Christening the car

We christened our new car (or should I say...minivan...no...I'll say car for a while longer...until I get used to driving a van..), with a trip to Tahoe.  We loved having enough room for all the people and all the gear, and the all wheel drive was awesome in the snow.  It's gonna be great on our long drives up to Oregon, especially in the winter.  No more Prius trudging through northwest winters with chains.  The Prius is a trooper, and we still have her around, but now the Sienna will be our choice for long trips and hauling the family around town.  

Emeline sure likes the new car...

Kate doesn't seem to mind.

Wes likes how she drives.

And it fits the whole family..and grandpa too!

  

Our car was christened by many things...passengers, gear, food, drink, toys, changing clothes & diapers, and even used as a portable potty stop.  But by far the most beautiful thing that christened our car was the snow.  

 

Goodbye...Hello...

Our little family has been bursting out of our cars for a while now.  So it was time to take the dive!

Goodbye....

Hello!!

 

Christmas Eve

This year we decided to start a new tradition of hosting a Christmas Eve afternoon buffet, for our family to visit and to get some food in us before our 5:00pm Christmas Eve service at church.  After church we came back home for dessert ( a birthday cake for Jesus!) and presents.  It was a nice time visiting with family.  Here are some pictures!

Kate got to meet Uncle Daniel for the first time!

 

Decorating and setting out the spread...check out the new (to us) dining set from my grandparents! Our house is starting to feel more like a home.

 

 

 

 

The girls had a blast with family.  Here's both of them with Aunt Diane.

Wes' friend, King, joined us too!

Emeline fell in love with eggnog.  She kept asking for more "nogen".  Here's a great nog stash.

Good family and conversation.

 

We had a lovely time at the Christmas Eve service.  Emeline got to hold a candle for the first time, and Kate took her first real nap of the day on me in the back of the service.  At least she got in some good sleep to tide her over.

Dancing!

Then back home for birthday cake for Jesus!  This was a fun thing that Emeline could really understand about Christmas this year.  

 

 

 

Some photos before presents.  It's so hard to get Emeline to sit for pictures these days.

 

 

The girls got a lot more presents than we expected this year.  We just gave them a few, but they had very generous relatives!  Kate even got into having fun with wrapping paper for her first Christmas.  Here she is with cousin Mary opening some.

Emeline was totally into opening present after present.  She had a great time.

And the guitar from her cousins was by far the gift of the day!

We got the girls matching owl hats.  Emeline had fun posing for the picture.

Kate wasn't so into it, but she's still cute!

 

 It was a fun day of celebrating, with more visiting family on Christmas Day as well.  Christmas with two kids is sure busy, but we enjoyed celebrating Jesus' birthday and all the gifts He's given us.

Merry Christmas

Dear friends & family, We hope this finds you happy and healthy and surrounded by those you love.  This year we reflect on a year filled with much sorrow, but also much joy for our family.  After a very difficult few months, we lost Elaine’s mom, Susan, to melanoma on March 17, 2012.  This loss has shadowed our year greatly, and brings a bittersweetness to the many joys that have followed.  But there have been great joys nonetheless. Our first daughter, Emeline turned two on March 29.  She is filled with non stop energy and life and never stops showing us how to have fun.  She started preschool in May, and is thriving there with her outgoing personality.  She loves to paint, dance, and sing songs.  Our second daughter Kate Susana came into the world on June 29.  Kate is as sweet as can be and has turned into a very smiley little girl.  Our girls bring us great joy. More joy came in celebrating the weddings of some very special people, most recently Wes’ younger sister Jenn to a very much loved Derek.  It was a beautiful wedding and a very fun party! Day to day life is filled with work and keeping up with the girls, along with trying to squeeze in a house project anywhere we can on the fixer-upper we bought last year.  Life has kept us very busy these days, and even though we don’t get to see many of you as much as we would like to, we appreciate the opportunity this season provides to reconnect, remember, and share both the joys and sorrows of the year with those we care about (that’s you!) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, Elaine, Wes, Emeline & Kate

Family Photos

 

Sitting practice

 

  

 

 

Friends on a walk