Quest for the Perfect Tree

Today we went to pick out our Christmas tree. It is tradition for us to cut our own tree at a local tree farm called "Crown Trees". We always go the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was pouring rain outside when we woke up this morning, but we didn't let that stop us. We all got soaked, but we had a great time. The hot cider and cookies made up for all the wet and cold. We do almost everything rain or shine around here. Being born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, our boys have become immune to the rain. --emily

Santa Picture

2008

Jacob is 3 years & 3 months, Andrew is 1 year & 2 months.

We went and had our annual Santa picture taken today. It is tradition for us to go the Friday after Thanksgiving because Kelly isn't at work that day. I love this tradition. I enjoy looking back on the previous photos to see the changes the kids have made. This is my favorite picture yet. Andrew is the classic 1 year old sitting on Santa's lap. He was happy seconds before I placed him there. He was completely composed seconds after I picked him up.  But while he sat on Santa's lap, he cried big crocodile tears. --emily

I will post our past Santa Pictures so you can compare for yourself.

Past Santa Pictures

2005 

Jacob 3 months old

2006 

Jacob 15 Months

2007 

Jacob is 2 years 3 months, Andrew is 2 months

Twilight

Kelly and I have read the Twilight series. Yes, that is right, Kelly read it with me. Several of my friends were planning a girls' night to see the movie together. Kelly wanted to come with me. I think it is cute that Kelly wanted to experience opening night with me. We had a great time and I am glad that Kelly joined us!

My opinion of the movie vs. the book: I loved the book. It was well written and hard to put down--an easy read. It had good conversation flow, and is a true love story. The movie, on the other hand, was good but it left me cold. I thought that Edward was cute, but not the drop-dead gorgeous person he was described as in the book. A lot of the characters seemed this way, but I still enjoyed it. If you haven't read the books, you should. They are a fun read! --emily

Addendum: I went and saw the move for a second time and fell in love with the characters. They just need a new make up artist. Can't wait for "New Moon".

YW night

Tonight my YW group went to feed the homeless with Mama's Hands, a local community service organization . The evening could have been uncomfortable, but you girls did a great job talking with people in need of a good conversation, feeding the hungry and clothing people in need of warmth. I am so proud of you girls. Keep up the good work. --emily

Madagascar

Today Jacob, Kelly and I went to the movie theater to see Madagascar 2. It was the first movie that we have taken Jacob to in the theater. What a fun afternoon. We dropped Andrew off at my parents house, then we all headed to the movie. We got popcorn and snacks so Jacob could enjoy the complete movie-going experience. I had been talking to Jacob all week about this so he would know what to expect. He had a great time and asked when we could come back to see a "Thomas" movie. What a cute kid! -- emily

Snoqualmie Falls

We have had some amazing rain fall in our area this past week. This has caused our rivers to flood and our falls are absolutely beautiful because of it. I wanted to take the boys to show them how amazing the falls are. Here are a few of pictures from today. --emily

Guido the fish!

This is gross, I know, but I am sharing it because we have finally figured out what is going on with our fish tank. We have spent too much time and money trying to figure out why our filtered fish tank is not filtering. This picture was taken a couple days after the filter was changed. So here is the deal: we moved into a house with amazing sunlight and that is what caused our tank to become greener and greener.  We have an algae problem. Gross but fixable.  --emily

I hope you all remembered to vote today!

I dragged my two sad boys with me as I voted today. It was beyond Andrew's nap time and Jacob was hungry. I was quite the little one man show. But I did it I voted even with all the crazies! I hope that you also took the time to vote. --emily