Santa!

Lauren got to see Santa a couple weeks ago. She was soooo excited. She barely stood long enough for me to run a comb through her hair. And before Santa's Helpers could finish telling her it was her turn, she RAN to him through her arms around him and hopped in his lap. She was so happy! She never did tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas though....just wondered how he was doing. Very thoughtful kid we are raising, right? Or a brown noser...not sure!

She still hasn't figured out what she wants for Christmas. Every time something cool comes on a commercial she instantly wants that "thing". So I'm sure she's going to be happy with everything she gets!

Santa did send Lauren a video message and informed her she was currently on the nice list. Daddy and I keep telling her that it's still possible to be moved to the naughty list, but she doesn't believe us. Over the weekend we did convince her that we have a direct line to the "Big Guy" himself and she better be on her best behavior! I wonder if I can milk this for another year??!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

On Friday, Daddy got home a little early so we could go get a Christmas Tree while the weather was still clear! We went to Brewers just west of Shelton this year. Nice trees. They are very manicured trees....definitely not what we are use to but pretty none-the-less.

Here's Lauren at the tree farm. I still don't think she understood the concept until we cut one down. She was just concentrating on not tripping in the tall grass and to make sure to step on EVERY mole hill she could find.

Lauren next to our tree. I think she was convinced we were taking the Charlie Brown Christmas tree home and not the gigantic one next to her!

Once home we got it decorated and it's even prettier in the house! An 8.5' Noble Fir looks pretty good, don't ya think?!

Now to make sure it has enough water since we've had to keep the fireplace roaring with 20 and 30 degree temps!

Parade of Ships in Oly

Tonight we ventured to Oly in the freezing cold to watch the Parade of Ships in the harbor by the Olympia Yacht Club. Lauren had on long john pants under her jeans, 2 layers on top plus the jacket, a beanie and gloves.....and she never complained about being cold so I think we had it covered!

The capitol building from Port Plaza.

A boat in the harbor before the parade.

Lauren with her playgroup friend Ellie. We met up with a couple other moms and their kiddos from playgroup.

The start of the parade!

This boat was pretty cool. Some of them had music and motion/action scenes.

During a lull in the parade with another playgroup friend Breanna.

I love this picture even though it makes me loopy to look at very long!

Even though there were only about 10 boats....Lauren had fun. Heck, she would have enjoyed it had there only been two. We heard that this is the last year for this event. It runs again Saturday, so if you are around, make sure to check it out.

Finally an Update!

Wow! I knew I had neglected the blog, but I didn't realize how bad until today. So....here's an update on our Thanksgiving ventures.


First we stopped at Memaw and Papa's so daddy could go watch one of the only Beaver victories of the season against Washington. Then Sunday morning we hussled down to the Ranch because the fam needed help with an elk they got. Here's Lauren running to the barn to see the dead creature hanging from the rafters! Love that she's so into hunting!

She was also stoked to see Cousin Sam. She hasn't seen him since....hmmm....Easter I guess. She loved petting Simon kitty. Biscuit was a bit confused since Simon is the only cat in the world that doesn't run from her.

Here's the Cousins at the top of the hay bales. I had to keep an eye on Miss Adventurous so she didn't topple over the stack...or herself!

One day, Emmy and Nana took us to Bandon. It was sooooo windy! We headed out to the lighthouse/jetty viewing. The picture doesn't show the deep swells that were flowing into the bay. It looked like somebody jumping on a gigantic waterbed!

The waves were so high and the wind was blowing the mist and sand all over the place. I asked Lauren if she wanted to get out...thinking that she wouldn't....but of course she said yes!

Here's a better depiction of the winds velocity with Lauren and Aunt Emmy. We tried to make it to the Beach but the sand starting pelting us in the face like needles! When we got in the car, Lauren told Nana how the wind got her face! I think I ruined my child for the coast.

On Thanksgiving we ran back up the freeway to Memaw and Papa's. Most of my mom's side was there on Friday. Here's a pic of her generation of cousins; Jacqueline, Mom, Darrell and David.

Here's my generation of "Cousins": Blake, Me and Brandon.

All of us together with Lauren too!

If you're wondering by the photo and I haven't spoke to you lately, yes we're expecting again. I'm due May 16th and we find out if it's a boy or a girl on Dec. 29th. Lauren is very excited to be a Big Sister....and I think waiting for his or her arrival will really test her patience!

Here's Gram Gram with Lauren. It's probably the best pic we have of the 2 of them since Lauren's been mobile!

It was a great trip to see everyone. And hopefully we'll get to see everyone for Christmas up here!