Hawaii

My parents and I experienced Hawaii through Ben this past week. We all loved every minute of it. The highlights according to Ben would be "Waikiki beach," airplanes, splashing in both the ocean and pool, "ice cones...passion fruit" especially, trolley cars, the flamingos, turtles, penguins, and koi, the "pasgetti" kids meals, and any other little excursion with Nana and Papa. It seemed everything we got to do was an absolute treat for Ben. I felt it was a great opportunity to spend time with just Ben before #2 comes along. Thank you mom and dad for the most wonderful week.

Waikiki Beach

North Shore

Sunset from the pool at the Hale Koa

The dark spot, upper middle, is a humpback whale, promise!

Room progress...

While Ben and I were away in Hawaii, Drew(and Jake helped!) made serious progress on the room. Thanks Drew.

Making room, literally, for #2.

Drew is single-handedly remodeling the room downstairs for us. Right now he is putting a closet in, replacing the window, and putting in a brand new window. I'm amazed daily at what he is capable of doing and the knowledge he has when it comes to...everything! We are very lucky.

I'll be excited to post the after pictures, hopefully before March 1st :)

"Choo Choo train center"

Jenny and I took Ben to the Science Center to see the Model Train Exhibit this weekend. It was pretty fabulous for the train enthusiasts out there--Ben. His favorite train was the Sounder model below. I'm putting the picture on the blog so Ben can see it whenever he asks!

Ben now calls the Science Center the "choo choo train center!"

Ben's weekend with Nana

While we were away...

While Drew and I went to Portland to celebrate our 5th anniversary, Ben got to spend the long weekend with Nana and Papa. They had a great time together--it took Ben a few days to start calling us momma and daddy again, he kept calling us Nana and Papa.

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Years with friends--there were many toasts made and many hopes expressed for a happy and healthy 2010. Some common threads: appreciation for our time with our children(and expected babies!), hoping for more time to travel and be with friends and family, excitement as years of grad school end and careers begin, and appreciation for our health.

5th wedding anniversary celebration begins too!

snow day

We took Ben up to Mt. Spokane so he could play in the snow and sled. He loved both, so we need it to snow in Seattle asap!

Birthday Boy

Christmas night we had a birthday party for Ben. Barney balloons, confetti cupcakes, more presents, and time together.

Photo banner--year two, how long will I keep this up?

Christmas morning