MERRY CHRISTMAS

Katie turns 6

Unreal how the time goes so fast. Just yesterday you were just my baby....now you are such a big girl. We love how sweet and tender you are Katie. The day you were born was the most special of days.....We cried and cried as we held you for the first time. Now you are in Kindergarden.....becoming so independent and smart. You are so beautiful...you are Daddy's girl. We love you so much and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

The deer have moved in

We have had deer in and out of our backyard this fall. The past couple days they haven't left. There is one buck, a doe and two fawns. It is pretty wild. They hang out all over the hill and sometimes right on our backyard lawn. It is tough to get a picture of them because the flash really freaks them out, but hopefully you get the idea of where they are.

Busy..... beautiful fall

We are having one of those Autumn seasons that makes you remember why you put up with the rain all year long.....beautiful.....amazing!! So we have been as active as we can...trying to soak in all the fun before the rain comes.

Livy is a natural on the horse!!

Katie looks comfortable.....but she's faking it. Actually, she did OK.

The girls at the pumpkin patch....Livy is such a ham.

Katie and Livy both love dance...here is a shot of Katie in action.

Miss Olivia's first day of school. She loves it.

Good Times in Boston....

So we are in Boston right now....yesterday we spent a day in the city seeing a lot of great sites and history. Today we went out to see Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower and the Plymouth Plantation. So much history out here. Boston is an amazing city. More city tomorrow and our first game at Fenway Park. We miss our girls......but we are having a great time.

Here is Britt with Ben Franklin.
We didn't get to eat before we flew to Boston so we started off with some street dogs.
This is in Plymouth in front of the Mayflower.
Here we are at Paul Revere's house.
This is us and the Riggs at Plymouth Plantation.

So we are in Boston right now....yesterday we spent a day in the city seeing a lot of great sites and history. Today we went out to see Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower and the Plymouth Plantation. So much history out here. Boston is an amazing city. More city tomorrow and our first game at Fenway Park. We miss our girls......but we are having a great time.

Grandma's

My girls are lucky.....blessed with the greatest Grandma's. We don't' get to see them as often as we would like....and the girls sure miss them. They always seem to be happiest when Grandma P or Grandma Booba is in town. We miss you Grandmas!!!!

First Day of School

There are certain days you live for.....and dread all at the same time. Today was one of those days for us.....Katie's first day of Kindergarten. She has been so excited. She couldn't sleep last night and it's basically all she has talked about for a week. Mom put her in her Gymboree best....and gave her the recital hair-do. She looked like a million bucks. Walking down to the bus (yes, she has to ride the bus) was a strange walk. We were both paranoid that she had already missed it.....or that some weird dude would be her bus driver. But it went OK.....until she appeared to burst in to tears when she sat down on the bus. Britt's first words were, "My stomach is sick, I think I'm going to throw up." I sprinted back up to the house....got in the car and sped up the the school to make sure she got there OK. I was happy to see that other tearful parents had done the same thing. Watching her walk in to that school was definitely the end of something.......I'm not sure what it is yet.....but I know it ripped my heart apart.

Anyway, Livy starts pre-school next week and she's really excited for that. Britt will have two days a week where she has a couple hours of freedom. It's such a strange deal to experience this side of parenthood. Not easy, but rewarding in a "punch in the stomach" kind of way.

Oasis in Seattle

So last night I was able to check something off of my bucketlist. To most of you this is going to seem lame......but Britt and I drove up to Seattle to see my favorite band Oasis. I keep hearing, "They are still around? What songs do they sing?" You should get on itunes and find out. They are great. In the picture is Liam and Noel Gallagher. Liam is the lead singer....and is one of the great front men of all time. He doesn't dance, move.....anything. He just stares into the crowd like he wants to fight someone the whole show. Brittanie was blown away by it.....it's actually quite hilarious. Noel is the mastermind and main song writer for Oasis. He is probably best known for singing, "Don't look back in anger," from their album, "What's the story morning glory?" Anyway, it was a great show. Although, crowds in the Northwest lack enthusiasm. We saw Foo Fighters in Portland a few weeks ago and the crowd was weak at that show as well. Britt and I left for the show at 3pm.....and returned home at about 3am. It was well worth it. I have had tickets for Oasis two other times. The first time was in Vegas.....but we got pregnant with Katie so we had to sell them. The 2nd time I had tickets for their show in '05 in Seattle....but we were living in Medford and I didn't have time off to go. Those tickets went to waste. They are really a great band.....and probably still the biggest thing going in the UK. Anyway, thanks to my wife for letting me indulge in childish things when I get the whim to do so. And thanks to our good friends The Wilbur's for taking care of our girls while we went to the show. We don't know what we would do without you.

Trip to Utah

We went home for my Mom's wedding in early August. I had to work in Utah, so the girls came with me a few days early. (Britt had to come the day before the wedding, but got a much needed break from the kids) Anyway, the girls spent their days with Cortney and Jack while I was working. They had such a great time, as you can see by the pictures. HOPEFULLY (hint, hint) my Mom will email me some wedding pictures so you can see what a beautiful wedding she and Terry had. A big thanks to Cort and Jack....the girls had a blast.

The 'Stache

Because I'm a huge fan of mustaches.

Utah

We have been in Utah this week. (the girls are still there) We went out for my Mom's wedding to Terry. Hopefully we'll get some pictures up soon....it was an amazing wedding. We also had a chance to go up to the alpine slide in Park City. The girls had a great time....well, Livy had a great time. Katie spent most of the time horrified.

Livy's attitude is pretty unreal.
I couldn't push the sled fast enough for our little speed demon.
Katie held on tight to Mom on our way up the mountain.
What a ham!!

Deer!!!!

You can't trust deer....check out their crazy laser eyes.

So at least once a week the girls tell me about the family of deer that walk along the ridge in our backyard. This morning they came to eat out of our neighbor's bird feeder. The twins are very small....and the Mom looks very young too. Hard for me to tell though.....It's not like I'm Grizzly Adams. It was pretty scary in the first picture when they tried to melt us with their laser eyes.

Better late than never

So clear back in June my Mom took all of us (the entire fam) to California. We stayed in a really nice beach house in Laguna Beach. We did a lot of cool things like Disneyland, an L.A. Angels game and a lot of beach time. The kids absolutely loved it.....we all did. The only bad thing about the trip was us forgetting our camera. We have virtually no pictures from the trip. At Disneyland we bought a disposable camera and just recently had the pictures developed. They aren't very clear, but we'll get more as soon as my Mom and Sister send me their pics. (hint hint) A very very special thanks to my Mom for such a great time. She took care of everything for us and it was a total blast.

Does Peter Pan look as annoying as he actually was?
I think this is something from Alice in Wonderland.
Livy loved riding the tea cups.
The kids were so excited to see Mickey.
Niko trying to do his best Goofy is a classic shot.

Lincoln City

We spent this weekend with Brittanie's family in a beach house at Lincoln City, Oregon. It was really great to be with the family and I think everyone had a great time. The house was great...the weather was great.....and it's just good to be with family. We are the worst picture takers ever, but we did manage to get a few shots from the trip.

This is Olivia, Matt and Michael at the lighthouse in Newport, OR.
Katie with the beautiful Pacific ocean behind her.
Katie, Olivia and Kylee at the lookout point. (sorry if I spelled your name wrong Kylee)
Livy, Keisha and Katie
This is my favorite shot. This is at a Walgreen's about 5 minutes away from our house....the girls just HAD to go to the bathroom. At least Mr. Ape was still smiling. Britt was not happy with my need to snap the moment.