Oh Christmas Tree

Today was a great day! Started with church with Troy's parents--so nice to have them in town and at church with us. Then we headed out to hunt down our Christmas tree.
We decided to go to Farmer Brown's in Arlington and drove straight into a winter wonderland.
It didn't take long to find the perfect tree and cut it down. Since it was just the four of us for the first time ever, the hard part was getting the annual family picture in front of the tree. We settled on two different group shots and called it good. We warmed up with some hot cocoa and visited the pond before we hit the road.
The tree is now home, lit and decorated and looks great! Every year, I love decorating the tree. We have so many ornaments with wonderful memories attached to them that remind us of how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and family.

Lights of Christmas

The other night we all bundled up and headed to the Lights of Christmas in Warm Beach. The boys had been there before but it had been a couple years, so it was like their first time all over again!! One of our first stops was the Animals of the Nativity barn to visit the llamas, sheep, and bunnies. Next we stopped by the pony rides but found out that Gabe has gotten just a little too tall to ride. He was very dissappointed! :-( The thousands and thousands of lights were amazing and so were the cinnamon-sugar donuts that we waited in a 15 minute line for--they were well worth the wait! Despite the cold temperatures, we had a great time!!

All I want for Christmas...

Gabe has lost two front teeth this month--he's got quite the toothless grin now! I find myself humming the song "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth" all the time now! He's pretty cute and very excited that his name will be on the tooth chart twice for the month of November. In first grade, those are the important things in life!

Thanksgiving 2009

Hard to believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone again! My how time flies!! We had a great day with Lisa, Guy and Amanda. Lisa and Guy got up at the crack of dawn to prepare the turkey and stuffing. It was delicious!! Lisa and I made the rest of the fixins and had a great time laughing and drinking while we cooked! After dinner we had the 2009 Connect Four World Championship of which Troy was the winner--good job Troy!! It was a great day full of things to be thankful for. We are especially thankful for our friends and family, near and far! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Happy Halloween!!

Aargh, we be seekin' ye treasure, matey!! Captain Daniel and his crewmate Pirate Gabe set out in search of treasure this Hallowed Eve!! There was much treasure to be had and many minutes spent inspecting the booty after the search. Captain Daniel and Pirate Gabe then returned to the ship to hand out booty to other mateys! Happy Halloween me hearties!!

The Great Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Last Saturday we ventured out for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. In years past we've gone to a couple different farms in Snohomish. This year we thought we'd try a new one. So we went online and found Fairbanks Farm in Edmonds.

Low and behold, right in the middle of a neighborhood in the Edmonds/Lynnwood/Picnic Point area is a family owned farm. The big draw to this farm was that everyone got a cup of food to feed to the chickens, ducks and other birds, including mean peacocks that tried to eat all the food. There were little piglets that were only about two weeks old. They were so cute!! We were also able to pet goats, baby chicks and bunnies.
After spending time with the animals we trekked out to the pumpkin patch. Gabe and Daniel each picked there own pumpkin. The boys enjoyed pushing the wheelbarrow full of pumpkins back to the barn.

Although the farm was small and run down, we all had fun!! I missed my kettle corn and pumpkin donuts from the other farms though, so we'll probably go back there next year!!

Gabe's 7th Birthday!

Gabe turned 7 on October 1st! Seems like we've been celebrating all week long.

On his actual birthday, we brought cookies to share with his friends at school. I felt like a hero when I walked into the classroom with the treats!! All the kids seemed really excited about celebrating with Gabe--he was, after all, only the second birthday of the year. :-)

Later that day, Gabe chose the Old Spaghetti Factory for his birthday dinner. We had a great time eating in the trolley and the nice folks there sang happy birthday to him, which he seemed to enjoy! Then we came home and opened some presents--all gifts were a big hit!

Today, we had a dinosaur party at Forest Park. There were 5 other boys there to help celebrate with us. We went on a Dinosaur Letterboxing Adventure and the kids all dug for dinosaur eggs. Then we had cupcakes and presents, of course! It was a great day!!

Happy Birthday, Gabe!!