Christmas!

We had a very small Christmas this year due to the weather. Jeremy went and picked up Laura in Spokane. Jeremy's Mom drove down from Colville. I cooked up a Christmas Eve feast and we opened presents. Since it was such an unconventional Christmas, we decided to open presents before dinner so that Jeremy's Mom could leave quickly after dinner since the snow was still coming down at an alarming rate. Nathan was totally overwhelmed with all the gifts. He kept turning around in circles trying to figure out what to play with next. It was really cute!


Christmas Day was spend shoveling snow. In the evening, we put Nathan to bed and Jeremy and I headed to Spokane to see Twilight! Laura had the easiest baby sitting job ever as the baby was already in bed. That was the first movie I had seen in the theatre since July of 2007 and the last Harry Potter movie. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and totally uncomfortable but I have this thing that I have to see all the Harry movies in the theatre. Anyway, I went into premature contractions during the movie last time so that was great. Luckily the hospital get them stopped and everything was fine, but my point of this little rant is I hadn't been to the movies in forever!

I REALLY liked Twilight! I thought they did an awesome job with the casting and did a great job inserting the humor into the movie that you see in the book. I can't wait for it to come out on video.

We spent most of the day after Christmas shoveling out. We've got about 50 inches total and that was all up on our roof. We bought a snow rake, so we got the roof shoveled off. It took awhile and we've sure got mounds of snow all around! We're only supposed to get another 7-10 inches tonight. Oh goody.


Nathan trying really hard to open his new Bounce and Spin Zebra



Nathan with some of his new toys



This was the best family photo we could get. Nathan was not cooperating!



Nathan with his Aunt Laura. He had to have Mommy in the photo too. He won't let me leave his side.

Santa and Snow

We've officially given up trying to get Nathan's picture with Santa! Today was our last try. The third time was not the charm. Here was our track record.

Try #1: Nathan would go no where near Santa. He just screamed and screamed.

Try #2: We were on our way back from Spokane. The pizza place by our house had a Santa. Nathan decided to throw a tantrum in the car. He screamed for probably 40 minutes, so we just bypassed Santa and headed home.

Try #3: Just now, the local coffee stand was supposed to have Santa. We dressed Nathan all up, and drove over there, sliding all over the road. No Santa! He cancelled due to weather.

Santa was not in the cards this year. Maybe next year!

So we've been getting quite a lot of snow. It's quite ridiculous! I believe we're up to about 20 inches. Another storm is supposed to bring us much more tomorrow.
I've tried taking Nathan out in it, but even with his snow boots, he keeps falling over and cold snow gets down his boots and in his mittens. He's not been impressed thus far. It doesn't help it's very cold. Today is super sunny and it looks like a perfect winter wonderland outside! Not a cloud in the sky. It's just gorgeous. However, it is currently 6 degrees, so no outside play.


A picture perfect winter day. Hi Lindsay and Brandon's house! We can see you through the leafless tree!



Our snow covered house


Nathan's mittens kept falling off and his little hands got really cold. Not a happy time!


It's hard walking in the snow. It's so uneven and sometimes you fall into snowbanks.



Jeremy snowblowing the 17 inches we got in one night. More is on the way!

Our First Snowfall

We're getting our first snow of the year! The first snow is always so exciting. However, the excitement usually wears off pretty quickly. Last year, we had so much snow and a serious case of cabin fever. One day last year, we got 13 inches in one day. We did not have a snow blower. Luckily, Jeremy had the day off and literally spent all day shoveling out our driveway (we have a big driveway). So this year, we went and purchased a snowblower.

Last night we got about 3 inches of snow. Jeremy had some fun using his new toy. He said it's sure faster than shoveling.

I took Nathan out to play in the snow yesterday. Last year, he was too small to go outside of course. So I take him outside, and he will not leave my side! He was so apprehensive about walking out into it. I got him to hold some in his hand and he threw a little snowball.

Today, the temperatures started dropping. They're supposed to be down really super low. Like in the single digits, so Nathan will not be attempting snow again until it warms up a bit!



See that rock sculpture behind Jeremy? We call that Stonehenge. Anyway, it was completely covered in snow for months last year. Let's hope the snow isn't that high this year.



Nathan was not sure what to think of the snow!



I took this picture standing in our shop. Nathan kept venturing out into the snow, and then running back to me.

Thanksgiving

The 3 sisters



Our attempt at a family Thanksgiving photo


This year, Jeremy happened to have Thanksgiving off. His days off are Wed, Thurs, Friday, which came in very handy! We decided we were going to make the trip over to Arlington to his aunt and uncle's house. Nathan would get to meet Jeremy's whole side of the family.

