Snow Day

watching the snow fall and warming up inside

maddy laughing at a snowball fight outside

little noses

giving mama some snow

daddy and karis ready to play

snowball fight! itty bitty paybacks

snow baby

making a snow angel

bare bottom in the car - brrr! cutest little goosebumps i've ever seen

Maddy asked to go to the mountain today. Not entirely sure what exactly she meant by it, but we decided to go see if we could find some snow to romp in. We had a good time both in and out of Timberline Lodge. I ordered some better gear for us online so our next trip won't be quite so soggy when we're done.

Swinging

Maddy and Gavin, this day was sooooooooooooo bitterly cold with the East Winds that Krista and I bailed on the park and headed to the indoor play structure at McD's down the road. Brr!

primal scream of joy swinging outside after tooooooo many days cooped up inside.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

close up cutie pants

Uncle BriBri's Surprise Visit & Karis is ONE!

Karis in her royal throne
cake is served! it is fun to be one! mmmnnn, banana cake with cream cheese frosting

a little email gets the day off right....

sweet snuggles

dinner friday night at Laurelwood Pub, our fave

doing a yoga dvd for kids as kk looks on approvingly

Brian wearing karis' super cheesy birthday hat

Brian flew in for Karis' first birthday bash as a surprise! I went to a show Thursday night to see Donna The Buffalo and when I got home he was almost asleep on my couch. He had it all worked out with my dad, but my mom and I were in the dark about it. What a great secret, needless to say I was thrilled! Here are some photos of Brian's visit and Karis' first birthday party. We had her party at Milagros and it was a nice time celebrating with some of our friends and family. We have been abundantly blessed already with every toy and clothing article imaginable for our girls, so we asked people to please bring food for the Oregon Food Bank instead. We think this is the perfect way to more fully honor Karis' sweet spirit and all that we are thankful for this holiday season, we collected 54 pounds of food to help our neighbors.

The Shunning

Etsy, Facebook, Ebay and Mothering Dot Community will henceforth be banned from my life! I have spent the last THREE hours totally absorbed by the internet. Sigh.

Michael & Kristy Zollner

Jason and Kristy
the wedding party

waiting on the big day....

practicing at the rehearsal

gigglers....

looking so beautiful!

cutie pie cousins

Hooray! I have a new sister! Jason's brother Michael married his long time love Kristy on November 8th in Mt. Angel where they (Jason and Michael) grew up. Maddy and her cousin Abigail were the flowergirls and were cute as cute could possibly be. I was so proud of her and how brave she was to walk down the aisle in front of so many new people and to have professional pictures taken (both of these things have been really hard since she turned two, and she is really doing well now at working those fears through). It was a wonderful celebration, we were honored to be part of it and loved watching Maddy blossom in new ways.

Fat Bob

We have a lot of squirrels who come to eat at our feeders and they are all named Bob with an adjective. Little Bob, Happy Bob, Tiny Bob, Mama Bob.... but today Maddy named one Fat Bob and he was indeed! We think the overhang on his gut is really impressive.... this guy must be expecting a harsh winter.

Little Helper

Happy Halloween

first doorbell of the night

Happy candy hunters

Maddy, bag in hand, ready to trick or treat!

getting the frog feet on

getting the frog hands on

Our little tigger Maddy and her faithful companion Karis the frog. What a fun night, it was the first time we took Maddy trick or treating and she got the hang of it really quickly. She has asked each day since if it is Halloween again.