Friday, December 27, 2013

Go Huskies!

The Huskies are playing tonight in the "2013 Fight Hunger Bowl" against BYU. We're excited to root our team on, and the whole family is decked out in our Husky gear:



Go Dawgs!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from our household to yours! We've had a busy holiday season, enjoying time with family and some quiet time as "just" the three of us. The holidays have taken on a new energy as we experience the wonder and delight of Christmas with a young child.

It strikes me how confusing it must be to see the world transformed with Christmas lights and decorations virtually over night. For example, we put up our Christmas decor -- including our tree -- while Matthew was down for his nap. As he walked out groggily from his nap, he got a look on his face like "why is there a tree where my toys should be?" But then the confusion turned into wonder as he pondered what was under the tree:

If I get on my tippy-toes, will I be able to reach that package?

This is so pretty and colorful, I wonder why it's here!?

To celebrate Christmas, the family got dressed up and went to Christmas Eve services together. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas, taking the time to sing carols and praise God. There is just something about slowing down and remembering why we celebrate.


Looking dapper for church! 

"Why yes, I AM pretty cute!"

"C'mon Grammy & Papa, let's go to the church service!"

Christmas Day was relaxed at our house. At first Matthew wasn't sure about the cheerily wrapped boxes. But once he understood how to open a present, he had a great time!
"Here Dad, a gift for you!"

"Do you need some help with that, Papa?"

"Yeah, but Papa, what about THIS package?"

"Here Grammy, this is how you do it!"

New toys are FUN!

My hope for you this holiday season is that you experienced joy and wonder, and that you are richly blessed in 2014!

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Santa Photo 2013

We took Matthew today for his second visit with Santa. Last year's visit went pretty well, with Matthew tugging at Santa's beard and then smiling for the camera.

This year was a little bit of a different story. What you don't see in our Santa photo is the back story -- the skilled photographer caught Matthew just before he started crying because he wanted to be with Daddy (and not this jolly stranger):



Santa recovered (unfortunately after the crying stint and the photo was taken), offering Matthew a candy cane before we left. Matthew got a huge smile on his face and was excited to carry his gift around proudly. He cried again as we tried to put his mittens on, to Lennie smartly tucked the candy cane into his mitten, and he was a happy camper for the rest of the day (despite not knowing what a candy cane is, mind you!).

I'm working on getting Matthew to say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" but we'll see if that comes to fruition this Christmas season. In the meantime, the Christmas spirit is in the air at our house: