Christmas Eve with the Pickups

We had a lovely Christmas Eve with the Pickups. One of my favorite traditions is the nativity. Kevin always gets out of "acting" because he's the official filmer which means he sits behind the video camera that sits on the tri-pod. They made me be "expecting" Mary and Hailey was the other Mary. Nora was the cutest little angel and Zane was the cutest little shepherd. I was so surprised that Zane was cooperative. He doesn't like new experiences and especially wearing things that are "uncomfortable" like coats, hats, sweaters etc. He did a great job though. We also sang a lot and ate good food.

The performers

The cutest little angel and her pretty cute aunt, too!
The cutest little shepherd

Christmas Day Dinner

Thanksgiving/Christmas in Idaho

We went to Idaho for Thanksgiving and also celebrated Christmas with the Tolman family. Sadly, I did not get a lot of pictures of our trip. Once again, my excuse is--I was too tired. I mean, who wants to go up or down stairs or even get out of their chair to go find the camera, right? We did have a good trip and enjoyed seeing all of our family. Of course the food was delicious! We played games, rode on Grandpa's new toy, ate way too much, and watched a couple of good movies. One night I did get sick--fever, aches, etc. I took a hot bath and then tried to get out of the bathroom but it wouldn't unlock. I banged on the door and yelled for Kevin. I was right next to the kid's room and hoped he would hear me through the monitor without waking them up. I probably tried for five full minutes, although it felt like fifteen minutes. Finally, I yelled for Zane to come out of the room. Luckily, he heard me and came out. I told him to go upstairs and tell Daddy that Mommy was stuck. He dutifully obeyed and came to my rescue, but as soon as he got to the top of the stairs , I got the door unlocked. I tell you, this two-year-old has way had to take on way more responsibility than any two-year-old should. I don't know what I'd do without him. Zane and Nora traveled well, even with Zane only being potty trained for about a month. After we got home, Zane wanted to go back. We just need to live closer!

Zane and Dad opening Nora's gift. She had to miss the party for a nap--bummer.
Zane and Dad opening one of Zane's favorite toys--John Deere!

Kevin gettin' in the Christmas spirit.

Peacock Lane (December 21, 2009)

We enjoyed an evening out with Kevin's family going to Peacock Lane. First we had everyone over for homemade chicken noodle soup and rolls. Then we ventured over to see the lights. Zane was a bit timid at first, but by the time we got to Santa he was ready for him. He was so excited that Santa gave him a candy cane and he got to shake his hand. Nora just enjoyed the ride and all the sights. Afterward we came back to our house for hot chocolate, cookies and visiting. It was a great way to kick off the family festivities.

A few December Pictures

Here are a few pictures from December. As tradition has it we went up to Mt. Hood to cut our tree. It was VERY cold and Zane was not having a good time so we somewhat hastily chose our tree. I knew it was crooked at the top, but otherwise it looked pretty good to me. I actually ended up loving this tree and it didn't seem nearly as crooked after it was decorated.


Zane really enjoyed helping decorate this year and the kids were fascinated by the village. Surprisingly they were pretty good about not playing with it or the tree.
We have a rule about not playing in the ottoman/toy box. However, this day, like many others lately I was too tired to put up a fight. Plus, it was just too cute. That's Zane's puppy she's holding and yes, he's wearing Elmo underwear, which reminds me of a funny story. Zane grabbed an empy tissue box and put all his undewear in there. That is his underwear box and that is where all of the underwear have stayed for a couple of months. Not a bad idea, actually.

And finally this random picture. Zane had been watching a lot of "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" and elephants/heffalumps had been on his mind a lot. He made elephant noises, said he dreamed about elephants, etc. This Sunday morning he spilled milk from his cereal and I was going to clean it up but he begged me not to because it was a "helephant." See?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

One year old!

Nora celebrated her first birthday a couple of weeks ago. It seems like it has just flown by! Nora is a determined little thing. She definitely knows what she wants. She is anxious to keep up with her big brother and as Grandma Tolman says, "She's not going to let the grass grow under her feet." She is a good little walker and can say a few words: "more" (sign and say), "mama", "dada", wave bye-bye, gesture yes and no, and sometimes says "hello" when pretending to talk into a phone. Her favorite toys are whatever Zane plays with--cars, blocks, calculators. She can be affectionate with dolls but isn't really interested for very long, although I keep trying. She has a lot of spunk and personality and we're glad to have her in our family.