Still Snowin

Every day it snows a little more, and then melts a little more. Good thing Bryant is handy with a snow shovel and a spatula!



First snowman. Just the right size.

It was pure tears when we had to come inside and warm up. He could have gone on forever.

The Helpful Little Shoveler

Broken Ground

Well, we finally broke ground on our new house. Last week I did the excavating for the foundation, and this week we finished up clearing the trees that were in the way of the driveway.

Today the weather has warmed a bit. It's the first day this week that it has been above zero when we got up. Today it was 1 degree above zero. Not as miserable as it sounds though. The sun has been out, and as long as you stay moving, it was quite comfortable to work in.

I promise not to take pictures of every nail and 2x6 that goes into the new house, but will update occasionally as things progress. So far, the local herd of deer doesn't seem to bothered by the construction. They often hang out on our property, especially in the fall, because there is an apple tree in the back.

By the way, the deer like cheese crackers too.

New Beginings...

What a difference a year makes! It has been about one month since our last posting and for those of you still hanging in there and occassionaly reading our humble little blog, I sincerely apologize. Although I have a lot to share about the holidays, I must first share a bit of exciting news...Jeremy and I found out today that we are going to be having a baby!!!!!! We were a little surprised to find out that we are almost 11 weeks along in the pregnancy, and to be honest, I didn't even know I was pregnant. I think it must be keeping up with a 14 month old and life in general. I have been able to contine to run and really didn't have a clue! Because of past complications and some confusion over my situation, my doctor had me go in for an ultrasound to confirm what we were dealing with and sure enough there is one little sweet punkin growing very healthy! We couldn't be happier and although we are still adjusting to the idea of another little one, Jeremy and I both agree that God's timing is perfect and we have to trust that this is absolutely the right thing. Another exciting aspect of the July due date is my good friend Regan and her husband Dave are expecting their first baby in July, actually 2 days before Jeremy and I, and Jeremy's cousin Paul and his wife Shauna are expecting their 4th baby in July, so the three of us are going to get to go through the awesome experience of having babies together!!!

Now, on to the holidays...I absolutely love the Christmas season and how families come together to enjoy each other's company. Christmas this year was especially fun with a 14 month old. Bryant was just starting to get the hang of present opening, but it really didn't hold its fascination for him until he could actually play with what was inside and once the package was opened, Mommy and Daddy had to quite expedient about unpacking the toy from a ridiculous amount of twist ties and tape. Next year, I will only wrap pre-unpackaged presents! Bryant's biggest accomplishment this holiday season was learning to blow out candles, which he is now doing quite well at. In fact, every time he sees a candle, whether it is lit or not, he is blowing on it and smiling...I can hardly wait for his second birthday.
We traveled over to my Mom's house in Portland for Christmas and the drive over was a cinch, rained the whole way. On the 24th, we took Bryant to visit Great-Grandma Viola (Jeremy's Grandma) because it was her birthday and we just happened to actually be close by! We spent most of Christmas Eve at my brother Adam's house playing his new Nintendo Wii and letting Bryant play with Cortlyn, my brother's little girl who is 2 1/2. Christmas Eve night we visited the church Jeremy and I attended when we lived in Portland, Crossroads, and had the chance to reunite with some old friends.

(Left: My Mom with Bryant and Cortlyn in matching Christmas Jammies)

Christmas day was very relaxing, except for Bryant's early wake-up at 3:45! Thankfully Jeremy was a super-dad and was able to get Bryant back to sleep in our bed for a couple of hours, needless to say we were all a little extra tired that day and thankful for the slow pace of staying home. We even had some snow on Christmas day, and even though it was a bit too warm to stick, it was sure fun to look at!

(Left: Christmas with the Davis Family, Jeremy's Dad Jim, Bryant and I, Jeremy's sister Jill, Jeremy's Mom Judi and our niece Bevyn)

Jeremy and I packed up and headed home the day after Christmas and after a brief stop off to visit my Dad, we headed over the Santiam pass for Sisters. The drive home was not as easy as the trip over to Portland. We had snow for about 1/2 the drive home and even with studded tires on we had to chain up coming over the pass, it was pretty nasty. Once we arrived home, at about 10pm that night, Bryant was lit and overly excited to be home. We ended up having quite a bit of snow on the ground, and we have had a couple of snowfalls since, it has been really fun. New Year's was fun and we spent a bunch of time with Jeremy's family, celebrating birthdays, Christmas and New Years. We all got free babysitting courtesy of Jeremy's parents and got the chance to go out snowshoeing and to a movie, it was quite a treat!

I think about brings us up to date...there will be many more exciting postings this coming year and we look forward to all that 2008 has to bring! Love to you all.