Liz's sister cam e as well with her daughter who you see here.
Izzy was an excellent climber. She had no fear.
Liam climbed this wall twice and on the third time up he made the mistake of looking down. He was a little nervous after that but he got over it pretty quickly and continued to climb.

Cross bows and Catapults

Now son, do you see the Ogre atop the tower over there? I have set up a strategic system of fire that will eliminate all evidence of said Ogre.
oh come on, we're bored here. You think your gonna beat us with a baby?
ah ha! My secret weapon has arrived! Isabel the Irritable will strike you down for good.
(yes, I am a dork. I think I liked this game more than Eric did)

Free loot from the Chehalis Tribe

Time away..

This year Eric and I decided to be eco friendly and give an experience rather than a tree wasting, garbage adding gift. We gave all the parents a gift certificate for 'time away" from the kids. We dropped the 3 older kids off at a holiday camp at AThe Llittle gym and went to the movie 'Yes man'. The Grandparents offered to take the youngen's and received a little bonding time in return. All in all, everyone had a wonderful time.

Fresh air...

We burned off holiday calories on a hike around the beach. Connor found a live clam and all came to ooooh and aaaah only to be disrupted by Liam's foot crushing the poor thing. He was chided by all the clammers in the family but on the way home, when asked, what was your favorite part of the day, the reply was "squashing the clam".

Joy

We had a wonderful holiday this year. We hope that you found as much JOY in it as we did.

Happy New Year!

I have no pictures of the event but New years did happen at the Elton's home. Grandpa Bill purchased fireworks from the 'Res' at an incredible price and we blew stuff up at 7: 30 and had a count down to the New year at 8. After the kids were in bed the adults ate chocolate fondue and partied. Okay, really we just watched a movie because we were all so exhausted from it all.

My New years Eve resolutions: (Julie here, by the way)

1. Be less responsible:
a- The groceries can wait to be put away
b- the dishwasher does not need to be unloaded right this minute
c- the house can be a disaster, it's okay.
Managing my time with 2 little ones this year has made me re access my priorities. Liam and Anna need more play time and attention.

2. Be in a band with Eric:
okay, not really. But we are going to practice musical stuff at least once a week. E will pick up the classical guitar again and I want to learn, the harmonica, harpsichord, cello, triangle, drums and oh the list goes on.

The holidays are upon us...

Christmas Sunday. at 7:30 am we find an e-mail announcing that church is cancelled due to the snowfall. here we were all decked out in our Christmas best, so we decided to take a family picture. The first since before Anna was born.
our ward Christmas party is a breakfast at 8:30 in the morning. Everyone comes looking disheveled and ready for sausage. I sang as part of the program.
Liam sang with the primary. He was so cute in his jammies.

waiting for Santa......the moment Santa walked in, Liam grabbed Eric's neck with a huge grin and giggled. When he sat down he bolted to get in line to sit on his lap.
Once in line, he was all about business. He had been practicing " I want a Mighty Hauler" for weeks now.
I thought Anna would cry but she just sort of shrank into him.
It was again, all business on Santa's lap. The deed was stated auickly and clearly and He was out of there.
My cute family. How could I love anyone more?

My brush with fame.....

Teh Forgotten Carols was on tour this year and I was able to sing in the seattle area choir for the performance.
There I am, in ink.
Here I am in the very back singing carols around the piano with Micheal. When he walked into the room in his leather button up shirt I'm sure I saw angels and heard singing.
Here I am hanging on to his every word while he preps us for the performance.
here we are. I 'm in the middle on the front row of the stairs. It was fun singing with a more professional group and it made me want to find ways to perform on stage again. The program ended with the entire audience linking arms and singing "we can be together, forever someday". Aaahhh, the things you do when your Mormon.

Snow Days

Ever year Liam's preschool has Snow Days and hauls white snow in huge dump trucks from the mountains down to his preschool for all to enjoy. Last year the hill was huge and white. This year it was not cold enough and the snow was....well brown. Seattle sledding. Anyway, Santa arrives in a fire engine, there's a craft fair and local talent. It's holiday halubaloo.

Liam is patiently waiting...

Liam braves the slope.

Liam braves the slope.

Anna's smile is hilarious.

we did crafts......

and iced cookies.........

and played in the bounce houses. Good times.

Thanksgiving Day

BEFORE.......

AFTER........
This is pretty much how it is with these two. Liam is also incredibly sweet and loving though. This was where Anna spent most of her Thanksgiving break. These are sadly all the pictures I got of the event.

Cruis'n

This is pretty much what Liam does when at his Grandparents' house. He loves to make the bike spin out. He rode the bike most of the Thanksgiving break.

Thanksgiving program

Liam's Preschool Thanksgiving program was adorable. Of course my camera batteries ran out after the first picture. I was able to get a few short films and these shots anyway. so cute.

AArrrgggh! Not only does the batteries die, but it loses focus several times. Technology!

so this one is super short, but I had to give you a taste of Liam's ability to make boring things fun. Also, if you are a fan of the television show "Heroes", you will see Hiro feeding off of Liam's silliness. No kidding, his name is Eugene and he even acts just like him. It's trippy....

My Mom and Dad and my "cozy house". That's what he says that will not be forever saved in digital time.

Anna O.

Anna is so adorable right now. She is a very efficient signer and is starting to speak. She says "Maaam" translation Mom, Boppy-puppy, DaEee-Daddy, and Waaayyeeee-WALLE. The last was taught with great effort on Liam's part. He is a very proud brother. She can also perform a variety of sounds including, sound of a monkey, sound of a monster, sound of an owl. Her favorites list includes, pushing her stroller, monkeys (stuffed or real), running as fast as she can and flopping onto the lovesack and bathtime. Does not like bedtime. Understands the word nap and violently shakes head "no"giving very clear signs of her comprehension and defiance, and drawing. Really into drawing. This activity as you see demonstrated here occurs an average of 2 hours a day on and off. It has been decided through scientific analysis that test subject is a lefty.
We love our lefthanded, monkeyloving girl.