Oregon snow day

We stayed in Oregon for an extra day in order to enjoy a snow fix! Our friends Jan and Ron Westby live at 1300 ft., just high enough for all of the rain that we had been getting to be snow. And, the area around their home had plenty of good hills for sliding. We were especially impressed with Sam, who wouldn't try sledding at all last year. He had a great time, along with the fearless kids (Andrew and Nate), and the giggling Ian.

Christmas day

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  Christmas day favorites:
• Dispatching all of the gifts before 10:00 a.m.
• Scooters! and a walk with no rain
• New pajamas from Grandma
• (Sam) a Matt Hasselbeck jersey, and a nap
• (Andrew) Spy Gear

Boys, dressed up (briefly)

Here we are on Christmas Eve at Grandma's. Pictures had to be taken quickly before Sam changed into his new Power Rangers shirt. Andrew and I played a little concert for the gathering (and Ian did a little dance). Ian really was happy that we brought Bailey, and he followed her around all week talking to her as if she were a person. Bailey followed Ian too....to clean up any food he happened to drop.

Happy, Happy Birthday, From Red Robin to You!

Sam's birthday month wrapped up today, just in time for Christmas. We had a little celebration at Red Robin. Have you noticed there is an inverse relationship of age to embracing the singing waiters? Sam told everybody it was his birthday and even asked our server why they hadn't sung yet! We should all be so open to embracing celebration. (But those of us over 12 aren't, so please don't take me to a restaurant with "flair" on my birthday.) Sam's haul included a Red Robin mask, a free sundae, and a bowl of mac and cheese that lasted about 38 seconds.

And, Happy Birthday to....

Joe Pa!

Sam just remembered that they share a birthday.

5 Years Ago Today....

We got the best early Christmas present!

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Sam's 5th Birthday Party

It's really hard to believe, but Sam will be 5 next week. We had a party for him today at home, a baseball-in-December themed bash! It was fun for the kids, and we had a nice group of parents that stayed for pizza too. You might notice from the pictures that Sam started in his red baseball shirt, then changed after opening presents to his snazzy new Seahawks shirt. He also got a Seahawks hat, a Transformer and a Lightning McQueen car track.

Getting ready....

Here's Andrew's turn at cookie decorating, and our tree. Somewhere I have a picture just like this of Andrew from 5 years ago (Sam wasn't born yet, but almost!). He's gotten a bit more sophisticated in his use of sprinkles. The tree is a Grand fir, and was decorated last weekend by the boys. I've been subtlely moving ornaments around on it all week. :)

Violin concert at Foundation House

The boys had their annual violin concert at Foundation House last night, an assisted living facility in Federal Way. This was Andrew's third concert in a week! Sam joined Andrew this time, and got to interact with the audience a little bit too. The photo of Sam and the lady in the red sweater shows the "ring of fire" bow exercise, where the student has to put their bow through a circle made by a person's hands, without touching their hands. Sam and a few of the other young students did this with some of the residents, and they seemed to love it. Andrew played most of the songs on the program, and got to stand next to Anna Golan (pictured in the hat), who he has referred to in the past as his "violin girlfriend". He might be embarrassed that I just wrote that.

Cookies with Sam

Sam and I had a nice morning at home today, and we made our first batch of Christmas cookies. Sam was in charge of cutting out cookies and decorating (and sampling, both dough and cookies!). We saved some dough so Andrew will have a chance to do some after school.

Snow Football!

Today was the first "snow" of the year. Although only a dusting stuck to the ground, there were lots of flakes in the air and it was great fun getting out in it. The boys like to play football against each other, Packers vs. Seahawks, while dad is all-time QB. Andrew even jury rigged a goal post by wedging a log horizontally between two tall evergreen trees. Today's game ended after three quarters, with the players frozen and soaking wet!