SNOW!!!

we have over a foot of snow in Longview!!!

Allie and I took lots of walks at the park to enjoy the snowy weather...

there was lots of kids sledding on the hills and even a few cross country skiers...I hope they don't end up in the partially frozen lake!

It started snowing in Longview last Wednesday and hasn't stopped since! It took us, 3.5 hours to drive home from Oregon City on Sunday (it is normally a 1 hour drive). We drove 25-35 mph in the truck with chains the whole way home! It was a total white out...I'm glad we had an experienced driver. Sarah ended up getting stuck with us in Longview because all the trains were cancelled. So, yesterday I put her to work (or maybe she put me to work)! We switched out the guest bed from the spare room into the office to prepare for the baby's room...I know, super exciting! With that came lots of organizing of the stuff that was hidden in closets. We got lot's accomplished in our one day work party....THANKS SARAH!!!!

Today, we are on our way south (with Sarah in tow) to spend a few days with the Tenbusch's. Then we are off to the ranch for a few days. I think Dad is driving up to pick up Sarah, in Eugene tomorrow...I think she is getting tried of us! :) We are looking forward to spending time with friends and family as we make our trek down south.

Hope you all have a snowy Christmas!!!

Christmas at Mom's

We braved the winter weather and made the trek down to Oregon City for the weekend to celebrate Christmas with Mom. Sarah arrived in Longview late Wednesday night by train...thank goodness because all the trains were canceled the next day. It was an absolute blizzard in the Portland area. We had plans to head to the mountain for the day and play in the snow, but we didn't have to go far, since Oregon City got 8+ inches on fresh snow on Saturday. It was a great weekend of enjoying family and staying cozy by the fire.

Payton even braved the winter storm!

Gwynn got lots of sledding in....she loved the snow!


its a dog sled...that's me on the sled being pulled by the dogs!

not horse power, pooch power!

lucy and and brian lookin' good!

Miss Tinkerbell

cutie Payton loves to be naked!

opening aunt sasas' present...

uncle brian and penny...

lucy & colton with the dogs!

Mr. & Mrs. MacDonald

just a few cute pics...

yesterday i caught allie taking a nap in the only sunny spot in the house...

i absolutely loved all the cute prego cards i got from friends and family, so i thought this was the prefect way to display them....

i think the couch is eating allie!!!

the cutest face ever!!!

just a few i thought you might enjoy on this wintery day...i'm sure once the baby comes allie won't get so many glamour shots on the blog! the allie pics were actually for grandma tony, i know she has been missing those brown eyes! :)

its party season!!!

It that time of year again when there is lots of Christmas parties. I had my work party yesterday in downtown Portland and then we hosted an open house for our clients at our office that was very enjoyable. I got to catch up with a few of my previous co-workers from OHSU that I use to travel with, which was nice. Tonight we are off to Olympia for the weekend for Brian's Christmas party. We are staying downtown by the capital, so we will be within walking distance to lots of great restaurants and the farmers market. Should be a good time, hopefully we don't get stuck in Olympia with the big storm moving in. I'm actually excited for the snow, it will make for a more festive weekend. Then next week we have a holiday party with our neighbor friends.

Hope you all have a fun winter weekend!

(just a cute pic our nieghbors took when we were christmas tree hunting)

the bump!!!

super cheesy pics, but here you go!

4 months (16 weeks)

maybe I can try and get some better shots next time! :)

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and it was pretty uneventful...which I guess is a good thing. The heart beat was loud and clear at 155 beats per minute. I had lots of questions for the doctor and that just about sums up the appointment. I'm really enjoying my Doctor, she has an 11 month old, so I feel that she is very fresh with the pregnancy/mom thing. We are both getting really excited for our ultrasound on Jan. 5th. I can't wait to find out the baby's sex...I guess then we should start thinking about names!

stay tuned for more bump updates!

log on here for more 16 week news:

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-16-weeks_1105.bc?scid=mbtw_preg16:216&pe=2UwnKgU

its beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!

We had a very festive weekend getting ready for the holidays. After getting the tree up and decorated, we headed for Portland on Sunday to do some Christmas shopping. I'm proud to say that we are official done with our holiday shopping!!! We tried out a new fondue restaurant/bar in downtown Portland on Sunday night that was awesome. The food and atmosphere were prefect for a rainy cold winter day. Although dinner was good, I think my favorite part was dessert...we had chocolate fondue with lots of yummy things to dip. Brian is loving me being pregnant because I crave dessert more often and he has a huge sweet tooth!!!

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!

hunting....for a christmas tree

We had a great time on Saturday hunting for Christmas trees with our neighbors. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and the view of Mt. St. Helen's was awesome. We packed chili and snacks and just made a day of the great weather in the woods.

our neighbors Kelly, Jenn, Baby Ava, and Buster (their dog)

Kelly found the perfect tree...now they just have to figure out how to cut it!I think we might have found one....

Yep, it was a winner!

The boy standing next to the tree sure is cute!!!

little Ava...she just turned one over Thanksgiving weekend, she is such smiley little girl!

View of Mt. St. Helens and Cold Water Lake


We woke up to lots of rain on Sunday, we were glad we got a tree on Saturday and were able enjoy the nice weather too. Once we got home we had just a few hours of daylight left, so we raked the last of the leaves and put up the outside lights before the rain came. Thanks Kelly, Jenn, and Ava for joining us on the Christmas tree hunt, we had lots of fun!

turkey day weekend at the ranch...

sarah soaking up the lovely sun then she doesn't see much in Seattle...

we had a great time relaxing at the ranch over the holiday weekend. Thanksgiving dinner was hosted by Gale's son Steve and daughter-in-law Kristy...the food was excellent. We filled the rest of our weekend up doing some work on the ranch, going up in the woods to get Christmas trees and have a chili feed, we made time to watch the brutal Beavers game, and then just did lots of visiting with family. It was great to see everyone and catch up! I'm already looking forward to the holidays to come!

the ranch is so pretty this time of year, especially when the sun it out...

building fence...this project is never done! :)


putting fence posts in...

dad with his lovely daughters...

what a great pic of these two, dad is even smiling!

gwynn and uncle brian feeding the bulls...

gwynn's other favorite thing to do on the ranch...ride in the tractor. she always wants to go to papa eddie's and feed the bulls apples and ride in the tractor...too cute!

payton and grandpa...

reading stories with miss gwynn...

a lap full of grandkids! our baby will be #14...WOW!

gwynn like lots of honey in her yogurt...

i came down with a cold on the drive home yesterday...i swear being sick and pregnant is like a double whammy! i will try and get some belly shots posted soon...i know there is a few of you out there who have been hounding me to get some pics up. give me a few days to recover and i will try and make it happen! :)