Snow Day!

On December 15th we woke up to a fairly thick covering of snow on the ground! School was canceled, so Becca walked over with her kids and we all went "sledding" on the little slope in front of our house. A few of the kids in the neighborhood joined in and shared their sleds with us. Ronan and Tyler would have stayed outside all day long if we let them! Thankfully we had hot cocoa and cookies (from the night before) to lure them into the house. (:
Ronan

Sadie

Griffin and Cohen

Tyler

Becca pulling the kids up the hill.

Griffin all bundled up!

Tyler and Cohen

Warming up inside...

Baking & Decorating

Wow, I am still back in December trying to get caught up on this blog! I'm going to try to get through some of these posts quickly so I can move on. (: I did enjoy looking back at these pictures because December was a really fun & busy month for us. Lots of holiday parties and preparations...and even some snow! So here it goes. I'll mostly let the pictures do the talking...

The boys really got into decorating the tree this year! It was fun getting all of our decorations out and putting them up in our new house. It made the house feel more cozy since we still hadn't unpacked completely or hung things on the walls.

The finished tree:

On December 14th we had my family over for a little baking party. Everyone brought ingredients to make Christmas cookies and treats. Our kitchen handled it well...there was plenty of counter space and the double oven worked great! We made a lot of cookies! It was a lot of fun!
Me, Sadie, Ronan, and Becca

Memaw and Griffin

Ronan and Memaw

Katrina and Becca

Chef Tyler

Everyone helped decorate the sugar cookies, even the guys. (:

Papa helped keep the kiddos entertained, too.

Speed Racer Griffin (:

Coast Trip part 4

Our final stop before heading home was the Oregon Coast Aquarium. There was only one other family there at the time, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We took our time at the exhibits and had a really fun time watching Ronan and Griffin enjoy this new experience. They especially loved getting to touch the various sea creatures, including baby sharks!

Jellyfish!

Griffin is developing more independence now that he is two, and often says things like "I do it myself". This was one of those times when he wanted to walk up these steps & explore in his own time without any help. (:

little starfish
giant starfish!

Watching the sea lions during their feeding time

Griffin was so excited when he saw fish that looked like Dory from Finding Nemo (his favorite movie). He kept going back to this tank & didn't want to leave. (: We'll have to get a fish tank for our house someday.

Funny looking fish in the Oddwater Exhibit.

Me with the boys in the Passages of the Deep exhibit-where we could see sharks swimming all around us.

Coast Trip part 3

After checking out of the Hallmark Resort we ate lunch then drove to the North Jetty. Griffin fell asleep in the car, so Josh and Ronan went exploring and I waited for Griffin to wake up. When Griffin and I got to the jetty we could barely see Josh & Ronan because they had gone out so far. It took them awhile to return to us, but Griffin was pretty entertained with finding rocks and watching the boats coming and going in the bay.

A timer shot of us~it was too bright for Griffin to look up. :) I'm usually the one taking pictures (of Josh and the boys), so I'm trying to make more of an effort to get pics with my boys!

Proof that I was there (:

Pretty soon we could see Josh and Ronan in the distance bounding from rock to rock. Ronan is so coordinated just like his daddy!

Ronan wanted me to take this picture so he could show it to Sadie. (:

Griffin is happiest being in Josh's arms!

My Guys

Blocking the sun

On the way back to the car Josh found a spot to make this teeter totter.