Doin' the Wave!

Tonight, Eli and I were sitting together coloring. (Every mom out there knows that this means I had fun coloring pictures while simultaneously trying to keep Eli from eating the crayons.) As I was drawing waves across the paper, I asked him, "Can you make waves too?" In response, he stood right up, looked out the window and waved like crazy! Definitely made mommy laugh!

PS-Look for his 16 month letter sometime this weekend...it will only be a few days late! (Which is pretty pathetic considering I only write one every other month!)

What a Weekend!

We took advantage of the long weekend and headed out to Forks Friday night. But before I could leave town, I just had to stop and meet our newest little nephew, Michael. I thought I might be getting sick, so I didn't get too close or stay too long (hence the not-so-fabulous pictures). He is so tiny and sooo cute and I just can't wait to get my hands on him!
Then it was off to the ferry on our way to Shane's mom and Dad's. We met Shane there and Eli had dinner and a stretch before getting back on the road. We spent Friday and Saturday night with Jeff and Rebekah. Eli had loads of fun playing with Chloe and ALL of her toys (He must feel deprived in the toy department after seeing such a well-stocked house! Chloe generously shared all of her cool stuff). Saturday we slept in and hung around their house. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the kiddos (big and small) had fun playing outside....

and inside....

We had an awesome time at the beach...the sunshine made up for the chilly temperature! (Yes this is the very beach out of "Twilight". It was hard to miss that fact, what with all the teenage girls in Twilight shirts and "Isabella was here's" etched in the sand. (Don't get me wrong, I really like the first two books in the series (haven't finished yet) but I don't think I'd ever like them that much! I guess that Forks normally gets around 5,000 visitors a year...last year they topped 20,000. Who would have ever thought podunk little Forks would know such fame?)(Edward Cullen doesn't stand a chance!)Not the best family photo ever!And this is where my camera battery started to go dead! Had I been thinking, I would have snapped a couple of Jeff, Rebekah and Chloe!

Eli and Maddy taking her Harley for a spin!

After the beach we headed in to town (yes, there is an out of town in Forks) to my little sister, Sara's. She and her husband, Luke, are finishing up their new house, so it was fun to get the grand tour, see Maddy, and catch up with them. 'My brother Dan, his wife Brynn and their adorable little Rylee, also stopped by. (Coincidence the they were in Forks the same weekend!)After some quick (but yummy!) pizza, all of the girls and kids went to see the town's annual Missoula Children's theater production. It was hilarious to watch Eli's response...he stood on my lap, totally engrossed, through most of the play. He danced when the kids danced, clapped when the audience clapped, and pulled hair when (oh, wait I guess he was the only one who pulled the poor kid's hair who sat in front of us...other than that it was great!) It was also fun to catch up with old acquaintances that I saw there. Then, on the way back, we stopped in at the flower shop where I used to work. I worked there for 5 years through out high school+ and really enjoyed catching up with my boss, Charlene.

It is absolutely insane how big this whole Twilight thing has hit Forks. I would say a third of her shop is now dedicated to Twilight memorabilia. Just that day, she had 80 guests sign her Twilight guest book...crazy! If you're in need of Twilight memorabilia (wink, wink) definitely visit her! http://www.leppells.com/.

After the Forks trip, it was off to see Grandma and Grandpa Moo (at least that's what Chloe calls G&G K...she has a set of grandparents who raise horses and a set who raise cows...guess who raises the cows?) And finally, back home to an empty portfolio for Professional Certification...ahh, the fine art of procrastination...the more I do it, the better I get!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Shane turned 28 on January 6th. Hard to believe 30 is just around the corner! Since his birthday was on a week night, we just had the regular evening, plus cake. In case you're wondering what is going on with the candles...I tried to form a 2 and an 8, but ran out after the two. (I think this is yet another reason why grown ups cease to blow out candles and make wishes....not enough candles in a box!)

The Rest of December

Off to Grandma and Grandpa K's (Shane had to stop and check on their jobsite on the way. As always, Eli had fun "driving" while we waited.)

I didn't get many pictures at Granpa and Grandma's, but this one is worth explaining. Shane was playing "bus driver" with Brenna and Bella. Here they are getting "off" the bus...guess you had to be there to see how hilarious it was.

Eli really seemed to enjoy playing with Bella. In the past he hasn't been too interested in actually playing with his cousins, so it's special to watch him figure out how fun it is have a friend!

I couldn't resist...when we got home from Christmas at both family's and unloaded all of Eli's loot, this was the result! Let's just say he has some very thoughtful uncles, aunts, grandmas, grandpas and great grandparents!

And with all those new toys to play with, this is what he found to be the most interesting!

A New Cousin!

Eli has a new cousin! Ryan and Mandy welcomed Michael Ryan today at 2:20pm. He's bigger than his sister's were, but still a little guy weighing in at 7lbs 1oz and 19 inches. I'm sure he'll be able to hold his own with his big sisters, Brenna and Bella. And I'm sure he and Eli will be able to get into loads of trouble together! Congrats!

December!

I couldn't resist just one last snow picture, since the view is brown and soggy now!

Christmas with my family...

Dad finally caved this year and wore the Santa hat..he's got to admit he makes a pretty good Santa!
All of my immediate family was there to celebrate (Dad, Mom Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Moni, brother Dan and his wife Brynn, niece Rylee, sister Sara and her husband Luke, niece Maddy, sister Heather and her husband Andy, niece Lilly and nephew Kailer). It seems like such a long time since we were all together! I can't believe how fast our family has grown, or that we all have kids now! Brynn's mom and dad also joined us and somehow survived the chaos-kudos to them!

Eli was enthused about opening gifts until he discovered Rylee's bumbo seat. The rest of the day all he wanted to do was crawl in and out of it, until....

...he opened his first box. Then all he wanted to do was crawl in and out of the box.

Reading "The Gingerbread Baby" to Eli, my adorable neice,Maddy, and cutie nephew, Kailer.
A few random pictures...

Check back tomorrow (or maybe the next day...or maybe even the next day!) more December pictures to come!

Gotta Love Computers!

Our computer crashed over Christmas, so we were offline for a while. We're back in business-sorta...I can't figure out how to disable the new antivirus protection so that it will enable me to post pictures/change html input etc...so this will be a very boring post!

Eli seemed to love Christmas and especially enjoyed being showered with attention from all the grandparents and uncles and aunts. He also seemed to really be interested in his cousins and enjoyed "sharing" toys, reading books together and playing chase. He is doing so many new and funny things each day! He learned how to say hot (though it comes out more like "haw") and happily tells us that every dish or piece of food is "haw." He's also signing please for everything now, which is both adorable and helpful. It definitely wasn't easy going back to work last week-I had gotten used to spending the whole day with him!

Work is going well and there's not too much new with me. Shane celebrated his 28th birthday on Tuesday. We celebrated Saturday with birthday dinner and round of "Settlers of Catan" with Dan, Jeanne, our buddy Shaun (from MT) and his girlfriend, Emily.

In other news, my sister, Sara has a blogs...www.lukensarasoha.blogspot.com. Be sure to visit them and check back here soon for pictures!