Bye Bye 2010

Apparently I have run out of picture space for the year, so I have not been able to post any new pics for the last couple weeks...hence all the pictures on Facebook. I am hoping that after tomorrow I will be able to post more pictures, or I have to buy more space. Has anyone else had this problem?

Today is Nick's 32nd Birthday and we celebrate it by saying good-bye to 2010!! It has been a great year and I have so many things to be grateful for. I just can't believe that another year is gone. My mom always told me that time goes faster as you get older, and she has never been so right. On this day I am reminded to slow down a little and just enjoy everything that I have been blessed with, wonderful family and friends. That may be my New Year's resolution....slow down a little and enjoy all my blessings!

I hope this New Year's Eve finds you well and with loved ones and I hope you have an even better 2011!! Happy New Year to you all!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We are only two weeks away from the big day, and we are in full Christmas swing around here. We are big believers in tradition, and this year has been no different, although we have made a few small changes. We usually start the month off with a trip to the Zoo to see all the lights. The weather, however, has been less than conducive for outside viewing, so we wait for a decent night....hopefully before Christmas (oh please, oh please)! Another annual tradition is cutting down our Christmas tree....well we switched it up this year a little. I collect Christmas ornaments and the real trees can never hold my most favorite ones, so I decided to get a fake one. I know, I know it's not the same, but all my ornaments looks fabulous and we have tree scented Scensty burning so we don't miss out on that wonderful fresh cut tree smell. We also decided to let the boys have a tree in their own rooms, one that they could decorate themselves. This turned out wonderful, and they had so much decorating their very own trees. Every night Grant kisses his tree night, night, and falls asleep staring at it.

Grant decorating his tree!

Finished product...so very proud!!

Jaxson sorting through all his ornaments.

His "Oregon" ornaments...could not forget about those!

All done! Not sure what that face is...kinda scary!

The family tree, one of my favs by far!!

We did get a slight dusting of snow...hardly any at all. It was enough for school to be cancelled though and the boys could not wait to go outside and play!

Jaxson and his friend Nate were trying to make piles of snow without using their hands...nice try guys!

Grant had to get in on it too! This was a very funny sight, I can't imagine what our neighbors were thinking:-)

Things they are a changin'

The past couple weeks have brought several new changes to our little family and it has been quite the adjustment getting used to our new schedule! Hold on though, I need to back up a little first to get you all properly updated.

I am so sorry to report that there are no pictures from Thanksgiving :-(( I went to get my camera out and low and behold, it had been left "on" and the battery was dead. I was pretty upset to say the least, but we still managed to have a wonderful dinner and it was so much fun to watch all the kids/cousins play together. My parents have a large garage that they turn it into a giant playroom for special occasions. They go out every year and buy new toys for the kids to play with, it almost verges on the edge of ridiculous. Each child gets their own new pile of toys to play with, and at the end of the evening they get to take three or four home, while leaving the rest to play with for future play dates with Bobo and Pa! Oh forgot to mention there is also a TV with movies and a Wii for the kids to play with. It's all great fun and the entire family ends up in the garage playing with all the cool new toys...oh by the way it's heated too so it makes for a nice place to hang out!!

At the end of November, I was asked to come back to work. I knew that it would be a tough adjustment for everyone, but in the long run we knew it would benefit our family so much more. My biggest concern was Grant, because now he would be going to school everyday, compared to one day a week. He has had such a hard time with just one day I thought this was going to be a nightmare. Turns out I was completely wrong....he had no problems what so ever, and actually loves to go now. Every morning he picks out his own clothes, gets dressed, and comes downstairs to announce that he is ready to leave. It is so cute, and I always look forward to his outfit choices.:-) This has made my transition back to work so smooth, and I don't feel guilty taking him everyday just because he is so excited to go. Working for my family allows for flexible hours...9 to 3, so it works out perfect for getting Jaxson after school too. All and all we all have adjusted nicely, well everyone expect Barkley. I was shocked to discover that he would have the hardest time. Last week he was an absolute wreck when we got home everyday, slowly though he has come around and seems to be better this week. I know that as time goes by it will just get easier and easier for everyone, Barkley included!

Snow Getaway....well kinda!

Nick has been traveling to Salt Lake a ton in the last couple of months, so the boys and I decided to tag along on this last trip and fit in a little family time. We stayed up in Park City, kinda like Government Camp area at Mt. Hood, and were looking forward to tons of snow. There was one little problem though, no snow!! We quickly learned that a huge snow storm was going to hit the area on Saturday, so we spent the whole time waiting for it. We did get in some fun family time though, and enjoyed the Children's Museum, hot tubing, eating, watching movies, and bowling. When it did finally start snowing Saturday night we were soooo ready, and enjoyed watching the snow fall for hours. When we woke up Sunday morning about a foot and half of snow had fallen. We really wanted to spend another day enjoying all the snow activities, but it was just impossible with our schedules. Nick has to go back in January so we may have to tag along again so that we can really enjoy tons of snow!

The townhouse community we stayed at...as you can see no snow!

We had an amazing view of the mountains!

The boys at the Children's Museum in downtown Salt Lake.

Enjoying some hot tub time! The boys loved having our own hot tub and would hop in any given chance!

Where we stayed was about a five minute car ride to "old town" Park City. We enjoyed walking around there, although it was very cold, and Grant refused to wear his coat, big surprise!

Very cool buildings, all getting ready from Christmas!

This snow lift is right in the middle of town, anyone can just walk up and hop on!

Grant found a Christmas store and could not be dragged away! He spent 15 min, just looking at all the stuff in the window, it was really cute! We ended up having to carry him away crying...not too cute!

