Packing Was Scary

When we came over for our vacation, the kids and I had three pieces of luggage. It really seemed like a lot. Brian came over with one large backpack. Now that we are heading back we have four pieces of luggage and two large backpacks. I am pretty impressed that we were able to pack most all of our Christmas presents in there too. We should have taken pictures of the mess we had trying to figure out how to pack everything, but I am not unpacking it all now for a picture.

Christmas Joy

We had a wonderful Christmas time. It started off with Angela playing an Angel in my parent's churches Christmas program. She really had a lot of fun with that. We spent Christmas Eve with Brian's parents. We got to sit and visit and have a snacky dinner. It was very nice. Then the kids really had a lot of fun opening presents. We left a little earlier than we had planned due to the snowy weather. The drive from Spokane Valley to my parent usually takes about two hours. That night it took just over three hours. We had constant snow and the windshield and wipers kept freezing. My father plowed 6-8" Christmas Eve morning. When we got there that night there were another 6-8", plus more by Christmas Day morning. We spent Christmas Day at my parents and again the kids had a good time with their presents. Brian and the kids spent a lot of time playing outside in the snow.

Picture One: Opening presents at Grandpa and Grandma Jamison's house.

Picture Two: Brian and Connor wearing their new Christmas "snow hats."

Picture Three: Brian has thrown both kids into the snow bank at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Brian is here!

Brian made it here safely yesterday. He was actually able to get an earlier flight and therefore got into Spokane much earlier than expected. We were able to go out to dinner and the head up to our hotel. The hot tub, at the hotel, sure felt nice before we went to bed. Then again this morning before breakfast. We got the last of our shopping done. We enjoyed a beautiful drive up to my parents and the kids were so excited to see him. Angela jumped up into his arms the minute he walked through the door. Connor was in him room (we thought he was asleep), but he must have heard us. He came running out, almost tripping over his feet and choking up with happiness that "Daddy" was home. He quickly put his pacifier away (he must have thought, "No more nap for me!") to run back into Brian's arms. They are staying pretty close to him right now. It is great to have the family all back together.

Oh My It's Cold!

When I woke up this morning the outside reading on the thermometer was "offline." The thermometer goes offline at -22 degrees. I don't believe we will be doing any outside playing today.

Yahoo! Snow!

From mid-morning yesterday until sometime last night the snow just kept on falling. It seemed like every time my Dad had shoveled or plowed he turned around and there was more on the ground. We got a total of about 8-10 inches. The kids are so excited to go out in it. We do need to wait for the temperature to go up a little bit for them. Soon hopefully.

Well I waited until after Connor's nap, thinking that would give it enough time to warm up. No luck. I guess it did warm up but just not wear I wanted it. It was 18.6 degrees so we only played for a little while. They were unhappy to come back into the house, but I know they had a lot of fun playing.

Feeling a bit melancholy...

It has been almost three weeks since we last saw Brian. All three of us (the kids and I) are really starting to miss him. I know he misses us too. It was fun at first to have the bed to myself and get to spread all out, but it is not so fun anymore. Angela misses him and talks about it often, but it is not as hard to see as Connor. Connor has started whining/whimpering and calling "Dadda" whenever he sees a picture of Brian. It really makes me sad, but happy that we will get to see him in just over a week. Hopefully we can keep busy enough to make the time go fast.

Brian gets more time!

Brian called this evening, like he does every night. Although tonight he had some good news. His boss said that because they would have New Years off he could just take that whole week off and stay with us a little longer. We were able to get his flight changed and he will now be flying back with us on January 1st. I am very excited that we will get a little more time together and that we will get to fly as a family. Now we just need to make plans to get together with the different friends and family that he has not gotten to see. It is going to be so much fun.

The Snow is Coming

Well I guess that is what I get. Yesterday, I complained that there was no snow to play in. Now today it is coming. It has been snowing pretty consistently for the last 90 minutes. There is not a lot here yet, but I am driving to Spokane (100 miles) today. So, of course when I have to be on the roads the snow is here and yesterday, when we didn't go any where is was no where to be seen. Oh well, I will just take it slow and easy on my way into town. On the plus side, I should be able to finish all of my Christmas shopping today.

Lack of Snow

When the kids and I came back to Washington, we made sure to pack all of our snow clothes. Unfortunately, we have been unable to use them. The kids have been really disappointed that they have not been able to play in some snow. Then, of course, Brian said he has been getting snow back in Wisconsin. The day we left there were 2-3". About a week ago he got 5" and they were predicting a foot of snow by this morning. I guess if it doesn't come here, there will be something for them when we get back home.

Watch out Houdini

Watch out Harry Houdini, Connor is the new up and coming escape artist. Two nights ago we were at some friends house, when he first learned he could escape his port-a-crib. He climbed up and out with the help of a recliner chair. Once we moved him from there, he kept doing it. I ended up having to lay down on the couch and hold him until he fell asleep. Last night, we were at another friend's house. I was hoping the night before was a fluke, so we tried putting him to bed in the port-a-crib again. It didn't go much better. He slept with me, not leaving me much room at all. Thankfully we were back at my parent's house tonight, that way he has his own room with a door. I was able to put him to bed and when he got out of it, he could not get out of the room. It really upset him, which was tough for me. I put him back into bed and he stayed there without any more fuss. We will have to see how the next few nights turn out.

Ice Skating

Angela's school had an "outing" to Eagles Ice-A-Rena yesterday. We were able to invite friends so I was the 'bad' aunt and got Kaitlyn and Sean (my niece and nephew) out of school to go ice skating with us. When we got there we turned in her gingerbread house. There were quite a few good ones there. We then got to decorate some cookies, which any kid or kid at heart loves. We got our skates and I spent close to five minutes lacing up four pairs of ice skates. All three kids were a little nervous to skate. Sean quickly got out into the middle of the ice and got going. Kaitlyn and Angela started out on the wall, but it didn't take long for them to get out into it too. They all spent a lot of time laying down on the ice, but I believe they all had a great time. I know that I did, although my behind and legs were a little sore today.

Making a Gingerbread House

Monday night Angela, Connor, Grandma Jamison and I all made a gingerbread house. It was for a school contest. There were three levels we could have entered into. The top level required a fancy house plus photo documentation and an essay to enter. The next level was a peoples choice level and the last level was every ones name got entered into a random drawing. We decided to do the last level. We bought a pre-made house and just got to have the fun decorating it. Connor and Grandma and Grandpa Jamison played in the water at the sink and Connor at the candies. I ended up working the pastry bag as the frosting was a little hard to get out for Angela. She had a lot of fun spreading the frosting all around and decorating it with the candies. I do not know that I would make this a yearly tradition, but it was fun for us to do.

Thanksgiving #3

Yesterday we finished our Thanksgiving run. The kids and I had dinner with Brian's family. There were 14 of us there and it got a little crazy. I think the kids might have out numbered the adults. Well not quite, but some of the nieces and nephews were there without their parents and it kept the rest of us running to keep up with every thing. The food was really good (including the green bean casserole, since we hadn't had any yet). Once everyone had left, I know I felt a little bit worn out. I was a long but enjoyable afternoon.