Christmas in the Northwest

Christmas morning Grammy and Weston were hard at work; you can never have too many goodies for Christmas snacks :)

Spencer and Weston were so cute to watch this year. I didn't think they'd get as in to it at this age, boy was I wrong. Their faces and excitement were precious! Weston was overjoyed when he opened up some horses, play dough, and Madagascar.

He talked about "presents" all day. He did such a great job.

Cousin Spencer had a little too much sugar... We had so much fun playing with the boys. They are two peas in a pod.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Hope you're having a wonderful holiday!

SNOW!

In case you hadn't heard, Portland and Seattle were covered with feet of snow! This is our house before all the snow was done falling. There are actually five steps up to the front door that are totally hidden. I was stuck in LA on a work trip because the airports were shut down; canceling over two days of flights! The hidden blessing? Weston had some great quality time with family at my mom's, Ryan had so much time without us that he nearly finished our project of "the basement remodel", and I not only enjoyed some sunshine, I went to a movie for the first time in over two years! Thank you Lord for the one open seat I was able to find that allowed me to get home for Christmas with my family!

Little People

It's wonderful to go home over the holidays; family, food, relaxing in your pj's, reminiscing about old memories... It seems like every time I visit, we leave with more "stuff" than we came with. This Thanksgiving I was sent home with boxes of baby books, blankets and toys, which Weston has taken a liking to!

I remember setting up the perfect "home" for my little people for hours! It's so special to be able to do the same thing with my own son. Thanks Mom for keeping such great memories to share!

Ride Horses?!!!

"Ride horses?" is the first thing Weston says when he wakes up and the question that takes up 75% of the day... I don't know where it came from, but he loves horses. Actually any animal will do.

We stood in line over and over again at the Lights of Christmas this week with Grandpa and Grandma to ride all of the horses.

A cross between an uncomfortable smile and on the verge of screaming to get off Santa!

West and Spencer riding a choo choo train with Grandpa. Spencer is equally obsessed with trains.

After a night at Grandpa's house Weston is fully into Legos, and does quite well with them. Thanks Grandpa!

Congratulations!

Ryan and I had SO much fun at our dear friends John and Krista's wedding. We spent some wonderful time with our friends, enjoyed sunshine, and had a weekend away!!!

Krista is beautiful! She is a special friend that I am blessed to have. It was an amazing wedding!

Krista!

We were so excited to have my very wonderful friend from CA, Krista stay with us for a couple of days! By the first few minutes Weston was taking her hand and leading her to all his favorite activities, loving his buddy. This is one of the last times we get to spend together before she's "Mrs. Thorrington" next week! We're so excited for their wedding and the beginning of a whole new chapter, we can't wait!!!

Look closely at this picture.... You've never seen one before and you'll probably never see one again... Weston sleeps... My son does NOT sleep in cars, on planes, on my lap, anywhere that has exciting things or people going on, he won't miss a second. That's why this day was such a BLESSING! He fell asleep on my lap in the "glass bottom boat", that takes us out to see fish. Or what our 15 year old boat driver described as "Mexican piranha". I love this picture, and the time he gave me to take a little siesta in the sun too!

A great time was had by all, and I mean everyone! From Weston's aunts and uncle, to all his wonderful grandparents, we enjoyed each other so much.

Family Fiesta!!!

We've traded the presents at Christmas for some quality time with each other. It has been such a blessing to have these memories with our families, especially in such beautiful places! Cabo San Lucas was awesome; here are some of my favorite photos from our week.

Playing in the sand at Medano Beach in Cabo.

I think Weston could adjust very easily to life on the sunny, warm, beaches of Mexico... who am I kidding, so could we.

Trick or Treat!

This is Weston on sugar and overstimulated... Doesn't Spencer look cute in his Elmo costume? Sorry Grandma.

Nightly tradition

Now that Weston has experienced carving the pumpkins he's totally into lighting them every night to see their faces before bed.

I can do it on my own momma!

Grandma!

We had such a great visit with my mom, aka, Grandma last weekend. The weather was actually gorgeous too! She helped us in the yard, we went to the pumpkin patch, and had some wonderful, relaxing meals and time together.

As you've probably noticed Weston is really into animals... you name it, he loves them. When he saw these huge Clydesdale horses, he was beside himself.

We ended up riding around the farm about 5 times until I persuaded him off by bribing him with the tractors... Can you see him in the front seat in between the big kids?

He was so serious about holding the reigns. Too cute!

And of course, the wonderful tractor. Ah, to be a boy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Ryan's 31st birthday! My respect for what an amazing man, father, provider, and best friend he is (to name a few), grows with every year I'm blessed to spend with him.

Now that the rain is here...

Thank goodness for OMSI. It really is such a cool place to go on a rainy day, and not just for kids they have amazing contraptions and brain busters for all ages.

Weston loves the sand box and running around looking at all the cool colors, animals, and kids.

Later on we had Nora over for dinner and a movie! Weston seriously loves her so much, they are too cute together.

Snuggling on the couch...

Nora resisting the kisses...we had fun together!

Weston Skate

Weston's first solo ride on a skateboard! Can't wait to take him up to the mountains for his first ride this spring!

A sunny Sunday!

We took a bike ride through Sellwood Park and enjoyed the beautiful, warm weather on the river!

It started out with some leisurely rock throwing... then the madness of Weston and his love for water... He very calmly walked in, then out of no where dove in face first. Did I say it was the river? (quite dirty and rough to be nice).

Thankfully I had some extra clothes, snacks to bribe with, and a dry diaper. Needless to say, he had a blast and even went to bed a half an hour early :)

A week of fun with Grandma!

My "bonus" mom, Joyce, was wonderful enough to have Weston for a few days while I continue to commute to work in CA. He loved it, as you can see. They went to Stanwood's harvest festival of some sort; cousin Spencer, tractors, hay stacks, pretend horse riding... so much fun.

For those who haven't met Weston yet, he's pretty opinionated, although he's not quite able to clearly tell you what he's trying (so intensely), to say :)

Nothing like a warm bath after a great day of play! Thanks so much Uncle Alex and Grandma Joyce, we love you!

Cannon and Seaside Beach!

This is the beach below the house we stayed in for the weekend "Far Cry", in Cove Beach, just below Cannon Beach.

Seriously, it was wonderful to spend time with my boys. Walking on the beach, napping, movies, good food and wine- without distractions! It doesn't get much better.

Weston was an animal for the beach. He wouldn't stay out of the water, which was not very warm, and loved the waves.

Yes, I even let him have some roasted marshmallows (real sugar), despite what you all may think :)

Running into the water at full speed was his plan of action any chance he had. Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather and quality time with my family. I was even quite impressed by the Oregon Coast this weekend, and I'm pretty biased...