Winter Camping

You know you have lived in Seattle too long when you hear that it is suppose to be 60 degrees Friday and Saturday and you decide to go camping because it is soooo warm! Not that it gets that cold here in the winter. . .usually doesn't get below freezing. . .but then again the summers are not that warm either, not usually getting above 80. Anyways two weeks ago we were expecting a beautiful weekend and decided to get out and do some winter camping. During the day it was beautiful and not too cold. . .but at night and in the morning it was VERY cold. We came prepared with layered clothes and lots of blankets so we kept warm the whole time and it was a really fun trip!

Brent and Anna were warming their feet by the fire, while waiting for breakfast.

We had gloves but the kids thought it was much more fun to wear their warm fuzzy socks on their hands.

We were camping up in the mountains so there was still snow on the ground in some areas. Andrew had us all looking around for firewood and kindling. Brent found these "pineapples", as he called them to help build the fire.

Brent and Anna found a tree that was bent over and had a lot of fun using it as a horse.

At times I had a hard time finding Toby because he blended so well with the background.

We went on a little 2 mile hike and saw some very beautiful sites! Here are a couple of them, but my camera did not do them justice!

Toby and the kids taking a little water break. . .though the kids didn't drink any of it, they just threw rocks. . .

This is where the hike ended. It was gorgeous waterfall with a small rainbow at the bottom. It was definitely worth the trip down there!

Crazy Hair Day

Anna had "crazy hair day" at her Daycare and here is a picture of how it turned out. . .

If you look really close you can see the green and blue streaks we put in her hair. It was pretty fun to do!

Day at the Park

One of my favorite things about Washington, at least where we live, is the parks. There are so many of them! Today we found a new park about 15 minutes from our house that will probably be a new favorite. It had farm animals, swings, and nature trails that were beatuiful!


We went to the park with Brent's best friend Mal. The kids were standing as close to the turkey, that was wandering the park, as they dared!

Brent and Anna are checking out the horses. Most of the pictures I was able to get was of the backside of the kids looking at all the animals.

Brent and Anna walking hand in hand down a path that lead to the ponies.

Brent and Anna kept trying to feed the pony grass. I think the ponies were their favorite. They were able to get up close and pet them.

Brent and Anna really enjoyed the tire swing. . .oh to be young and not get dizzy or want to throw up after spinning around and around and around!

This is a picture of part of our nature walk. . .Washington is really a very beautiful place!

Bluey

Anna and I were reviewing the name of each finger, pointer, middle, ring and pinky. After we were done she asked me "which figure is blue?" I didn't know what she was talking about and I told her we don't have any fingers that were blue. Then she said "I have a pinky and Brent has a pinky so which figure is bluey?" I thought that was so funny. I told her that pinky wasn't referring to the color. . .but she has now named her ring figure bluey.

Random Happenings

I got a new camera for Christmas so there are a lot of pictures to share! Here is a picture gallery of all the things we have been up to since Christmas. (The pictures are in no particular order)

We went to downtown Bellevue with our friends the Egberts to "Celebration Lane." Anna loved the music and dancing. . .Brent loves to do anything with his best friend, Mal!

These are the PJ's grandma Wahlquist gave the kids this year for Christmas, they LOVE wearing them!

Christmas Day this year was beautiful and sunny and you only needed a light jacket to go out, so we went to Brent's elementary school and played at the playground. Brent was so excited to show Anna everything at his school.

We didn't realize it at the time but there was a huge puddle of water at the end of the slide and Anna got totally wet, so that was the end of our playground fun for the day!

Anna gave Andrew and me these pillows for Christmas. Something she picked out herself. Both pillows were promptly taken over by Brent and Anna and they currently reside in Brent and Anna's room. The pink one in Anna's bed the blue in Brent's!

This is Christmas morning, right after we had opened up all the gifts.

Brent helped Anna get all dressed up. . .notice the one extremely pink cheek. Anna got some play lipstick. . .I guess Brent will never make a good makeup artist!;)

This picture is a little dark but it was so cute. Andrew was laying on the couch and Brent, Anna and Toby all decided to join him.

Brent came out of his room after playing with Anna one day and started dancing around like a ballerina for me in Anna's tutu. He thought he was sooo funny. . .and he really was! He has such a fun personality!

This is Toby's new favorite spot to sleep. . .Anna's bed.

This is Brent and Anna's favorite place to play with his lego's, in Brent's bed.

Brent and Anna love laying on Toby when watching TV. . .he is almost like a big pillow or stuff animal to them! I am glad they love him so much!

I was testing out my new camera and Brent and Anna were being cute subjects! They are such good friends.

Christmas Tree and Decorating

This was our first year getting a real Christmas tree. We decided to go to a local Christmas tree farm where you could cut down your own tree. Here is a picture of what kind of trees we had to choose from. . .

Here is the one we got. . .(the kids choose it)

The tree is shorter then me. . .if that is imaginable! It is kind of sad looking but I think that is what we liked about it. The kids liked it because it was their size!

Here is what it looked like all decorated. . .the kids did all of it, except the lights. . .

We also made our first gingerbread house. It was a kit so it should have been easier to do. . .however, I seem to feel a need to do everything the hard way. It's together now and the kids loved decorating it, so I guess it all worked out.

Thanksgiving

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving. I remembered to bring my camera for the trip but I forgot to take it out to take any pictures, until the last day when we did some "formal" pictures of the family and the grandkids. . .well here is a shot I got of all Brent and Anna's cousins on the Wahlquist side.



It was a really fun visit and the kids had a blast playing with so many cousins.