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!