On Sunday, Amanda stopped by for a few hours on her way to Texas. The kids were very excited to see her, and, of course, opened more presents. On Monday, we took everyone to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville. It needs to be recorded somewhere that we were able to get Dad through an air museum in just ONE hour! Amazing! We opened presents that evening as Matt and Val had to fly out bright and early on Tuesday on their way to Wisconsin (thanks, Dad, for taking them to the airport at 4 a.m.).

We had a great time spending time with everyone...the kids thoroughly enjoyed sharing their room with their uncles and Val and then going downstairs for stories by Hop and books by Nana. Nope...it's not over yet...

Christmas, Birthdays, Family, Fun!

Wow! What a weekend! Mom, Dad, Jon, Matt and Val all arrived on Thursday evening. Everyone spent Friday recovering from their trips to Portland; I spent it getting ready for the birthday party on Saturday. We had 24 people at our place for Ryan's 7th and Emmalee's 3rd birthday party. It was crowded, but it was nice to have everyone there. The kids were completely spoiled and it didn't end there...

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mom, Dad, Jon, Adam, Jamee and Baby Clara came. We enjoyed the company so much! Ryan and Emmalee had fun playing with everyone. The kids sure love Baby Clara, or Baby Quela as Emma calls her. She's grown so much since we last saw her. We're looking forward to Christmas and the kids' birthday party when just about the whole family (both sides of the family) will be here.

Here's what we've been doing...

Whoops! A month has gone by without adding any photos. November went very quickly. Ryan continues to love school. He was tested for TAG last week, so we'll see how that goes. Emma's just plugging along, being a two-year-old-almost-three year-old. She's potty-trained...Yahoo!!! It's nice to have that done with. Our house is empty of baby stuff - no more diapers, bottles, baby toys, cribs, etc. It's hard to believe that Emma will be 3 and Ryan 7 in a few weeks!

Bob is finally slowing down a little at work. He should be able to enjoy a month of weekends at home before tax season starts again.

I've been busy scrapbooking. I finished Max and Amanda's wedding album and just started Rick and Ann's. I've also been volunteering at the school alot, which has been great! It's nice to be able to see what Ryan's been working on and watch the teacher in action. I have to admire anyone that can keep 20 six and seven-year-olds in control so easily!

First tooth!

Ryan finally lost his first tooth. We noticed that the permanent tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth, so he started working on it. On Wednesday, he asked his dad to pull it. If you know Ryan, you know it's amazing that he asked tohave it pulled. He does not do well with anticipated pain! Anyway, he didn't even feel it come out and got a visit from the tooth fairy. As you can see, he was very excited!

It's hard to believe that Ryan is almost seven and Emma is almost three! Where does the time go?! On the plus side, it sure is nice to be out of bottles, diapers, baby food, etc.

Mom and Dad came to visit the last weekend in October. They got to go to Ryan's last soccer game. After meeting, Mom and Dad wanted to take their annual picture out in our backyard, so we went ahead and took some with the kids, also.

Ryan started soccer in September; he enjoyed it so much. He played with determination - you could see it on his face when he ran after the ball. He made 1-2 goals per game, so that made him happy. He got a trophy at the end of October. If you come to the house, be sure to ask for the "touching the trophy" rules! He's very proud of it!

Emma had two costumes this year - a ladybug and a Disney Princess. For the pumpkin party, we chose the ladybug costume. She had a great time flittering around.

Ryan loves the Transformers. Bob save most of his toys from when he was a kid (back in the '80's). He gave them to Ryan when he was about three. He's loved them ever since. With the new movie out, it's easier to find Transformer stuff. He was very excited to be Optimus for Halloween this year.