Snow! And lots of it!

We've been having lots of fun with all the excitement that snow brings: numerous hours sledding, watching Murphy run through the snow and eating it, sharing wine and fires with good friends. The snow is beautiful and white, but I'm not a snow driver...so cabin fever is setting in, mostly because I still have a couple of items to buy for Christmas which is in 3 days. Luckily, Scott LOVES to drive in the snow when he is home from work. Here are a few images from the past couple of days:

Me and Thomas at the starting line of our sledding race:

Nathan after a wipe-out:

Scott and Murphy:

The cousins whose sledding goal was simply to crash into each other:

Brrr...

Seattle has been under a blanket of snow the past week. The temperature has only risen above freezing briefly here and there, so the snow is still here. In fact, this morning when we got up, the thermometer read 14 degrees. The forecasters are predicting much more snow tonight, and blizzard-like conditions. Very strange for the Pacific NW. The boys have missed much school, but they are not complaining. Honestly, it's been a bit of an inconvenience when it comes to Christmas shopping, but the bright white landscape is a nice change from the typical Seattle grey. We'll see what tonight brings.

'Tis the Season

We visited Santa on Sunday. Nathan had a master plan: he would tell me he was asking Santa for Gift A, but he would quietly tell Santa he wants Gift B. Gift B is what he really wants the most, so if he ended up with Gift A as his Santa gift, then Santa must not exist. He was encouraging his brothers to do the same. But his plot was foiled. There were enough nerves that they all really wanted Scott and me present for the conversation with Santa, so we heard exactly what they want. Nathan wants an electric guitar. Thomas wants a pocket knife. Drew wants a trampoline.

We've done a bunch of baking already this year. My pants feel tight. Our tree and house have been decorated for over two weeks now, and there is a blanket of snow and ice on the ground, with another snow storm predicted to hit tonight. I'm enjoying the holiday season very much this year.

Back on the Horse

I'm very disappointed with myself. Where has my blogging self been? I've missed the entire fall of 2008, and it was a good one. Scott started a new job that he is happy at. All three boys are in school, well Drew is 3 days/week, which has provided me with predictable time to myself for the first time in 9 years or so. Murphy is growing every day and we all are crazy about him. Our weekends were filled with many soccer games and fun times with friends. But without my regular blogging, simple moments, funny conversations, and the mundane have not been captured. At least I was good about taking pictures.

So, here's a glimpse of the Fall of 2008 for our family:

MURPHY:

Murphy and his dad, Axle

One soccer game too many

ARIZONA:

At the beginning of October we travelled to Tuscon with our good friends the Petersons to witness another humiliating Husky football loss at the U of A. The game was frustrating, but the weekend was fabulous:

The Hilton

Game Day

Husky Warm-Up

Post-game

HALLOWEEN:

This year we had Slash from Guns N'Roses, the Grim Reaper, and a friendly ghost:

FALL SOCCER:

N&T played soccer this fall. Nathan has been on his team for three years now, and it has been fun to watch the boys develop their skills and perfect their game (some more than others :) ).

Thomas' team, the Orcas, were a force to be reckoned with. They had an undefeated season,

and were an exciting group to watch!

THANKSGIVING:

Thanksgiving this year fell on our 15 year anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, the 5 of us, and Murphy, rented a cabin on a river in one of our favorite areas, Plain/Lake Wenatchee area. We relaxed, hiked, met up with our friends the Haywards who own a cabin over there, saw bear tracks, ate a great Thanksgiving meal, played games, took bubble baths, and just enjoyed each other away from our crazy daily lives. We had so much to be thankful for and to reflect on over the past 15 years.




Well, that's the update in a nutshell. I know that the reason why my blog has suffered coincides with joining Facebook. Am I able to spend time on both time-suckers? Probably not, and I realize that the huge chunk of time missing from my entries is more important to me than browsing Facebook. I hope to get back up on the blogging horse and chronicle our amazing life. Until next time...