.*.*.February snow.*.*.

Wait, could that possibly be snow? In February? ;)

Here are the kids up early the morning it started to snow. They're watching it and waiting to go outside. I'm really mean and wouldn't let them go out to play in 1 cm of wet snow at 7 in the morning. Ha.

But, a few hours later, there was enough to play in!

Emma thought it was pretty funny.

Noel's gloves didn't fit so well. But, at least he had some, unlike poor Ems.

His face explains his excitement better than I ever could. :)

Here's Maddie, building her first snowman.

Making progress with our little snowy friend.

And, voila! Our snow critter.

If I'm remembering correctly, her name was Rosie.

Now, fast forward a week and it snowed again! Even more this time. We got about 5 inches.

Um, Noel? That hat doesn't seem to fit you anymore.

Snow angels!

Sweet little Emma-bean.

After it snowed, the sun came out and the sky was clear. The tree was beautiful with it's red buds covered in snow.

Our snowy house & yard.

Emma, getting brave and stepping into deeper snow.

Looking up the street.

Er, Maddie? You should lie on your back when you try to make a snow angel.

I pushed her. ;)

After waiting all winter, hoping for snow, it finally came at the end of February. Yay!

Trip to the Aquarium

We drove out to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for the first time as a family. The kids had a great time and are asking to go back already. It was nice to go on a day trip, but Dame and I aren't in as much of a hurry to make the 5 hour round-trip drive again. Here are some pictures from our adventure. :)

This is the bridge in Newport. Exciting, I know.

And this is the lighthouse. Okay, I'll move on to aquarium pictures next...

This was my favorite part. I think jellyfish are super cool (behind glass).

We thought it would be a good place to go on a rainy day... but we found out that most of it is outside. But he kids didn't care. Here's Emma super excited about the tidal pool.

Look, Maddie, the otter is behind you! Open your eyes! Ha.

Waiting for something to swim by.

Noel calls the sea lions "Ar-ars." Like the sound they make.

The shark tunnel was really cool.

Dum-dum. Dum dum.

And, last but not least... here they are on a wooden walrus. Classic.

Just one of those mornings...

in doctor language, "invasive" = "painful"

Damian's back injury saga continues...

On Thursday he had a Myelogram, which the doctor told him was "an invasive procedure." We rightly concluded that what he was nicely saying, in his own doctorly way, was that it was going to hurt. But Damian survived, he's recovering well, and we'll find out the results this Thursday.

The nurse thought my sense of humor must be a bit off, since I was taking pictures. She's right. Ha. This one is Dame right before going in. It's a nervous smile.

He had dye injected into his spinal fluid and then had x-rays taken. They did it to get a good idea of what's going on in order to decide whether or not to do surgery. I guess the worse case scenario would be that they say there's nothing further they can do for him and that's it. He'll just have to live with the pain. But we'll see. Who would have though that we'd be hoping that they find something wrong?! On the other hand, back surgery is scary too. Poor Dame. I just want him to be fixed one way or the other. It's hard to see him in pain all the time.

Anyway, with all that said... our "quote of the morning" is when the nurse decided to entertain us while waiting for the doctor. She said, "While we're waiting for the doctor, I'll show you my tattoo since that's entertaining!" We were relieved to see that it was on her leg! Ha.

It's as if she wants something...

Emma has been going through a stage lately... well, since she's been born, actually... of being rather clingy.

So what do I do about it? Take pictures, of course!

Then, yes, I pick her up. So it's my fault. ;)

Houdini's opposite

The other morning, Noel somehow managed to get stuck inside his Nerf basketball hoop. Usually Maddie is behind something like that, but this time he did it on his own (see Maddie back there, zoned out on TV?). Ha.

Ah, Damian... it's so fun to see your "Y" chromosome in action!

this fish will need therapy

Maddie got a pet fish. She named him Rosie.

Welcome to the family, Mr. Rosie!

Sunshine does not always bring warmth

If you haven't figured it out already, one of our favorite places to "get away" for the day without having to travel more than an hour is the Columbia River Gorge.

We had a sunny day and decided to get out and get some fresh air. I'm so glad I brought their hats and gloves in addition to their jackets --it was freezing! Literally, I'm sure. And the wind... wow. It was cold. We inhaled as much fresh air as we could in the 10 minutes we spent out of the car. Ha.

The kids are such good sports. Emma wasn't so sure, though.

We got glared at from an older couple sitting in their truck in the parking lot. I guess they didn't think we should have been out with kids so young on such a cold day. Oh well. The kids had fun! They ran around and explored the field a bit with Samson.

It would have been MUCH colder to hike up Beacon Rock, so I just took a picture of it. Maybe in the summer. There's a great view of the Gorge from the top.

I think this field is beautiful year round. Even when it's brown. :)

Anyway, we all survived... No one got sick... No one froze to death... We got some fresh air and vitamin D... It was a good day.

Christmas @ my parent's

So Christmas was over a month ago... but I still want to post these pictures. The day after Christmas we went to my parent's house to get together with that side of the family. Here's the massive tree that my dad went out and chopped down (and dragged it all the way back to his car) nearly killing himself. Ha. But he managed, and it was worth it. "Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas Tree!" Did I mention he also decorated it himself? Not bad for a male. ;)

Here's the Emster, not really wanting to be in the walker. But it was keeping her in one place during the craziness of unwrapping gifts.

That's my dad behind the huge 49ers blanket.

Kids unwrapping gifts, and immediately looking to see if there's more.

Wait, who's this guy?? And why is this being underlined? Good grief. I can't figure out why it's doing this. And I can't figure out who invited the elf, let alone who gave him a gift! ;)

Maddie, showing off a gift.

Another general picture of the festivities...

Santa's big helpers.

Dame looks pretty exhausted in this pic, Emma too.

Maddie with Auntie Joanna.

Grandpa, Noel (he was mesmerized by the talking Santa), and my sister Joanna.

And now I'm ready to start blogging the new year! Hehe.

pro-cras-ti-nate = me

It seems that I'm getting worse and worse at updating this blog. So, I've decided that my unofficial official new year's resolution is to update this blog more often. With that being said, it's sure to fail. Don't all new year resolutions fail?

Ha.

Anyway, while I'm "in the spirit" I think I'll post a couple new things. Yay!

After all, I have a cup of coffee and a quiet house right now. So conditions are perfect. :)

Mmm... coffee...!