Thanksgiving

Dr. Martin Luther King: We honor you. And since this is a holiday, we hope that it can serve as a segway for some serious blogging catchup. Ahem. Thanksgiving.

We went up to North Bend, WA for Thanksgiving this (last) year. We arrived just after a snow storm had passed through.

Norah was thrilled to see the snow and her people. Yet it was clear she wasn't sure how to deal with the cold.

If it looks like she's not sure what to do, then you've got an accurate read. She stayed motionless until she decided she didn't want to be outside any more. The reticence for playing in the snow was confirmed again at Christmas time.

Norah and Bop!

Three snowmen for three tikes. Iconic. (Note that Norah is still in her frozen pose.)

Meanwhile, James stayed indoors and got to know his peeps.

Cousins!

And my cousins! Holding James!

As is customary for Thanksgiving, we had a meal. It was really lovely, prepared by many hands.

Here is a picture of my Dad with his hands.

We had lovely leftovers.

And lovely treats.

And there was much obligatory resting.

Seriously, parents of small children need rest. This is conclusion number 1 of parenthood.

Don't let pictures like these fool you into thinking kids just hang out and lounge around. Not so. Ohhh so not so.

Anyway, with the cold snow and eventual rain, a little cabin fever set in. Thus, measures were taken.

We found this little gem of a warehouse on a rainy day. Awesomeness defined.

And speaking of awesomeness, with the Hatches and Browns in town, you know it's going to be fun. Good times had by most, if not all.

Sisters. Sisters... There were never such devoted sisters...

And the men folk were able to play strategic games and study Chinese.

We had time to talk, which was nice.

Alright, it's time to wrap it up. It was good for James to meet the Bowen contingent, and for us to have some quality family time. On this Martin Luther King Day, we are truly grateful for our family. Look for a Christmas post soon... probably around Valentine's Day.

Guess Who's 2 Months Old?

James is 2 months old (2 months and 10 days actually). Hard to believe. He is still the sweetest baby. He's an excellent napper (still working on sleeping longer at nights though :), and when awake he enjoys checking out the world around him. And he LOVES face time with others. He'll 'talk' to and give a big smile to anyone who plops in front of him.

Current stats:

weight: 12 lbs. 15 oz.
height: 23 1/2 inches

75th percentile in both. Moving up in the ranks :).

Halloween 2010 (get ready for lots of photos)

Last year we made a last minute trip to Utah for Halloween weekend. We had so much fun that this year we decided to do it again.

We arrived Friday morning in time to rest up and get ready for the second annual Udall Halloween party. We all got dressed up, and it was the first time my WHOLE family had all been together in a while, and the first time James met his extended family. We're glad we could introduce him to them for the first time dressed like a banana:


Norah decided a few months ago that she wanted to be a butterfly, so we have had her costume ready to go for awhile. However, despite her enthusiasm, she would never try on the wings. The week prior to Halloween we talked a lot about Halloween and trick-or-treating, and two days before we left for Utah she finally decided to try them on. Once she saw herself in the mirror with them on, she was hooked.




Nathan and I dressed up as Zombie Parents. We figured it wasn't a far stretch from reality these days, we just had to fill those dark circles under our eyes in a little bit.


The party was a lot of fun... hanging out with cousins, playing Halloween games, and eating lots of yummy treats.


Saturday (day of) was a gorgeous fall day to start. We went over to my sister's house to carve pumpkins and play in the leaves. Pretty quintessential fall afternoon. We all loved it, Norah especially.







Unfortunately as trick-or-treating time approached, it started to rain, so we had to bundle up and wait out the rain a bit, but that didn't stop these two:



Norah loved every minute of trick-or-treating, especially getting to run from house to house with her cousin and little bestie, Lily. I'm so glad it lived up to all her expectations.

Halloween weekend also marked the first meeting of these two guys. You might remember them in utero from this post. It was so fun to finally see them both together.


And don't think they missed out on the Halloween fun.

It was a great weekend all around, just as we knew it would be.

The Pumpkin Patch