Moose and Elk!

I always think I'm going to have time on my hands after Christmas because Christmas takes a lot of time to prepare for. I'm not sure how I did it before or why the time does not seem to be waiting for me to use it after, but here I am trying to catch up. Here's a little of what we've been up to lately coupled with too many pictures but I like being able to have a space to enjoy recent pictures. We spent the week the kids went back to school showing the house--no joke--six or seven times. It was one of the worst weeks ever! Of course, absolutely nothing came from all of those showings so we are fast approaching the time where we give up the dream, *sigh*.
As disappointing as that is, we are still trying to enjoy some winter fun. We caught up with the Mariner's Caravan. Jared and his friends, Brian and Logan had a chance to get their picture taken with Eric O'Flaherty and Mark Lowe, two of the pitchers. Bradley wasn't sure about the moose but tolerated him better than he did Santa. We also had to head back up to Yakima for another basketball tournament but this time the elk were much closer to the feeding area so we were able to take some close-up pictures. Below are kids from the three coaches' families. We have fun going to games together and watching the boys play.

Amanda and Nate started their season yesterday with a victory over Desert Hills--Mine and Nate's old school! I don't think I've been back since my sister went there and it was so fun to walk around and be in the gym! I don't think Nate envisioned himself coaching there one day. I know, we live where we grew up so this is kind of pathetic but I really treasure that kind of thing. My old teacher and softball coach, Mr. Jones, is now the principal and believe it or not some of the SAME teachers are still there! We had fun chatting with Mr. Jones (he remembers everyone).

Speaking of playing, here are the current schedules for everyone's activities:

Amanda and Nate: http://www.rsd.edu/schools/carmichael/pdf/winterIIsportscarmichael2008.pdf (7B white)

Jared and Nate:

http://ieaau.org/yakimaleague/2008/winter/4boys.pdf

Megan and Nate:

Saturday morning soccer games at Westgate 9:10 a.m. starting the second week in February (dates to be confirmed later this week).

Bradley and Mara: On the sidelines!

Cougars and Birthdays

For Christmas, Jared received four tickets to a WSU basketball game (the Cougars are currently ranked no. 4 in the nation). He was sooo excited and took his dad, his friend Logan and Logan's dad, Cary to Pullman for the game. They had a great time and got to see lots of snow!

Of course, that was definitely a highlight for him this break but more importantly we rang in the New Year with friends and then celebrated Bradley's first birthday!!! We had a family party as well as a family friend party and below are some of my favorite pictures:

He's not shy at all, loves sweets and loves his grandpas so he put on a good show for us!

Here are some favorite things that we enjoy about Bradley (that also make us laugh):

1. He has no desire to walk.

2. He blows kisses, waves and says 'bye-bye', says "mmmmm!" when he likes his food and can say 'more' in sign language (so smart!)

3. He cuddles when he wakes up.

4. He will go to anyone--especially men (the cashier at Target, guy at the bank, etc.)

5. He loves to yell downstairs to the kids like he sees mom and dad do.

6. Everything is a phone.

7. He's everyone's little buddy and we're so glad he's in our family!

Snapshots of Christmas

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We're cherishing the last few days of Christmas Vacation! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I'll post more (including our birthday boy) soon! In the meantime, enjoy this little snapshot of our Christmas!