Favorite Christmas presents

Here's Anna and her friend Amelia, with her princess dress up clothes.

Tyler loves his little automatic truck, despite the fact that he can't steer it.

Endless Snow

We've had snow every day for a week now. It's been a blast, but's also rather limiting. We don't have a 4 wheel drive car, but we have chains for Randy's car. So we don't get out much, and when Randy goes to work, we're housebound. This is the first white Christmas we've had in Seattle - beautiful.

Tyler on the way to mailbox. To no avail, the mailtrucks haven't been able to get to our neighborhood for a week now.

Skiing and snowboarding through the neighborhood.

Snow Day!

I love snow days - they bring out the kid in everyone. We sledded, made snowmen, made a gingerbread house, watched Christmas movies. It was the perfect day.

Tyler's first candy cane. I later found it stuck to the front of him.

One snowman, three snow angels.

Help, I'm trapped in my snowsuit!

Paradise

OK, I'm rather embarrassed by how much we travel, so I didn't even tell most people about our most recent trip. However, Maui is just so warm and wonderful, that I have to share some photos.

Yes, that's Tyler ina pink hat. It's the only hat he'd keep on his head.

Thanksgiving in DC

We have much to be thankful for this year - which is why we had several Thanksgiving dinners. We met Laura's family in Washington DC, where also met the newest member of the family, Cole. Here are the 4 cousins together -- it's as good a photo as we could muster up.

I love these photos of Tyler at the Jefferson Memorial.

And we had a great time hanging out with the Campbell family.

November at the beach

We've had an unusually sunny, pleasant fall here. So what better to do on a Sunday, than head to the beach? It didn't matter that it was only in the 50's, the kids still ran around barefoot and buried themselves in the sand. Anna is with her best friend, Amelia.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler turned 1 year old last week. And unfortunately our camera battery died before we could get a photo of his chocolate-covered face. Who needs cupcakes when there's icing to lick?

Hope for the next generation

Anna sat with me tonight as we watched the first black president be elected. I starting explaining to Anna that you can do anything, regardless of the color of your skin. And then I realized that she never considered that skin color, or race, or gender could be a barrier. And I pray that she never will.

As Anna says, "Go Rock Obama!"

This is Tyler with his Brutus Buckeye mobile. It's the bane of my existence. He absolutely loves it, and wants to grab and hold Brutus. Before he could stand, he would cry, big frustrated tears because he couldn't reach Brutus. If I picked him up, he'd cried louder because all he really wanted was Brutus. I think my newest little nephew is going to inherit this parental torture device.

Although Tyler can push his mail cart, what he really likes to do is stand in it. I don't think Fedex will hire him.

Anna's Fashion Sense

Anna has been picking out her own clothes for a while now, but lately she's taking fashion to a new level, or should I say a new layer. She loves layering clothes, and often wears 3-4 shirts at a time, and shorts over pants. One day she wore everything flowered - from her barrettes down to her shoes - all different flower patterns.

Fall Fun

OK, at last I'm finally posting more photos here. It's not often that you get to see two sunflowers, a rainbow witch, and a crazed pumpkin all on one page. Anna loved trick or treating this year. And as you can see, Tyler loved being a sunflower. He figured out what candy was right away, and has been foraging for his sister's candy ever since.

So how's Tyler?

Doing really well. He's gained 1.5 pounds in a month. He can scoot around wherever he wants to go now. And he's really active and starting to get into everything. We got all his shots and vaccinations last week, and he was a real trooper, barely crying. He has 3 teeth now, and I expect by next week, he'll probably have 5. He only wakes once or twice a night - thankfully. He eats almost everything - but really prefers my homemade chicken soup - which dutifully make each week.

And he adores his sister, and she adores him. Anna can make him laugh better than anyone.

everyone making peanut butter cookies

At the zoo

Tyler's second trip to the zoo (recall the lovely Hanoi zoo we visited). Here he is in Seattle with Randy and "Uncle Phil".

Anna's new bike gear

Anna was excited to get her own bike pads and riding gloves. And as you'll see, every outfit is appropriate for biking.

Mountain picnic - first hike

There's a gorgeous valley that we like to picnic in. Actually, Tyler and I spent most of the time playing under the picnic table in the shade. But Anna and Randy rollerbladed and played soccer. And since we took a walk around the lake, we think this qualifies as Tyler's first hike.

Note to self: picnic tables can create splinters in little baby feet.

Fourth of July

OK, I "went dark" for the past month. But here are some photos and updates. Tyler got a real dose of Americana at the children's parade in Kirkland. Anna rode her bike the entire parade route, without any help.

Tyler's first concert

Our friend Rob gave us tickets to the Mark Knopfler concert as the winery, right near our house. What better time to initiate Tyler into the world of rock than his first 24 hours home? We took him down to the concert and he was great, and garnered lots of oohs and aaahs from the crowd. And he'll be good Seattlite, because he didn't even notice the rain.

How not to get over jet lag

OK, I thought I was done posting on the blog site, but just had to share some more. First night home, we all go to bed around 12:30, and then Tyler woke us up around 2;30, and we were up. So around 1:00PM, we decide to take a nap. Anna didn't wake up until 10 at night. Hmm, probably not the best way to get over jet lag.

Tyler is home!

We're here. We did it! After what seemed like endless time, we're finally home with Tyler. Our friends, Jeff, Stacey and Jay met us at the airport, and it was so nice to see familiar faces. Then we found that Mary Ellen had stocked our fridge, brought flowers, and gifts for the kids. And Lisa had dinner waiting for us in the fridge.

As we unloaded, one by one all the neighbors came out, and it made for a really fun, warm homecoming. We chatted on the sidewalk for an hour while everyone got to meet Tyler.

At 10:15, we sat down for dinner. Tyler started crying, and knocked an entire jar of baby food across the rug. As we were dealing with that, I realized the mac n cheese was burning. And when I returned to the table, Anna had spilled her entire drink. We're home.