FINALLY!!

I always hope to write eloquent posts, but it never seems to happen.  It's currently 11:16 pm and we're heading to Vancouver in the morning (and there's still PLENTY to do), so this will once again be less than ideal.  *sigh*

The kids and I finally got to meet Kristin today!  (Nate met her the night she got to Salem.)  As soon as I walked in the door, she reached her arms up for me.  No kidding.  Apparently she does it to any woman.  Cooper was less than pleased to have to share her mommy, but it was so sweet!  Kristin is quite the cuddle bug.  She also hugged Cooper every time she was within arm's reach.  It really surprised Phil and Bridgett, because she hasn't spent any time with other little kids.

 We're so happy for Phil and Bridgett, and what a blessing that she's so sweet!  At nineteen months, she could have come to them with some really tough behaviors.  I'm sure she will have her moments, but what little person doesn't?

Okay, I'm off to bed.  No telling what time my alarm will wake me.  (He's cute and sometimes cuddly and wakes up WAY. TOO. EARLY.  This morning we were baking Jesus' birthday cake by 6:30. :)

**I forgot my camera today, but borrowed these pictures from Bridgett.  For those of you who didn't know me when I was little, I had a similar "strawberry" birthmark just a little higher on my forehead (at my hairline).

Advent calendar, day ten: ZooLights

Based on last year's TWO crazy weekend ZooLights experiences, we decided to go on a weeknight this year (Monday the tenth).  We met my family at 4:20 and checked out animals until it got dark and the lights came on.  It was a MUCH more pleasant experience.  We still did one thing wrong: we didn't immediately get in line for the train.  Judson really wanted to do it, though, so we waited in line for an hour after the rest of my family headed home.  (He watched a show on Nate's phone and was perfectly happy to wait.  :)

You can't really tell how pregnant Anna is here, but Baby Boyd is due in less than a month!

Not the train we rode on

Entranced...

Cooper loses her seat in the double stroller whenever we're with Macy.  :)

Finally on the train!

Advent calendar, day one: Sunnyside's Lighted Farm Implement Parade

One of my best friends (and my college roommate for two years), Cheryl, is from Sunnyside, Washington.  Every year, on the first Saturday of December, Sunnyside puts on a very impressive lighted parade.  I knew Judson would especially love all of the farm implements, so we decided to go this year (for the first time in six years...I think I've been to it four times now).

We drove to Sunnyside (four hours away) with Cheryl on Saturday and came home the next day.  It was a quick trip, but we had so much fun with her and her parents, who are incredibly hospitable.  (In twenty-one hours there, we had FOUR huge meals.  No kidding.  It was awesome!  :)

(Cooper slept for about 45 minutes in the car on the way there and Judson never slept.  They did great, though!  The car ride home was not quite as pleasant, with Judson sleeping 45 minutes and Cooper never sleeping.  Ugh.)

Anyway, here are some pictures of us checking the floats out before the parade and then a few from the actual parade, which goes by a block from Cheryl's parents' house!  So handy.  In years past, it's been well below freezing.  This year it was around fifty degrees.  Crazy, but so nice!  There were over seventy floats and I won't bombard you with pictures, but had to include some so you can see just how "all-out" people go on these floats.

Anyone up for a trip to eastern Washington next year?  :)

Judson held his ears for most of our walk past the floats.  He was tired and irrational, but he still loved seeing them.  (It is sort of loud with so many generators running, but still.)  Also, there were LOTS of people dressed like Santa, which scared him.  He's not a fan of big people in costumes...

Linda, the kids, and me.  I did put on a jacket for the parade itself. 

It's hard to see, but EVERY SINGLE individual light was taped down.

