Greg and Holli cooked an awesome dinner. We ended up leaving right after dinner as we were a bit concerned that the melted snow would freeze to the roadways.

Today is Ryan's actual birthday. It's hard to believe that, seven years ago, Bob and I were in the hospital trying to figure out what we were supposed to do with this tiny little guy! Well, "Little Guy" is no longer little and "Little Chick" is almost three! Times flies...it's a nice reminder for us to take time to enjoy the little things each day. That's all for now...see you in 2008!

After all of the Pearcy's left on Christmas morning, we headed over to Greg and Holli's through the snow (they had forecasted a 1% chance of snow!). Ryan and Jordan spent most of their time on the Playstation, while Emmalee turned Holli's decorative reindeer into stuffed animal holders. Rick - sorry your photo is sideways!

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!