Ronan Jameson Veh

What an amazing blessing this little bundle of joy is to our family! My sweet nephew Ronan Jameson Veh was born yesterday and is practically perfect in every way! I cannot express how happy we all are for Sherman and Elisabeth and their brand new family....they waited so long for this sweet little boy to come into their lives, and he was made special for them. We cannot get enough of him and cannot wait to watch him grow up and we all feel he is so very special in every kind of way!

Advent Calendar

I honestly can't believe I'm posting anything besides my brand new adorable nephew right now...but I am waiting until I get even better pics when I go back to the hospital tomorrow. However he is pretty perfect!

Anyway....I finally finished my advent calendar for the girls for this year. I am happy with how it turned out...simple. I was unsure if I could fit anything in the matchboxes so I just decided that I will put a little note inside each matchbox that the girls will open up...that will tell them their surprise for each day. Here are our list of activities:

Thursday December 1: Pair of cozy socks

Friday, December 2nd: Papa reads a special Christmas book with a special treat

Saturday, December 3rd: Go to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue or Seattle Center

Sunday, December 4th: Cut down and decorate Christmas tree

Monday, December 5th: New ornaments for each of the girls

Tuesday, December 6th: Write letters to Santa

Wednesday, December 7th: Lipgloss for girls

Thursday, December 8th: Sweet treat

Friday, December 9th: Drive around look at lights, listen to Christmas music, and drink hot cocoa

Saturday, December 10th: Shop for gifts for needy child

Sunday, December 11th: Cookies to neighbors

Monday, December 12th: Hairbows

Tuesday, December 13th: Bake cookies

Wednesday, December 14th: (Happy Birthday Bella) New pens and paper

Thursday, December 15th: Zoo Lights

Friday, December 16th: Make cookies in a jar for gifts

Saturday, December 17th: Watch Polar Express and have treats

Sunday, December 18th: Polar Express Train Ride in PJ's

Monday, December 19th: Make Gingerbread ornaments

Tuesday, December 20th: Craft with mom

Wednesday, December 21: Handprint Christmas Tree

Thursday, December 22: Make cinnamon rolls

Friday, December 23rd: Watch movie ELF and popcorn

Saturday, December 24th: (Happy Birthday Maddie) Christmas PJ's

We also have 24 holiday books wrapped for the girls to open one book a night so we can read a book together as a family. I am most excited for this! I LOVE children's books!

Moosehead Cabin

The Moosehead Cabin has become a family tradition over the years. This gorgeous and relaxing cabin out in Lakebay has been a great get away for family time. We spent this Thanksgiving there...my Dad and Barb drove up from San Diego, Grandma and Aunt Kathy came from San Francisco, and all of us kids came with our kids! Here are a few snapshots of the last few days....

Side note: We would have more pictures but poor Bella was really sick, so we missed the first couple days of pictures (and some sleep)...

Maddie with Aunt Kathy and Nanna

Kisses and loves


Thanksgiving Day

Too bad we weren't looking at our camera!

Grandma, Dad, and Aunt Kathy

Girls and Dad...seriously the worst pic of me ever!!! I guess my shirt was see through and I didn't realize it!!

Poor sick Bella in her moose pjs

Thanksgiving table

Saturday and finally feeling better! I can eat!!!

Cousins that just adore each other

Grammie and Bella

Three Day Weekend

So far this three day weekend has been GLORIOUS! I just crave this quality time with my girls and love every single minute of it...Friday was really really low key. We were all feeling exhausted and both girls have had a bit of a cold this week...so we stuck around the house.

Bella did some painting at her easel
"So pretty mama."

She is REALLY REALLY into being my "helper" right now and apart from always wanting to be joined at my hip, she wants to do everything I am doing. Emptying the dishwasher, wiping the counters down, sweeping, and right now cooking....

Here she is stirring up our roasted veggies before they go into the oven...she loved putting salt and pepper on them

At the end of the day both girls wanted to cuddle up...in "Grandmas" bed...which is our guest room.

My little sweeties...in pj's and loving on each other

Just cuteness

I just love these girls with every ounce of my being! As cheesy as it sounds, I always look at them and cannot believe how lucky I am that I was choosen to be their mother. They give me more love and laughter than I ever imagined possible! They do adore each other as well. I cannot believe we are going to add another girl to our mix! I can't wait.....

Happy Halloween

Maddie as a Vampire Masquerade girl and Bella as a Lion!
She sure loves her sister...she was really unsure about Halloween, the costumes, and all the decor at first. She kept saying, "I'm scared. I want to go home."

Maddie and her friend...the other vampire

Three good friends

Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion

still really scared at this point

The Wizard of Oz crew

First time ever up to a door and saying "Trick or Treat." After this one, it took about 45 minutes before she wanted to go up again.....

Grandma Judy came down from Canada to go Trick or Treating with us

Bella loves Amy and decided she wanted Amy to hold her the rest of the night and go up to ALL the houses. All of a sudden it was , "fun mama!"

Vampire and dad!