Thanksgiving Weekend 2017

As I've mentioned before, Thanksgiving weekend is one of my most favorite times of the year.  Sadly this year I did a poor job of taking photos.  But it still was a really fun weekend.  We randomly captured the above family photo right before the Thanksgiving meal with an iPhone.  How did we get everyone smiling and looking at the camera?  It's truly a Thanksgiving miracle.  :)

We started off the Thanksgiving day with our new annual tradition...the Issaquah Turkey Trot.  It was pouring rain this year so I didn't even get a photo.  I left my phone in the car because I didn't want it to get soaked.  This year the run was really fun because they changed up the route and we went through Downtown Issaquah.  Despite the rain, people showed up in full force with Thanksgiving garb.  Nathan ran most of the way with us this year which was fun.  He and I raced to the finish line together.  I love how our boys are troopers--even when the weather is crummy.

Back at home we warmed up with a quick snuggle on the couch and watched a little bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade which is one of Nathan's favorite traditions.

Thanksgiving meal was spent at Gramma and Grampa Spaulding's house this year with Aunt Jacky and Uncle Johnathin.  Such a lovely meal as always.  And we all raved that it was one of the best turkeys we ever had--so moist and yummy!

After dinner we traveled over to Nana and Pops Warner's to enjoy dessert including Pumpkin Pie, French Silk pie and Berry pie.  Yum!  I was definitely full by the end of the night.  Thank you to all the grandparents and siblings for such delicious food!!  Lots and lots to be thankful for this year.

The next day we continued our long time tradition of going to downtown Seattle to usher in the Christmas season.  We wandered around downtown and shopped, ate lunch at the Nordstrom cafe, rode the Carousel, visited the gingerbread houses (which were in a different building this year), saw the train in the Macy's window, and enjoyed dinner at Tutta Bella.  Such a treat to have Ryan and Carly along with us this year too!

Apple Cup was the next day with a very healthy UW win!  And then the weekend was topped off by our other annual tradition now--visiting Santa!  We still love going to see Santa in the early evening on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  There are no lines and it's just a really fun thing to enjoy with the grandparents.  Then we go to a yummy dinner at Red Robin.  Perfect way to end the weekend of celebrations.

It's so fun to step back and realize how many traditions we've already started as a family.  Hopefully these are times the boys will cherish for a long time and will want to continue doing...even when their teenagers!  Yeah right! Maybe I will make them do them regardless.  :)

Ryan and Carly's Wedding

With great joy on October 15, we celebrated the marriage of Ryan and Carly.  And it couldn't have been a more perfect day or weekend for the both of them. 

They got married on Lummi Island which is part of the San Juans at a wonderful place called The Willows Inn.  Lummi Island is one of Ryan and Carly's favorite getaway spots  We had never been there before but now we understand why they like to escape to there when they can.  It's a beautiful, sustainable, small island with limited population.  The inn sources as much as they can from the island itself including their very own large garden and farm.  It's a small piece of paradise. We were fortunate that Ryan and Carly rented out the entire inn for the weekend so we got to experience its charm. 

My Aunt Jackie and Uncle Tim traveled from Florida to celebrate the event with us and we loved getting to spend some time with them the day before in Bellingham and on Lummi.  It was so nice especially for the boys to get some quality time with them too. 

The wedding day was absolutely perfect weather-wise.  Staff at the inn were commenting on how they couldn't believe the weather because it's usually either rainy or overcast or if it's sunny, it's windy.  We had a gorgeous sunny fall day with no wind in the upper 50's.  But the day before and the day after were grey and rainy.  God was definitely smiling down on this special event. 

The event started off with family photos.  Then we went to the inn for happy hour and to greet arriving guests.  The wedding ceremony was near the water on the grassy area at the Beach Cabin, one of the Willows Inn accommodations.  What a gorgeous setting and such a meaningful ceremony.  I've never heard such deep, intentional, well written vows in my whole life.  Trevor Hill, Ryan's good friend married them. 

After the ceremony everyone headed back to the Inn to partake in their famous multi-course dinner.  We had 14 courses!  And some of the most interesting, but also delicious flavors I've ever had. It was a mini-date night for me and James as the boys were back in our cabin with a babysitter and we had a private table to ourselves. The evening ended with a deep lounging party back at the cabin. James enjoyed his time at that, but I was so exhausted I went straight to bed!

Overall the wedding was completely Ryan and Carly style--simple, yet elegant, close friends and family, meaningful, authentic, good food and drink, rustic, natural, and abounding in love. A day we will never forget.  So happy for both of them!

First, here are the amateur photos:

And now, some of my favorite photos from Ryan's amazing photographer:

Finally they are officially hitched!  Congratulations Ryan and Carly!!

Kindergarten

We officially have a kindergartener!  Nathan started Kindergarten on September 5.  He goes to Snoqualmie Elementary and is in Ms. West's kindergarten class.  He takes the bus to and from school every day.  It's crazy to us that he goes off every day and navigates his world on his own.  It's thrilling and pulls on our heart strings all at the same time.

James and I took the day off for the first day of school so we could both go to the bus stop and then be emotional all day together that we have a kid in kindergarten.  Before we went out to the bus stop, we gave Nate a little gift.  I found a sweet little ornament at a store of a panda bear with a backpack and lunch box.  We gave it to Nathan calling it "brave bear" and that he could hold on to him any time he felt nervous or overwhelmed.  He still carries brave bear in his backpack every day.  Although I don't think he's truly needed--it's just nice to know he's there.

Nathan bravely got right on the bus that first day.  A few tears were definitely shed by us as the bus pulled away.  And a few hours later when he got off the bus, he had an exhausted smile on his face.  First day was a success!  After a couple days that week of feeling scared and overwhelmed as the transition set in, Nathan hasn't looked back and is loving school and thriving.  We are so proud of him!

Cameron's 3rd Birthday

How is it possible that our baby boy is 3 years old!?!?  And what a source of joy, humor, adventure and snuggles he is to our family.

Before I get into the fun birthday party we had to celebrate, here is a little description of what Cameron is like at 3 years old:

• Cameron is still our epic snuggler.  Thank goodness!  I hope he continues to want to snuggle as he gets older.  He requests to snuggle every morning before he gets ready for school.  And he wants to snuggle every night before he goes to bed.  We completely eat it up.  All he has to do is ask to snuggle in that sweet way he does and we are putty in his hands. 
• His language/talking skills have exploded in the past year.  It is so fun to have a full conversation with him and to observe his growing vocabulary. 
• He is still our rough and tumble, adventurous kid.  Cameron connects through physical touch.  He's always wanting to wrestle with Nathan, wrestle or snuggle with us, climb/jump on things, etc.  It is helpful that as he gets older he gets a little more cautious and aware.  But we still have to keep a close eye on him.
• This summer he got really good at riding his balance bike.  He can pick his feet up and balance for a long time.  We think he might be ready for a pedal bike next summer!
• Cameron is in Young Preschool class at school. 
• Some of Cameron's favorite activities include dressing up in costumes, playing Legos, playing with animals, coloring, riding his bike, playing catch with a football or baseball, swimming, and taking baths. 
• Amazingly Cameron is our vegetable kid.  He'll eat most vegetables that we put on his plate which we're grateful for because Nathan won't touch vegetables with a 10 ft. pole.  At least someone in the household is getting good nutrition.  :)
• Cameron still cracks us up on a regular basis.  He is the comic relief in our family and to hear him laugh is one of the greatest sounds in the whole world.
• Something is wrong with our child.  He does not like chocolate!?!?  How did he ever come from James and me?  But he has no interest in chocolate.  He doesn't really like sweets in general like pie, cupcakes, cake, etc.  He will eat candy though and gummies.  And he has an obsession with doughnuts.

Cameron has been very into Batman this year.  So it seemed very fitting that he wanted a Batman theme party of course.  This was the first party that we invited several of Cameron's friends from school which was fun.  We had a perfect summer day and celebrated at our neighborhood park.

Party activities included playing at the park, decorating Batman masks, a Batman pinata, pin the bat on the Batman suit game, and eating snacks.  As mentioned above Cameron is not a big fan of cake.  He actually (and unsurprisingly) requested doughnuts for his "cake" at his party.  We were happy to oblige and the kids loved it because they each got to pick which doughnut they wanted.

It was such a fun day celebrating our sweet boy.  Happy 3rd Birthday Cameron!

Cameron's "girlfriend" Evelyn  :)

Dougnuts!!

Summer 2017 Highlights

Well the craziness of fall has finally subsided a bit so now I can finally catch up on some important blog posts.  I'm cheating and labeling them as the date I wish I had written them though just so they're captured more in line with when they actually happened. 

Beyond Debby's surprise 70th birthday party and our great camping trip with the Spauldings, there were lots of other fun summer adventures that I wanted to make sure to capture.  Wow summer seems like a distant memory now.  But it was a good one.  Here is the walk down summer memory lane through photos:

A fun Lake Union boat ride for Father's Day

A great Mariners game against the Astros and the first time the boys experienced Fireworks Night at Safeco Field

A family hike on Denny Creek Trail

Megs traveled to LA to see old college friends and celebrate Rachael's wedding

We had this fantastic spontaneous family day in late July.  Started off at the Bright Horizons Truck Day event, went to Burbank Park in Mercer Island and it was a hot day so we decided to cool off by seeing Cars 3 at the movie theater.  Finished off the day by meeting Gramma & Grampa at Cactus for dinner, got gelato and walked around Kirkland waterfront.

Visited Papa's work at Boeing Family Day and on the same day watched the Blue Angels for Seafair and celebrated James' birthday at Stoneburner restaurant in Ballard

Had a super fun long weekend celebrating our friend Carter's 40th birthday at Suncadia.  Rented a house with 6 other couples and many shenanigans ensued.

Pedicures!

Happy Birthday Carter!

So grateful for wonderful (and hilarious) friends!

Our big finale to the summer was camping at White River Campground at Mt. Rainier.  We had a gorgeous weekend and had probably the best camp spot we've ever had.  It was a magical family time before lots of transitions (Kindergarten starting!) and a busy busy fall.  Just what we needed!

Summer 2017 you were so good to us.  This will be a helpful post to look back on in the dreariness of winter this year.  Counting the days until next summer...