Snowed In in Washington

We just emerged from some of the most snow Western Washington has ever seen. At our house, we saw about eight consecutive days of on-and-off snow, and a little more than a foot of total accumulation. Relative to other parts of the country, that's nothing, but it's a big deal here in Western Washington. Especially considering the State is ill-equiped to deal with snow. That means no salt or plows.

What was best about the snowfall is it showed up just in time for Christmas, and left shortly after the holiday. I'm sure I don't speak for everyone, but for our family, it couldn't have been a more welcome addition to our Christmas - a Christmas miracle, you might say.

Here's what our house looked like on Christmas Eve:

On the Hunt

Our church put on an Easter brunch and egg hunt for the kids this weekend. It was a little wet out, but not too bad for March in Western Washington. Jane had her new pink Easter basket (bucket, really) and was ready to go. Despite several reminders to gather as many eggs as possible, she continually found herself distracted by the allure of opening the eggs to discover the prize inside.

Little did I know that after the hunt, her dad emptied the candy from all of the eggs and stuffed it in her pockets. When I went looking for it later that afternoon, I discovered what little was left and was told it was to be a secret between the two of them.

Just What I Always Wanted

We had such a fun Christmas this year! Chad had a long break from work, Jane is now old enough to believe in Santa Claus, and Clark...well...this is Clark's first Christmas.

We kicked off the Holiday by heading to the tree farm early in December to cut our own Christmas tree. We then spent the rest of the month every-which-where enjoying the season.

We took several trips to Seattle to ride on the holiday carousel downtown. We spent countless evenings perusing the mall for Christmas gifts. And, we decorated more than our share of Christmas cookies.

We also had a really fun evening with Chad's family celebrating with all of the adult siblings and Chad's parents. We played Yankee Swap for our annual gift exchange, and I fought hard to take home the coveted Chop Wizard (for chopping up vegetables).

Jane went to a grandchildren's Christmas party with her cousins where no parents were allowed. She had a great time, but all those kids and no parents might have been a little hard on Grandma.

Christmas morning was so much fun! It was just our own little family. The four of us opened gifts from Santa and played with our new toys. Princess dresses were the coveted gift this year, and Santa delivered. As Chad's mom always says, "It's just what I always wanted."

Happy Birthday, Jane!

We celebrated Jane's seconnd birthday today with family and friends. Jane got a tricycle, and we are looking forward to teaching her how to ride it. The weather was great and we had a lot of fun being at the park. The bubble machine was a big hit, too.

Jane had a wonderful birthday!

'Tis the Season

Another wonderful holiday season has come and gone. While each year seems to be more busy, and rush by more quickly, it was nonetheless a fun and unique experience.

This year saw a shift in focus for us as Jane is now able to somewhat understand the general concept of Christmas. By mid-December she had all the Christmas dialog down, and seemed most intrigued by snowmen, which she would loudly identify when sighting.

Within fifteen minutes on Christmas morning she had the routine mastered. We were impressed with the very workmanlike approach she took to opening the seemingly endless procession of gifts. Good thing, too -- with two sets of very loving and generous grandparents, we could have been opening gifts until March.

To our delight, her favorite gifts seemed to be the Cabbage Patch Dolls she received from her grandparents and the Curious George book we purchased for her.

Let the Season Begin

On Tuesday, we kicked of the Christmas season with a healthy dose of snow and a Christmas tree. As tradition dictates, we cut our own tree in lue of completely selling out like everyone else we know and buying a fake tree.