Christmas 2010 (in sepia)

Here are a few pictures from Christmas 2010.



I love Sam's expression in this photo


Sam on Christmas morning with her new Hex Bugs


Rocking the personalized duct tape scarf I received from Missi's sister Ella


The kids had to solve a puzzle that spelled out "Great Wolf Lodge," and represented a family trip we are taking there in February


Missi and the kids at the Farm on Christmas morning





One of the most fun parts of Christmas was the opportunity to do some target shooting with our good friend Jesse. Drew had been looking forward to this for a loooong time, so he was really excited when we surprised him with it on Christmas morning. Here is Drew shooting Jesse's .22 rifle.


Sam of course loved seeing Jesse and Nicole's daughter Taylor


Missi and Nicole


Here is Drew shooting Jesse's AR-15


Even Missi got into the act, and it was her very first time shooting a gun in her life.

Daddy Date!

It has become something of a tradition for Sam and I to go on a holiday season "Daddy Date" to the Garden D'Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. This is a really amazing display of Christmas lights in various landscapes and animal shapes. Before we go to see the lights, Sam gets to pick out a place where we go to get dinner (this year it was pizza) and then we get dessert afterwards. I always love it when Missi helps Sam gets dressed up in a pretty Christmas dress and does her hair. This is always one of the highlights of the holidays for me!


My pretty date!


At the Garden D' Lights!


There are some really amazing lights displays.



At dessert after Garden D'Lights.

The Great Rose Bowl & Disneyland Road Trip!

On Christmas morning we surprised the kids with a book that informed them that we would be taking them to Disneyland, Legoland, and the Rose Bowl! This was something that we had been thinking about ever since it became a possibility that our beloved Ducks might make it to the "Grandaddy of them All"

We packed up the 4Runner and left Portland on Sunday, December 27. Our first stop was in Roseburg where we were able to see our great friends the Newtons. They used to live in Seattle and have recently relocated to the 'burg (boo!) but we were really happy for a chance to see them for a few hours. The Newtons also have a really great dog named Jack.



We woke up at 3:00AM on Monday morning and drove all the way to Anaheim, where we checked into our hotel a few blocks from Disneyland. Here is Sam in her jammies in the car watching a movie.


On Tuesday we hit Disneyland and the kids loved it!










Wednesday we headed about an hour south to Legoland. While it was an experience we don't necessarily regret, we probably won't be going back to Legoland. It seemed to be focused on much younger kids, and after the thrill rides of Disneyland we were a bit "let down" with what Legoland had to offer.




This is a picture of Drew being forced to go on a ride that he wasn't all that excited about. As expected, he ended up loving it.


Look at that look of glee on Sam's face!


Drew with the Lego Indiana Jones


Legoland featured this huge and very impressive models of various cities around the globe made entirely out of Legos.

Thursday (New Year's Eve) we returned to Disneyland and fought huge crowds everywhere we went. The kids were troopers and we managed to make it to midnight, even though Sam was basically falling asleep in my arms.





















Friday we packed up and headed to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl! Even though the Ducks didn't get the result we had hoped for, we had a really good time. After the game we hit the road and pushed it hard all the way home to Seattle, driving through the night and finally getting home about 12:30PM on Saturday. We were exhausted but it was a great time!


Here is Missi setting up our little tailgater. It was great to see a bunch of friends from Eugene and Portland who had made it down to Pasadena for the game.














Here are the kids passed out in the back of the car.

Halloween at our house

Here are a few pictures from Halloween weekend at our house. It was a lot of fun!


This is our attempt at an original,timely, and creative couples costume - we're the swine flu! I'm the "swine" (dressed as a pig) and Missi is the "flu" (sort of a play on the words flu/flew with fairy wings). It took a bit of explaining to people to let them know what we were but it went over pretty well.


Here are Drew and Sam in their costumes - Indiana Jones and the Cowgirl Princess


One thing this picture doesn't show you is the whip that Indiana Jones is carrying in his satchel!



Hey Dawg fans, check out this sign: "Will trade UW degree for beer. It has to get me something right?"


The Burger King, Peewee Herman, and Pancho Villa (also known as Andy, Rob, and Matt)



Indiana Jones and the Cowgirl Princess. I love Drew's expression in this one.


Here is Drew and his good buddy Jakob out trick or treating. Jakob dressed up as a knight and made this entire costume by hand!

Of course, Halloween night was made even better by the Ducks HUGE win over the USC Trojans. We're now in solid command of first place in the Pac-10, but we have several tough games to go.