Good bye Alvin

Our sweet little hamster Alvin died today. He was such a sweet little thing. He was really gentle and the kids loved to hold him and watch him run around in his ball. We will miss him. I'm glad my friend Kelly took these photos of him just for fun last year, because they turned out so cute & it is great to have them to remember him by.

Happy New Year it's 2010!

The moment we've been waiting for, Happy New Year! Zoe was afraid to pull too hard on the popper string... she was so funny, her face reminded me of Buddy the Elf testing Jack in the Boxes!

Bentley (the Sutherland's dog) was so tired. He just kept looking for someone to sit still so he could have a place to lay down. Matt was kneeling behind the couch for just a few minutes and Bentley saw that as an opportunity to get comfortable!

New Year's Eve games

We hung out with the Sutherland's on New Year's Eve and had lots of fun in their game room. The kids played ping pong, foosball, pool, and air hockey almost until midnight! Hayden and Dylan were especially festive with their New Year tiaras and leis! The adults played darts and pool. It was a lot of fun! Carson tried pool and thought it was cool!

Zoe and Ashley ping ponged back and forth...

Madeline got tired toward the end of the night and chilled out under the pool table.

Dinner in Seattle

The kids and I went to Seattle for something fun to do over break. We went to the Science Center and did a few things there like the Michael Jackson laser show and then went to dinner at Buca di Beppos.

Hayden said he was surprised they would sit children at this table, then we looked up and saw what he meant. Ahh, those crazy Italians and their art! Zoe held her hand up when I tried to take a picture of the picture! I would label it 'Abstract Distracting'.

Christmas Morning

Ahh, Christmas morning... is there anything more fun? We read the Christmas story in the Bible and made some hot chocolate before we opened presents. The kids were really happy with their presents and it was a fun morning.

I had to take a picture of this wrapping job by Zoe. Her creative use of tape always makes me laugh!

Santa brought Carson roller blades! He put on all the gear and rolled around the house most of the day. He was in heaven! Even the blister he got later didn't dampen his excitement over his new roller blades.

New stockings pictures

After we got home from Grandma & Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve, we read the story of Santa Mouse and hung the stockings. Then the kids commented that the pictures in their stocking hangers were 5 years old so we decided to take new ones. So we took these pictures and updated the stocking hangers. And then it was off to bed so that visions of sugar plums could dance in our heads...

Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa's

Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa's house with cousins Lindsey and Keaton. Every year we have Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's house and open presents. With growing kids the living room seems to get a little smaller each year. It's also hard to believe that my niece Lindsey is just a few days away from turning 18! The kids dinner table...

The adults dinner table... I made Baked Potato soup and Tomato Bisque, yum!

Carson wearing his special Boeing hat that Grandpa gave him

Waiting to see Santa

Hayden sends his Christmas list to Santa... some things on his list this year were a Seattle Sounders sweatshirt and FIFA Worldcup Soccer for Wii We waited in line to see Santa for almost 2 hours! But the free cotton candy helped make it worth it!

Zoe loves nutcrackers so I made her pose with this one.

Here's Carson putting his list in the Santa Mail. Some of the things on Carson's list this year were roller blades, a remote control helicopter, a pack of marbles, a pack of balloons, a football, and a pack of bouncy balls.

Madeline's Snowman pretzels

Madeline saw these cute snowman pretzels in a magazine and decided to make some of her own. They were so adorable!

Christmas Parade

Madeline & Hayden played with their school band in the Sumner Christmas parade. They played Jingle Bells. It was the first time their school participated in a parade so it was cute. Sumner is such a cute little town. Madeline and her friends Tabitha and Kylie

It was cold, but beautiful and sunny!

Walking back to the car along the row of shops.

Getting ready for Christmas

Matt loves to get in the holiday spirit and decorate the house. He didn't go all Clark Griswold on the outside lights this year, but he did light up the staircase, the tree, the kids rooms, and helped set up other displays like these carolers. My mom made these ceramic carolers in 1979 and I just love that I get to decorate my home with them. They are so cute and I have fond childhood memories of them! We decided to cover our windows with snowflakes and it turned out really nice. Some of them were really ornate. Madeline and Hayden made the most intricate ones. Carson made a LOT. It was a lot of fun to cut them!

Here are Matt and Zoe setting up the Christmas houses on the bookcase. I buy a new house each year (starting from when we got married) so this year I added a 16th house to my collection. I got the Doctor's Office.

We made lots of yummy treats this season! Here's Zoe helping Dad make lemon bars. We also made peanut butter bonbons, ginger cookies, and I made toffee for the first time. We had fun packaging up boxes of treats and taking them to some of our friends.