There were more impressive floats, but for some reason, I really loved this one.  :)

Cheryl and her parents

Advent calendar

Last year I became inspired to make an Advent calendar after seeing some really cute ones on Pinterest.  I had a three month old and a barely-two year old, but I somehow managed.  It was a lot of work!  I bought a kit, but had to glue the boxes together, paint them multiple times, cut out paper, glue it on, paint numbers, put Mod Podge over the whole thing, and so on.  (I did it after they were in bed and sometimes just got the box finished the night before the day it was needed.  It didn't matter.  Judson was too young to really "get" it last year.)  It turned out so well, though, and I love it!  Last year was a good year for a trial run.  Judson's so excited about it this year, and he doesn't let me forget to do it.  :)

Early in the month, the boxes said things like, "Get out Little People nativity set" and "vinyl window clings."  Others contain pieces of paper that tell about an activity we get to do or a book we get to pull out (I have so many Christmas books that I just held some back when I got the rest out).  The rest have pieces of another nativity set in them.  We are really focusing on Christmas being Jesus' birthday party and why Jesus is the best Christmas present we will ever receive.  I love starting traditions like this! 

**I read a blog by an awesome Christian mom with SIX (!!) kids.  They do "Twenty-four Days of Kindness," which I may copy at some point when my kids are a little older.

Isn't it cute?!  :)

Christmas tree cutting

We came home from Thanksgiving on Saturday (well, technically Sunday at 2:30 a.m.) because we were scheduled to work in the "ones and twos" class at church.  (We spent Saturday evening with the Brownlees, Arnolds, and Colemans, and had so much fun that we couldn't pull ourselves away earlier.)  Anyway, Sunday afternoon was clear and not too cold and we decided to get our Christmas tree since we'd be out of town the next weekend.  I've never ever gotten a tree that early, but I'm glad we did!  We had a very fun "adventure" at the same farm as last year, just a few minutes away.

We didn't have to cut our own tree, but Judson wanted to.  So, while he and Nate went back down the hill to get a saw, I tried to take a few pictures of our bundled girl.  She wasn't thrilled...

He wasn't really mad.  This is his new face for pictures.  At what age do kids just decide to smile normally?!  :)

As soon as we declared this our tree, a lady appeared and offered to take our picture.  Notice Judson's expression again.

That's better!

Helping Daddy

What a view!  Vineyards and Christmas tree farms...

A little swinging after hot chocolate and cookies.  (And then he managed to fall out backwards on his head.)

He got to choose a little tree (for free).

Quick adoption update

Phil and Bridgett met Kristin on Thursday and have spent every waking hour with her ever since.  Things are going well and they really like the foster parents.  Good thing, since they've mostly just been at their house!  :)

We talked to Phil on Sunday and they'd tried to take Kristin back to their hotel to swim.  (The place they're staying literally backs up to the foster parents' house.)  It didn't go well.  That was especially hard on Bridgett, because she's sad they're taking Kristin from such a loving family.  Of course, they're thrilled she's had such a great eighteen months, but obviously it's going to be so hard on Kristin to leave.  And, again, I'm crying. 

Anyway, they are supposed to bring Kristin home tomorrow (Wednesday), so if you think of it, please pray for everyone involved.  It's going to be a hard few weeks, I think.  Thanks.

Thanksgiving

This post is seriously late.  I had planned to do it straight away and then there was that whole fiasco with not being able to upload pictures.  Anyway, here goes.

I didn't take many pictures at Thanksgiving.  In fact, I took exactly three on Thanksgiving Day.  Sad.  Regardless, we had a great weekend!  My cousin, Scott, and his wife, Wendy and their boys, Eric (9) and Ryan (4.5) joined us.  When I was growing up, we spent every Thanksgiving with the Boyds (Scott and his parents...and Wendy, too, eventually), but once Scott graduated from college and moved to Michigan, it stopped happening.  (We still celebrated with his parents until both of them passed away.)  Anyway, Wendy and Scott figured out that they hadn't been with us for a Thanksgiving since 1992, which is crazy.  Mostly because I already a teenager twenty years ago.  Just thirteen, but still.  Yikes.  :)

We just hung out at my parents' house from Thursday to Saturday and had a lot of fun.  Eric loved disc golf and had a group out there playing all three days, even in some pretty heavy rain.  I joined in on one of the dry days.  :)

Scott and his family brought this for my parents' house.  It was huge and remote controlled.  Judson was scared at first, but got over it quickly when Cooper and Macy weren't.  :)  Eventually, he flew it by himself.

Little kids LOVE my parents' room.  Probably because it's huge and the carpet is super cushy.  This particular night, Judson, Macy, and Cooper were being pulled around on a blanket by Nate.

This is how I played disc golf.  She got very heavy by the end.  :)