Santa Came to Washington!

As usual we went home to Washington for the holidays. We had tons of fun, and are exhausted! The first day there I ran my fourth half marathon. It was a great race, and I ran it in my fastest time ever! Actually, I was running next to this guy for a while who was in his seventies and said that he was running his 300th full marathon (there was a full marathon too)!

Coming in to the finish line

This is when I realize exactly how exhausted I really am!

Nate, the boys and both my parents came out to cheer me on!

Later that night my mom took Reid and I to see the princess and the Frog. Reid LOVED it!

Sleep in heavenly peace

We went to the mall to see Santa, and this guy was the best ever. He actually took the time to talk to Reid for a few minutes so he could get to know him before I abandoned him on his lap. Both kids thought it was great.




On Christmas eve this year I had the boys open matching pajamas to wear that night. I was so excited that I found something that matches in both of their sizes.

We also went to see a fun light show with Papa.

Christmas day we went over to my brother's and spent Christmas with his family and my mom.


What did Reid spill on his shirt you may ask? Nothing. He CHEWED on it the whole night! What a weirdo.

My brother and my cute new niece, Isabella.

We did spend some time in Bellingham with Nate's family, and had so much fun, but I was a slacker with my picture taking. I'm pretty sure I did the same thing last year. It's great to be home!

Happy New Year!

You asked for it!

Several people have asked me where you can get your blog printed and bound. Nate told me about it, and we haven't done it yet, so I don't know exactly how it works, but the website is:

blog2print.sharedbook.com/

and, no this is not a link because I'm too retarded to do that sort of thing. You're just going to have to suck it up and cut and paste =).

Gingerbread Train

I decided to get one of those "gingerbread house kits" because I wanted to make one, but didn't want to buy 500 bags of candy/make 500 gingerbread cookies, so I did the lame mom thing and got a kit. Let me tell you, the picture on the box is IMPOSSIBLE! Even if I didn't have a 3-year-old dictating where the candy went I STILL couldn't have done it. It was so fun though, and Reid was sooooo excited. It was hilarious. He was giggling, and wouldn't even go to the bathroom until I told him I wouldn't put any pieces on until he got back. We had so much fun!

He kept trying to eat the frosting...

I think it looks stunning on our bookshelf. Great work Reid! (also, you do not need to get your eyes checked, it is really that lop-sided.)

P.S. If you are wondering why have been such an "active" blogger lately it's because I found out there is a place where they will print out and bind your blog, so I am trying to make it more like a family journal so we can keep it forever!

Genetic Modifications

Is is just me, or is there something seriously fishy going on with grapes? Because these are the size of small plums.

Snow Day!

Us Utahns got about 7 inches of snow over the last couple of days, and our family has definitely taken advantage of it! Yesterday we went out and played while Linkers napped (he's getting teeth, so he has been sleeping even WORSE, and is a little on the grumpy side).

I taught Reid how to throw snowballs, but because the snow is so powdery here we couldn't make very good ones, or a snowman for that matter!

Taking his best shot!

Throwing snowballs at his neighbor friend, Anna

We also busted out the sled and went for joy rides around the parking lot (which is like a deathtrap for cars!)

Then we got some hot lunch and snuggled up on the couch to watch this Christmas classic. And because we don't have a TV we have to watch it on our big screen. (That's a 6 in. plasma people)
Also, points for whoever can guess that movie (my personal favorite; we watch it every year at least three times!)

Today we were invited over for a play date, and since there's no way I am going to drive I packed up little Linkers in the hiking back pack and pulled Reid in the sled. I looked ridiculous, but it was fun!

Ready to go!

Just a reminder...

Reid's Christmas List 2009

This is Reid's Christmas List (according to his nursery leaders this is what he came up with):

-Custard (does he even know what this is?! I don't think I've even heard him say this word...)

-Toy cars (makes sense)

-Bunny (OK?)

-Dinosaur

-Giraffe

-Toy Pig

-Race Car (totally different than a toy car)

-Train (TOTALLY saw that coming)

-baby sister (*ahem* that's not happening anytime soon. Why is he even asking for this?!)

So, there's a heads up for anyone planning on getting Reid a Christmas present. If you could fulfill his desire for a baby sister that would be great because I'm pretty sure I can't pick one up at Walmart...or could I?

The Reidster

Reid is a real kick in the pants. He has started to really enjoy playing guitars with daddy. Maybe he will be a musician too? Reid basically just likes to do anything that dad does. He loves to fix things--especially changing light bulbs and batteries. He has been saying some really funny things too, and although I know not everyone wants to hear about all of the things my kids do I have been trying to make this more of a journal, so I want to document all of the fun things they do and say:

Reid was screaming out of frustration at his train the other day, and I told him to calm down or ask me for help, and he said "mom! This is ridiculous!" When I started laughing he said, "Don't laugh mom! I'm just a little bit frustrated!"

We were at our neighbors earlier today and Reid grabbed onto my leg and said "this is my girl." Glad to know he still wants to claim me!

Reid is pretty good talker generally, but he does pronounce a few things differently than one would expect:

Magazine= magzinet

Sandwich= shanwash

Orange= Orngen

So cute! Now if he would just get back to putting his poop in the potty we would be set!

Little Linkers

Link has been doing some pretty fun things as of late. He has been army crawling for awhile, which is sooooo cute! These days he's getting up on his hands and knees a little better. He has also been saying "mama" which you know I love. I'm not entirely sure that he associates it with me, but I pretend he does=). He is eating lots of solid foods, and loving it! He sure is a cutie, and I feel so lucky to be his mommy...although still no progress on the sleeping front. Sigh. I guess I will have lots of time to sleep when I'm dead, right?

Thanksgiving Road Trip

Way back in September I thought it would be a really great idea to drive over to Spokane to visit Nate's sisters and their families for Thanksgiving. As the date approached I was thinking that maybe 12 hours in the car one way was a lot for my little family, but we did it, and it actually wasn't too bad. We also had a ton of fun when we got there! We passed through state lines like 5 times each way, and I was determined to take pictures of each "welcome" sign, but it was dark for most of our trip, so Idaho is all you get.

The Captain

The co-pilot (doing my best Jay Leno Impersonation...is my chin really THAT pointy?!)

The passengers

Our first day there we swam--Reid's dream come true. You should have seen the monstrous FIT he threw when we got out. Yikes.

Tosha playing with Reidster

Reid and Carter had fun chasing each other around

Mr. Linkers getting dry and warm

Auntie Denise showing Linkers how to be a cowboy

The day after Thanksgiving was Reid's third birthday, so we left Link with Denise and Jerry, and took Reid and his cousin Allen to Chuck e. Cheese. They had so much fun!




Nate's sister Corrine made Reid an AWESOME cake for his birthday. Reid specifically said that he wanted a "chocolate bear cake" for his birthday, so this is what she came up with. Amazing, right?!

The bear was a little soccer player, so cute!

Reid was a little more interested in the balloons than his presents I'm afraid...

Cousin Allen helping Reid open his presents.

I LOVE the weird-o look on his face!

Watch out for Kaylee!

Katrina doing her best Audrey Hepburn impersonation

This is my "I can't get this ridiculous packaging open" face.

I can't believe my baby is three!!

We had tons of fun, and can't wait to go back. Thanks for having us auntie Denise and uncle Jerry!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!