Catching Up

We found out we'd be moving on Oct. 7. Everything was moved out of our house on Dec. 7 and the kids and I left on Dec. 8. Needless to say life has been a bit of a whirlwind the last several months. I finally figured out how to create photo collages (and now I'm wondering why I didn't figure it out sooner - SO EASY!) so here's a quick recap of things I wanted to blog about, but just didn't have time or energy. You can click on the collage if you want to view it larger (and actually see anyone's faces).

BEATRIX POTTER PARTY

During our fair visit to Idaho last September (I know . . . we're going WAY back here) Grandma Hong had a fun Beatrix Potter Party for all her grandkids. We searched for vegetables in Mr. MacGregor's garden and ate giant carrots. We also ate butterfly sandwiches and minnows like Jeremy Fisher. The kids also got to watch part of the ballet of Peter Rabbit. Kaylee enjoyed playing with her new doll from Aunt Mandi. Aside from helping crush (and eat) oreos for the worms and dirt, Danny LOVED digging in the real dirt. Thanks for a fun party!

THANKSGIVING IN HOUSTON

This year my parents and Uncle Chris and Aunt Stacey came to Houston. Matt and I celebrated our 6th anniversary during the Thanksgiving holiday and we were grateful for family babysitters so we could go out on a date. We drove around to all our favorite Houston memory spots. The photo is us at the beach where Matt told me he loved me for the first time. So sweet.

A highlight of everyone's visit was a trip to Brazos Bend, where you can see lots of alligators! It was a chilly (well . . . Houston chilly) day so most of the gators were tucked away. We did see a few and Kaylee even got to meet a baby gator. We did not, however, eat gator for our Thanksgiving feast. This year we had two delicious birds - a cage free, organic turkey cooked in a bag (SO juicy and tender) and a smoked turkey (so flavorful). It was the perfect combination and there were plenty of delicious leftovers. We missed having my brother Aaron visit, but were so glad Chris and Stacey could come out to Houston before we moved.

CHRISTMAS IN IDAHO

We decided to drive to Idaho this year instead of fly. We had plane tickets from Houston, but couldn't easily (or cheaply) get them changed to depart from Seattle. Though I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, the drive was not too bad. We left at 3 PM and arrived at about 4 AM with only one dinner stop and one potty stop. The kids slept most of the way, and Mom Hong took over when we arrived so that Matt and I could get some sleep. The 10 days in Idaho were filled with family, feasting, and fun. Danny was more excited about the nerf gun that his Uncle Kerry let him borrow than the Star Wars legos Santa brought him, but was thrilled about the pirate ship Grandma Angie and G-Pops got him. It has become his favorite bath toy. Kaylee was scooting around everywhere and had fun putting bows and wrapping paper and EVERYTHING in her mouth. A highlight for her was helping Grandma Hong make Christmas cookies and getting her first tastes. My best Christmas gift was an overnight getaway provided by Matt and Grandma Hong. 8 hours of sleep never felt so good. We also had a blast cross country skiing and sledding at Uncle Lance's rec area (I guess it is actually Pocatello's rec area, but I like to call it Lance's) with Tim & Debbie's family. Danny had fun trying to ski . . . for about 15 minutes. Maybe next year. New Year's Eve was spent at Kerry and Mandi's new house and Danny actually partied until after midnight. This led to some good long sleeping on the New Year's Day drive back to Seattle (thanks again for bringing the dogs Mindy and G-Pops). It was another fantastic holiday in Idaho.

Ahhh. Now that I feel all caught up on the last few months I can return to blogging about the joys and mysteries of day to day life with a 3 year old and 7 month old.