for the week was bath time, then we'd re-bandage the wound. The more it healed, the harder it was for Ryan to sit still. We stopped bandaging it yesterday and he's doing great. He has stopped babying it and seems almost back to normal. It really is quite amazing. All I have to say is the little bugger must have a very high tolerance for pain!

Advent Calendar

I saw this really cool idea for an Advent Calendar this year. I thought it would be fun for the boys to have a little something to open everyday! So far it's a huge hit, and David has started leaving fun goodies for me too!!

I think I've created a tradition!

Decorating for Christmas

David and Ryan had so much fun decorating for Christmas this year, and I enjoyed watching them! It all started with the lights. Every day when I'd get home from work there would be a new tree or shrub lit up outside. Some days the lights would be rearranged, because they just weren't perfect.

Every time Ryan would find a clip he'd put it in his pocket. Apparently, when David was putting the light on the roof Ryan would hand him the clips to help. They had the best time, and still enjoy going out to plug the lights in together.

They also enjoyed decorating Great Grandma Sue's (Karen's Mom) ceramic Christmas tree. Ryan loved putting the bulbs in all the holes.

Then, they moved on to the Nativity set. There was a discussion about whether or not we should put it up this year. I envisioned all the pieces broken in a day as Ryan would think the animals were toys. David insisted it go up. Ryan has obeyed our strict instructions to not touch, so far. He actually knows who every one is, and we love how he says "Jesus".

Macy's Parade

On the day after Thanksgiving, Macy's has a parade through downtown Seattle. We ventured down there this year to enjoy it! We rode the trolley from the Lake Union area, which is one of Ryan's favorite things to do, into downtown. We arrived just as the parade was starting. There were a lot of people, but Ryan had a perfect view from atop Uncle Michael's shoulders. His expressions were priceless. He soon became bored, so we moved on. We ended up at Portage Bay Cafe for an amazing breakfast!

Thanksgiving

Ryan and I spent Thanksgiving with the Boehms. David, unfortunately, had to work. We drove, with Uncle Micahel to Gig Harbor to spend the day at Aunt Dyane and Uncle Marv's home. Bill, Karen, Grandma Hilda and Melanie were already there when we arrived. Everyone enjoyed watching Ryan run around like only Ryan does! It was great to see everyone, and the turkey was amazing!!

Finding the pefect tree.

We drove to North Bend to find the perfect tree. With everything going on after Thanksgiving, we ended up getting our tree BEFORE Thanksgiving this year....gasp. Totally against David's ethics!! It was a gorgeous day, and perfectly quiet at the Tree Farm. We couldn't have scripted a better day. Our friends, Todd and Cynthia and their dog Toby joined us for the adventure. They found their tree right away, but David searched and searched for the perfect one. After awhile they all start to look the same to me. As always, we ended up with the first one that we looked at!

It was beautiful to walk through the quiet, breathtaking landscape.

Ryan had the best time chasing Toby. He did pause to watch the tree tip over, but was on the go the rest of the time!

Chicks Dig Me!

This is for Cousin Luke who has the same PJ's...and says, "Chicks Dig Me" better than anyone I know!

Thanks Todd and Cynthia for the birthday gift!

Yeeaaah Gophers!

I've been teaching Ryan the Minnesota Rouser. Here is a clip of him spelling out Minnesota at the end of the song!

The ice cream sandwich...

When Grandma Sue was visiting in November we took Ryan out to dinner at Maggie Bluff's (the not so fancy restaurant below Palisade, where David works). We decided it would be fun to stop in to see David...and Ryan loves to feed the fish. The first thing he does when he arrives is to go behind the bar to get the fish food. He knows right where it is and will not relent until he gets it. Needless to say, we try to eat dinner before we go up to see David. Otherwise we create quite a scene!

The kids meal at Maggie's comes with an ice cream sandwich for dessert. Ryan never gets the ice cream sandwich. That much sugar in Ryan scares me, and he usually won't even try it. I don't know if it was Grandma Sue's influence or what, but he bit right in...and didn't stop until it was gone! He was in heaven. The pleasure on his face was priceless!

I was kicking myself for allowing him to eat the entire thing later that night when he was bouncing off the walls.

Pumpkin Carving

Ryan experienced his first pumpkin carving before Halloween. He wasn't quite sure of it at first, but was very curious. He lost interest very quickly, and decided a bath would be much more fun!