Christmas

I realized that I haven't blogged about anything in the past two months really--We have been super busy and just haven't had the time. Basically we have gone back to visit family for two weeks over Thanksgiving, came back and got ready for Christmas, spent Christmas in WA, Mike's work is picking up and his crazy 747 flight test schedule starts Monday, and in the meantime, we are busy soaking up every minute of family time. Gabe is still super excited about his cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes... nothing new there. He got several Thomas the train engines and tracks for Christmas as well as some new cars and books. We also drove around to see Christmas lights in Seattle, visited Snowflake lane in Bellevue, and started a membership at the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett (Gabe loves it!).

Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks:

Halloween Weekend

Packing Mom's suitcase is serious business

After his bath

Trick or Treat

It's hard to get these two to hold still for a picture

Preview of Annie's costume for next year--banana split :)

Last weekend, Gabe and Mike got to have some "guy time" while I went on a women's retreat at Suncadia Resort. Gabe helped me pack my bag full of cars, planes, and trucks. When I got back on Sunday we took Gabe to Trick or Treat on Main Street in Mill Creek. He had a lot of fun carrying his pumpkin and shaking the candy inside. He has decided that he can live off of kit kats alone. We got a few compliments on how cute he was, but we got a ton of compliments about and people stopping to take pictures of Annie (dressed as a hot dog). I've already gone shopping for their costumes for next year--I love 75% clearance :)

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to The Farm in Snohomish with the Larama's. It was such a nice day and the kids (and us) had a great time. There were TONS of other people there, but we still had a good time navigating the corn maze and taking some pictures of the kids running through the pumpkin patch. Gabe enjoyed seeing the animals on the farm, but his favorite thing was running through the corn maze!

Projects Around the House

Organized pantry--well, at least more organized than it was!

Finished deck

Before paint

Mike power washing

Before

In the past few weeks, Mike's schedule at work has slowed down and isn't so crazy, so we have been very busy filling any free time with projects at home. We started with organizing the pantry (since my dad built a new cabinet for storage). Then Mike power washed the deck and driveway. We painted the deck shortly after (during Gabe's nap--bad idea, he only slept for 30 minutes). Mike is now in the process of installing an antenna since we are sick of Comcast raising our basic cable rate on a regular basis. Hopefully it will be finished this weekend and we can get a little break from projects. I wanted to post some pictures to show off all Mike's hard work. (Gabe helped a little too, he splashed in puddles and threw rocks)

Grandma & Grandpa's Visit

Mukilteo Ferry

Gabe really likes water!

Pointing to the boats at Ballard locks

Everett Arboretum

A few weeks ago, my parents came to visit for the week and we had a great time hanging out, seeing Seattle, enjoying the nice weather, and shopping. Gabe thoroughly enjoyed his grandparents and all the extra attention. He really liked following Grandpa around. Mike and my dad made a small cabinet with drawers for the pantry so I can store the massive amounts of food and household goods that I have from "couponing". Now the pantry is all neat and organized!

We thought we wouldn't see any family again until next year, but last week Mike found out that he will be able to take 2 weeks off around Thanksgiving and we will all fly back to Indiana for a visit. Gabe will be so excited to see all the family again!

What we've been up to lately...

Sorry for the lack of posts, but we have been busy and Mike has been working a lot. Gabe is doing well, growing and playing more and more everyday. His favorite toys include cars, trucks, trains, planes, and anything with wheels. He also loves animals. He gets pretty excited every time we see a dog or cat out on our walks. Annie must not be that exciting though, because he just tries to poke her eyes and throw toys at her. We're still working on "being gentle."

Mike has been in California flight testing for the 787 and came back last weekend. He is back to his crazy schedule at work--working long days and 6 or 7 days a week. We can't wait until it all ends... which won't be for several months, unfortunately.

I am spending my time taking Gabe for play dates or outings and use lots and lots of coupons to get great deals on groceries. I'm sort of addicted to it since I have so much time with Mike not around and I love saving money. Gabe loves going on couponing adventures, it means getting out of the house, snacks for him, seeing new people and things, and having a pantry full of snacks and containers to play with.

We went to the zoo with friends, played in the backyard most days and watched the hummingbirds. Gabe recently discovered that the ottoman is actually a toy box and loves to get inside. He also really likes it when Mike or Annie chases him around the house.

I can't publish too many pictures of Mike in CA because they are actually Boeing property, but the one of 787 is taken from outside the fence, so it's legal :)

What my living room looks like...

Sorry for the lack of posts, but Mike has been very, very busy with work and has worked at least 10 hours a day for the past 20 days, but he had yesterday and today off! Yesterday we went to the MOAG (Mother of All Garage Sales) with our friends, the Mullans. We found lots of good deals and Gabe is thrilled with his new Matchbox cars and wooden train. Today we spent the morning at church and came back for a lazy afternoon at home since it has been raining. Mike and Gabe decided to build a fort in the living room and play with cars and trains inside it. I took a few pictures to document the fun and distressed looks on Annie's face (since the couch is her sacred domain where she sleeps 16 hours a day).