Christmas Eve in Sequim

We traveled to my grandparents' house in Sequim, WA for Christmas Eve this year. Because Sequim is on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, we take a ferry boat to get there. Here's Ryan and the girls braving the cold wind on the front of the ferry.

I like the inside of the ferry better. The girls love the adventure and magic of ferry rides. They had very wide eyes as we drove our car onto the ferry and as the ferry docked.

At Grandma and Grandpa Eby's house the girls played blocks with Natalie. Well, Hannah played nicely.

Emma, working on a too-short nap, chose to hoard blocks and prevent Natalie from touching them. Not a proud parenting moment for us. Luckily, Natalie's too young to realize that Emma's not sharing.

Here's my Mom (far left) with two of her sisters and her Dad (Grandpa Eby).

Before heading home, it's tradition to take familiy pictures in front of the tree.

The girls were so excited to get home and go to bed so Santa could come. Thankfully, they were exhausted and fell asleep quickly.

More time with the Duncans

We visited Bellevue Square to see the decorations and let the girls play on the boat. Natalie loved it so much she didn't want to stop climbing to pose for the picture. She was fearless, despite the gobs of older, bigger kids swarming around her.

Here's Natalie's face! Hannah loves her cousin.


"The three hermanas!" (to be sung to the tune of "The Three Amigos") Ann, Julie, and me at Mom's house.

And, the next generation of "Carlson" girls. Maybe someday there will be a boy....

Hannah and Emma have waited many months for Natalie to visit so they could teach her all about Barbies. There's so much to learn. First lesson: don't eat the Barbie shoes.

Ryan and I hamming it up for the camera. I like this picture because it reminds me of a picture we took 10 years ago when we were dating.

Emma loved eating breakfast sitting on the stool at my Mom's kitchen island. I think she discovered a whole new world up above the counters where she normally can't see. She sat up there and ate and played with the salt and pepper shakers (in the foreground) forever. She wanted to eat every subsequent meal "on the stool."

Hannah and I snuggled on the couch while watching BYU beat UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Duncans Descend!

My sister Julie, her husband Dave, and their little girl Natalie flew from Rochester, New York to visit for Christmas. We had such a fun time with them, here's a few pictures:

We went out to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Kane at the very cute and cozy Issaquah Cafe. Hannah had chocolate chip pancakes for lunch and thought it was the best meal EVER.

The next day, we went downtown and ate dinner at Westlake Center.

After dinner, we rode the Westlake Holiday Carousel. The girls LOVE doing this every year, and it was even more fun with more family.




Dave and Julie held Natalie on her pony so she could experience her first holiday carousel.

Westlake Center with the tree all lit up.

After the carousel, we walked to the Sheraton hotel to see the Gingerbread "house" display. These amazing confection creations are put together by local architecture firms. I'd wanted to see this for a few years, so it was fun to finally get there.

Circus peanuts are one of those things: you either love them or hate them. Dave LOVES them.

While we waited for Ryan and Dave to get the car, Natalie crawled around on the Sheraton's shiny lobby floor. Hannah and Emma decided to follow her around.

More Duncan adventures to come!

Emma's 3rd Birthday Party

Kudos to those of you who kept your blogs up to date during December. I barely checked my email, let alone updated the blog. So, here's what we did during December, starting with...

Emma's Birthday!

Per Emma's request, I made a Dora cake. It was an adventure. I'll leave it at that. Emma loved her cake which made it all worthwhile.

Here she's blowing out her candles. (Thanks to my Mom for taking some of these shots.)

Opening gifts from faraway family was very exciting. Especially when they put Star Wars stickers on their cards. The girls love Star Wars. Yes, this is Ryan's influence.

By the time her guests were leaving, Emma had collapsed in a tired heap on the floor. Birthdays are so tiring!

A few days later, on her actual birthday, we gave Emma our presents and, much to her delight...

she got a flute! Still don't know why she wanted one so much, but she loves it. (Thank you Dollartree!)

Blowing out birthday candles is too fun to do only once. We sang again and enjoyed ice cream.

Happy birthday Emma! Our "baby" no longer. (Oh, man - there's no crying in blogging!)

Chicken Dancing

Grandma Carlson captured this Chicken Dance on her camera. If you look carefully, you can see the yellow chicken on the floor. He's providing the music the girls are dancing to.

We've Been Elfed

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1172216341

Thanks Staci and Greg!

Let it Snow

We don't get a lot of snow in almost sea level Seattle, so when we get even a dusting we make big deal of it. Yesterday we got our dusting, so the girls had a snowball fight and built a snowman.



Emma's holding a snowball, probably one that Ryan threw at her that bounced off her heavily-padded body and she picked up to throw back at him. Hannah is holding an "iceberg." This is a boot print that compacted into ice. Hannah called them icebergs.

Snow is SOOO EXCITING!!!

Hard at work constructing a snowman.

Here's our Frosty. He lasted a few hours and then fell over. We told the girls he was sleeping. Our snow's gone now, but it sure was pretty and fun while it lasted!

A Self-Directed Learner

On Friday, Hannah was honored as a Student of the Month. Her teacher nominated her as a Self-Directed Learner.

Emma and I were able to come eat lunch with Hannah and watch her get her certificate from her principal, Mr. Terry. Emma was so excited she couldn't eat a bite of lunch. We all got to sit at a special table in the lunchroom with fun decorations. Hannah got her picture up on the screen in the lunchroom (sorry for the poor picture).

She got to wear a special badge with a purple ribbon attached.

Emma was sad to say bye to Hannah when lunch was over and it was time for recess. Emma tried to chase after Hannah to go play, but I redirected her in the direction of the parking lot. Once we were in the car driving home, Emma was able to calm down enough to eat her lunch.

Hannah was very proud of her award. The other night, when I was putting her to bed, I told her how proud I was of her. "You're such a smart girl, a good big sister, and so kind," I told her. She nodded her head and said, "And self-directed?"

While Mom & Dad Are Away...

Hannah and Emma stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Carlson while Ryan and I went to Utah. Here's some highlights from their visit:

Auntie Ann took them to see "Mr. Popper's Penguins" at the Children's Theater near Ann's school. The girls loved the play and are now enamored with all things penguin. They still walk around and "talk" like penguins. I didn't know penguins talked.

Grandma Carlson took the girls to visit Brother Call's farm. They were amazed at ALL the pumpkins and varieties of squash. Brother Call sent them home with a trunk load of squash.

The girls always love to color.

Grandma's backyard is inhabited by a number of well-fed squirrels. The girls threw peanuts out on the back porch, then watched at the window as the squirrels collected and burried their peanuts.