Hard hats required

This is one more picture from Christmas Eve. Jadyn decided that we had to all wear our special "decorating hats" in order to decorate our tree, insisting that it would be "much prettier" if we did. So, if you are having problems with your decorating next year, just go to your cupboard and pick out your best hat.

The Night Before Christmas

The best part of Christmas Eve at our house is getting to open and wear your new pj's!

Brandy and Toto

Last week we went back to the Children's Museum in Seattle with our friend Brandy and her son, Toby, who is about 1-1/2 years old. Grammy and Grandpa came, too. Karina and Jadyn loved playing with Toby. Karina nicknamed him "Toto" (her best attempt at saying "Toby")

They had been staying with us for the week, but finally had to leave. Karina still wakes up in the morning looking for Toto, and Jadyn has decided that Brandy and Toby need to move in with us for good. That's one way to get a little brother!

Here are a few pictures:

Woo, woo, woo!

The girls came by Daddy's fire station this week to visit Daddy at work and see him "in-action." Mark works at Station 6 in the Central District just east of downtown. Here's a front view of his station.

Mark work on Ladder 3, a truck company that carries not only ladders, but also many tools like the "jaws of life," saws, fans for clearing smoke, water-vacs, and lots of other goodies.

Here are some pictures of the girls with Daddy at the station.

Mini-Tree

The girls got to decorate their own tree this year! We decided it would be fun to have a "mini" tree that they could decorate and re-decorate all they wanted to.

Of course, once all the decorations we gave them were used up they had to find more things to add to the tree. Pretty soon, scarves, wrapping paper, bows, bags, and any other loose items that could be found were on top of the tree.

Here's the final work of art! Of course, 3 minutes later it all started over again.

Good job, girls!

We're back from the storm

Sorry for the delay in posts. Last week a major storm blew through the area and knocked out power to over 1,000,000 customers. We were without power for 4-1/2 days, but thankfully it came back on yesterday! Many are still without power.

In the midst of the cold and craziness, lack of light, heat, or refrigeration for perishable foods, (we lost all our food - and had just gone to Costco the day before!), we couldn't help but remember all those who endured hurricane Katrina last year (and the many other storms like her) and the fact that they suffered (if ours could be counted as suffering) for much longer. And many still endure... without homes, electricity, proper sanitation, jobs, and the list goes on and on... We continue to hold them in our prayers and to be so thankful for the many who have sacrificed to help those in need.

Mark worked in Seattle the day after the storm, and they ran all day non-stop from call to call with down power lines, trees over roads, medical emergencies from the cold (and sometimes people's poor choices on how to deal with the cold - i.e. - bring the charcoal BBQ inside to keep warm), fire calls, and other fun stuff. He came home more than ready for a nap after 24 hours of excitement.

Julie and the girls braved out the cold with our gas fireplace and hot water heater (both still worked) and with our friend Brandy and her son Toby, who chose an unfortunate week to come visit!

Here are some pictures of the chaos our little storm delivered to our yard. The playhouse you'll see in the pictures weighs over 50 pounds... and yet the wind blew it across our yard and flipped it upside down! Thankfully, besides the lack of power, that was the worst of our damage.

A Fun Day

Not too long ago, we had the chance to go to Pump It Up for our friend Noah's 4th birthday party. The girls loved it (almost as much as Mommy and Daddy) and can't wait to go "jumping" again soon. Thank you to Noah (and his parents) for inviting us!

Jadyn and the birthday boy!

Jadyn showing Karina how to get started.

And later that day we visited some other friends in the area...

Jadyn loved playing with Andrew. She decided that he would make a great "brother" because she "needed" one.

Karina equally bonded with Nicholas over some crackers. Yummy!

And this is what happens when you try to get 4 kids all together for a picture before dinner...

What a fun day! Thank you to Geary & Jeana and Chad & Cindy for sharing your families with us!

A Much Needed Break

We were given the wonderful gift of two nights (December 6-8) in Leavenworth, WA. We can't begin to explain how thankful we were to get this time away from life as we know it. Beautiful place, perfect weather, and just time to be, without the worry of everything we should be taking care of or getting ready for. A huge thank you to Grammy and Grandpa (Mark's parents) for taking on our girls so willingly!

The daytime view out of our window. We were directly across the streeet from the village.

The amazing nighttime view. It was all lit up and beautiful!

And thank you to the nice strangers for taking our picture.

Daddy's Little Helper

The Real Reason For Owning a Kitchen Table:

Oh how we love our forts! We had the bonus of having our kitchen table in our playroom the day after Thanksgiving, so we took full advantage of the fun waiting to happen.




It is amazing how exciting a few blankets and a couple of flashlights can be. We spent hours playing under our table.

Thanksgiving Day

Lots of food, family and friends...

Good Times...