Since it would be almost a 7 hour drive (with no stops) we headed to Royal Wednesday. There my Mom had prepared a Thanksgiving dinner! She was so thoughtful to use a fake butter in everything so Nathan could eat. So Wednesday night, we had Thanksgiving in Royal with my parents, Laura and were even surprised when LeAnne and Rick showed up! They drove all the way from Boise to see us for the night, so that was nice. We had a great dinner. Getting Nathan to go to sleep in a strange place was another story. My parents had even bought a crib. When we've traveled before, Nathan has slept in a pack-n-play and he's never done well. He did ok sleeping.

Thursday morning, we left for the west side. We took my parents' new 2008 Chevy Silverado over in case there were problems in the pass. That was nice!! They even have XM radio so it was awesome to get to listen to the same channel wherever we were and it never went out of range. Very cool.

We drove to Jeremy's uncle's place in Arlington. Jeremy's Mom's whole family was there. Jeremy's cousin Michele and her husband and baby Aiden were there. Aiden is 6 months old, so when when the two boys get older, they'll be able to play together. Nathan was super exhausted and didn't do too well after 4 pm. He didn't get a nap.

We then drove up to Burlington to spend the night at Jeremy's grandma's house. Again, Nathan had a horrible night and we woke up after little sleep just exhausted!

Friday morning, we drove down to Mt. Vernon to visit some of my Spragg relatives. That was fun!

Then, we drove most of Friday afternoon back to Royal where we visited with my parents again and ate leftovers. We spent the night, and poor Nathan struggled again.

Saturday we left Royal to head for home. There was actually snow here in Spokane when we got here!! There wasn't even any over Snoqualmie. We got home at 3, and Jeremy had to leave for work at 5:00 for his regular 10 hour shift. We were both so tired!!

Christmas Tree Time!

We usually get the Christmas tree out after Thanksgiving. Yes, we have a fake tree. Sad, but quick and convenient. This year, we're going to be gone all Thanksgiving weekend, and won't get the chance to put up the tree for at least a week after that, so we wouldn't have a tree until like Dec 7. That just wasn't acceptable! So we put it up today.

When we were putting the tree together, Nathan was super excited! He kept pointing at the tree and making his happy noises. But the weird thing was, when we turned ON the lights, he didn't even seem to care much. He noticed, but lights apparently do not interest him much.

Nathan got really excited about trying to take ornaments off. He wasn't too interested in putting them on. So I put a few non-breakable ones down at the bottom. He loves that!

Link to Article about Jeremy

Jeremy had a scary call a few weeks ago. It it now public knowledge, so I'm posting the article from the newspaper below. It's a good thing he's a supercop!



Prosecuting Attorney Tim Rasmussen 12.NOV.08
An affidavit of probable cause was filed last week alleging that Rudy Daniel Rodriguez of Nine Mile Falls was arrested and charged with several felony and gross misdemeanor charges as a result of a recent investigation related to child abuse allegations and the events that transpired in that investigation.

On November 1, after gathering information from the victim, Deputy Wakeman contacted the suspect at his home. As he was being placed under arrest, Mr. Rodriguez began to struggle with the deputy. He was tazed but managed to escape. He went into another room in the house and armed himself with a shotgun. Deputy Wakeman retreated outside and called for assistance when he heard the suspect rack shells into the weapon. Deputy Wakeman heard him go into the attached garage and prevented him from closing the garage door. Mr. Rodriguez eventually got outside the residence into his truck (an AT&T service truck) and then led the officers and WSP on a chase. The chase eventually ended on highway 395 after the WSP put stop strips on the road and disabled the vehicle. Inside the vehicle the officers found the loaded shot gun with the safety in the “fire position”. Other items of potential evidence were seized from the truck.

A subsequent search of the residence revealed that a computer had been taken into the basement, shot open, and the hard drive shot with the shotgun. The computer will be examined at the crime lab to see if useable evidence remains in the memory drives. Other evidence including drugs and pornographic materials were found in the home.

Mr. Rodriguez will be in court this week for preliminary matters in this case.

This incident points out the potential danger that our Law Enforcement officers face as they go about the business of keeping us safe and investigating the crimes that occur.

- The Outpost Newspaper

My Little Helper

Nathan is just too funny! The other day, my parents were over visiting. My Dad and Nathan were in the living room. I told my Dad I was running downstairs to throw a load of laundry in the dryer. Usually, Nathan throws a fit if I leave a room and he can't see me. However, he didn't cry and I wondered why. I'm coming back up the stairs when I burst out laughing!

Here comes my little man trying to drag his laundry basket down the hallway! He's huffing and puffing because it's almost as big as he is!! He heard the word "laundry" and knew what he had to do! It was SO cute..boy I wish I could have got that on video!