There was an amazing sunset that night...just breathtaking!!

There was a bowling alley right across the street from our town house, so we decided to give it a chance. This was the first time we had taken Grant and it turned out to be so much fun! He totally understood what to do and had a blast!

Grant rolled his own ball...but it was very slow and we had awhile to cheer before it actually knocked over any pins.

Ahhh it finally started to snow and Jaxson did a snow dance for more snow...it worked!

After the snow dance...cold feet!!

This is what we woke up to....crazy!!

Playing in the snow!!

We did manage a cute family pic, but I am saving it for our Christmas cards, so you may be seeing that one later on next month :-))

San Francisco Treat!!

This last weekend, Nick and I went with some friends down to San Francisco to see our #1 Ducks play the California Bears! We thought it would be a major blow out, but boy were we wrong. It was quite the stressful game, and we actually thought we might see them lose for the first time this year. Thank goodness they held out and won, or else I am pretty sure the rest of out trip would have been ruined (because Nick and Matt would have pouted the rest of the trip). The game was only one small part of the trip though, we spent the rest of the time sight seeing and having fun.

We decided to stay SF instead of Oakland because there is so much more to do there, and plus it is just such a beautiful city. We really got a chance to explore the city, and by this I mean we walked about a hundred miles. Seriously, my husband loves to walk everywhere, and normally that is fine, but SF is very hilly and by the end of the weekend I was so exhausted from walking I almost rented one of those silly segways just to keep up with him. On the last day our friends actually stopped in the middle of the sidewalk in protest and made him take a cab...it was pretty funny! I must admit I wish we could have stayed longer, there was so much we did not get to see, and Berkley is such a cute area I would have really liked to of spent a day there too. Well, we crammed as much in as possible and had a wonderful time, not to mention the weather was gorgeous!!!

As soon as we got to our hotel we were starving, and all of us wanted to get some delicious seafood considering we were down in the Wharf area. Nick was very excited to get some Cioppino.

Matt and Jocelyn very excited for an amazing weekend!

The Buena Vista...the best place in the city for an Irish Coffee...YUMMY!

I show you this picture because it is right across the street from The Buena Vista and our hotel. You see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background...looks close (NOT)!! This was the start of our walking tour...Nick decided we should walk to the bridge instead of taking a cab...ummm since when did Nick ever care about saving $20.

Getting a little closer!

We walked along the marina and there were some amazing homes! We really wanted to take a tour of one, and even found a house that was under renovation, but we could not convince the construction workers to let us snoop around!

We had a great view of Alcatraz! I was really bummed that we could not go out there and take a tour. Apparently you have to make a reservation way in advance, so we missed out...next time though!

Oh I forgot to mention...still walking! On our way we discovered this little gem... The Palace of Fine Arts. First a little back story on the Palace....apparently there was a huge earthquake in 1908 (I think), and it did quite a bit damage. I guess all the fires that started did more damage though, and a lot of buildings burnt to the ground. In order to clean everything up they pretty much took all the derby and filled in the harbour. That is why when you look at a map it is perfectly shaped...not from nature apparently, who knew. Anyway during The World Fair they built this structure out of paper mache...crazy! It was such a hit that they decided to construct it for real. The problem is that it is essentially built on landfill from the earthquake and it was never meant to support such a structure, so it's bit controversial. Well that's what we were told anyway. 

A beautiful pond that surrounds it.

Truly amazing!!

Walking again....

Made it! This is Crissy Park.

Me being super silly....holding the bridge up!

Nick always showing his Duck pride!

Later that night we went to dinner at our friend Mike Bruno's restaurant, Albona. If you are ever in SF you have to go, they have amazing food!!

Cheers!

Day #2

I really wanted to ride the trolley, and considering it was right by our hotel I thought it would be a shame to miss out on it. Too bad our trolley driver was a Cal fan, made for an interesting trip for sure!

TransAmercia Building. We learned that it was build on rollers, so that if they have an earthquake it will move with the earth...pretty interesting!

Union Square...these hearts are similar to the cows in Portland. 

After Union Square we walked through the Stockton Tunnel to meet our friend Mike in Chinatown for what was to be the best Dim Sum ever!!

Mike and Nick finishing up our yummy Dim Sum.

Very cool buildings in Chinatown.

After lunch it was time to get on the BART and head to the game! There were tons of Ducks fans doing the same as us, and we ran into some pretty rowdy fans at the BART station! It was fun to see so many fans there though, and cheering with them all the way to the game....about 20 min!

Trying to get a pic of the Oregon fan in the car behind us who passed out two minutes after getting on the BART....maybe too much fun?

The Berkley campus is absolutely beautiful! I wish we had more time to explore, but little did we realize it is about a two mile walk, straight uphill, to the stadium.

Memorial Stadium. I do have to say that although it is a cool building, it is the worst football stadium I have ever been too! It's totally outdated, and a complete fire hazard! If there had been a fire or earthquake, I have no doubt everyone would have died. Well we found out that this is the last year they will play games here, because it is being completely renovated...thank goodness!!!

About 1/3 of the stadium was Duck fans!

  

Some very serious faces in the 4th quarter...let's just say I am very happy they won!!

We ended the night with an awesome Japanese dinner in Berkley that just capped off an amazing day! It was such a quick trip, but I feel like we fit so much in. I really want to take Jaxson back there some day soon, I think that he would have so much fun and there are so many places that we would love to see!

My next game will probably not be til January when I get to go to Glendale to watch the Ducks play in the BCS Championship game (here's hoping)!! Nick has already reserved a room and bought airfare just in case!! Come on Ducks...sun in January, I am all over that for sure!!!