Thanksgiving Roadie

We took the Alan Family Thanksgiving on the road this year, thanks to the gracious hospitality of the Peterson/Thuma clan in Seattle. We really didn't have any plans on our own, and after years of guilt of not seeing their new home yet (with gorgeous views of Puget Sound). We loaded up the kids in the Suburban and headed out Wednesday night.

We hit a massive snowstorm coming over the pass into Oregon, slowed down to about 5 miles an hour, had me leaning with head up aginst my window and Marisa's head up against hers trying to see if either of us could see the guard rail, or the center rail, or the lane lines, it was REALLY FUN. Marisa called her sister to give our approximate coordinates in case we ended up like the Donner Party (never mind the other 900 cars on the road with us....). We could have driven straight thru, but Jake just couldn't get to sleep in the car, so we stopped in SE Washington for the night. At this point, Tanner, who HAD been asleep was WIDE awake and ready to play. So we didn't get to sleep until 11:30 or so and Tanner, who was still on Mountain Time, woke up at 5:15 and was ready to move. I took him out ot the 24 hour Walmart behind the hotel to kill some time. When we got back, Marisa and Jake were wide awake and we were on the road again @ 7:30 AM. So we rented a hotel room for about 8 hours....

We hit a snowstorm again coming over the pass down into Seattle, but in daylight it wasn't so bad. We got to Lisa and Johns' at about 12:00 or so on Thanksgiving Day. Jake had a great time with his cousins and Lisa fixed an amazing Thanksgiving Dinner.

The next day we went to the Seattle Christmas parade downtown (photos above) it was FREEZING cold but all of the kids, Tanner included, had a great time. Quincys' pink cowboy hat was the hit of the parade and the kids hoarded about 9 lbs. of candy canes, chocolate and other treats that were being passed out. The parade was a lot of fun, marching bands, unicyclists, cheerleaders, it was great. We hit the doughnut place and then back home.

We also visited the botanical gardens light display the following night which was very cool and the kids had a really good time. But I think that the best part of the trip was just the visit. We had a really good time, Jake played great with his cousins, Tanner amused himself for the most part and we were able to talk and catch up with Lisa and John. Their house is amazing and they have some grand plans in mind, best of luck, I know I couldn't go through it again just yet. We just had a good visit and it was really nice to spend time with family.

We awoke to snow on Sunday and set out for the trip home before 8:30. Based on the weather forecast, we went south through Portland and across the Columbia River back home to try to avoid one of the passes. The other, which we can't avoid, wasn't snowing but was very icy (trucks had to put on chains) so the going was very slow. The drive home, including stops took about 13 hours Jake was a trooper and watched about 10.5 hours of movies the ENTIRE way. Tanner was back and forth between asleep and upset so Marisa had her hands full. Aside from the inevitable argument about why the stereo volume NEEDS to be that loud, it was a nice trip home.

Thanks to Lisa, John, Quincy & Jessa for a great visit and a great Thanksgiving.

A Christmas Wish....Jake's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,
I love you and I like you and I like the things that you do. And I like the presents that you bring.
I want you to bring me a driving truck, not a real one, but a pretend one that I can drive in. I'd also like the bouncy ball that comes back to you like we saw at the mall. And I want a new baseball bat and a new helmet. Please bring mommy and daddy adult presents and baby presents for Tanner.

In my stocking I want candy! My favorite is candy canes, chocolate, and gum and lollypops. Plain pink ones. I hope you bring me green presents. And one blue, one purple, one red, and one yellow. Tell the reindeer to run to Jake's house.

I love you. There's snow here and you might slip so bring some winter stuff because it's snowing out in Boise. And wear warm clothes.

I'll go over to your house when you go to sleep, then when it's nighttime and while you're sleeping I'll sneak in and give you toys that you can give to the firemen and other people that need toys because I don't need anymore toys. That's why I'm giving some away.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJAKE

Tanner Turns One!

I can't believe my little guy is a year old already! He came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day 2005 to a full feast prepared by his Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue. Now he is a year old and ready to celebrate his 2nd Thanksgiving in Seattle. Trite, yes, but "where did the time go???"

We had a small family b'day party last night. Tanner loved his birthday cake and even though he paid more attention to the remote controls than his presents, he was excited by the gifts, too. He especially liked his ride on truck and spinning monkey. The party ended abruptly when, while playing "open and close the kitchen drawers repeatedly" he slammed his fingers and fell apart. He was exhausted at that point and was quite content to take his bottle and go to bed.

Since Tanner, being a second child, doesn't have an official baby book (Poor KC- she'll be lucky if we get any pictures of her!) I wanted to write a few things here about my boy that I want to remember years from now.

• He weighs 18 pounds and has six teeth (4 top and 2 bottom)

• His favorite game is the "Thank You Game" in which he hands us something repeatedly, we take it, say "thank you", then hand it back. At which point he says his version of "thank you" (only recognizable at this point to trained mom and dad ears). He claps and giggles each time, so proud of himself.
• He loves to play Tanner Ball with his brother. This is a game in which Jake collects all the balls he can find, puts them on the ottoman and Tanner proceeds to knock them all off one by one. Again, this is accompanied by lots of giggles and claps.
• He says "dada" and "mama". His face lights up when he sees daddy.
  
• He loves to play with remote controls (and lord knows there are plenty of those around our house!). These, for some reason, are much more interesting than any of his colorful toys.
• He sleeps 12 hours a night-goes down without a fuss around 6:30 or 7.
  
• He is easy going and loving. He is a cuddler just like his brother.
• He LOVES to eat. Anything. Lots of it. Favorites: waffles, graham crackers, ravioli, yogurt
  
• He is still an army crawler. He never got past the "crawling under barbed wire" mode of travel, but he does it quickly and efficiently.
• He loves to play in the hot tub and bathtub
• He is his big brother's biggest fan

Happy Birthday, Little Man. You give me more joy than I could possibly describe. I can't wait to see what the years ahead hold for you.

If it's not winter, you sure fooled me.....

The weather has been very varied (how's that for turn of phrase?) this month so far. We have had severe wind/snow storms up in Northern Idaho that closed roads, schools and sent about 50 claims our way in an area that gets 3-5 in that same time span. In the Boise area the temps have dropped into the low 30's but today were up into the high 60's, so very wierd. We are starting to get geared up for the winter months. We just got snow tires on the suburban, I've got our patio furniture stored away, and I started looking at snow shovels last weekend at the Home Depot.

We drove up to the lower summit of Bogus Basin last weekend to let the kids play in the snow. We were at about 6800 feet, and there was some pretty good snow up there. The resort is still closed, but we were able to play around enough for us to find out that we probably need some better snow clothes for us and the kids. Most of that snow has melted again, but there is still snow on the highest peaks up by Bogus and all around the Treasure Valley. We had a good time in the snow, but have some time until it's here in earnest.

Jake and I decided to camp out in the backyard last weekend before it really gets too cold. He was very excited for some Daddy/Jake time (I think Marisa was almost as excited for some ER/Survivor time). We bought some special snacks at the grocery store, set up the tents, brought out our sleeping bags and some books and flashlights, and set up camp. We went out to our tent after dinner, had some Hostess doughnuts for dessert, read a whole "mess of books" by flashlight, listed to some lullabies via iPod, and snuggled in with our ski caps on to keep us warm.

It got COLD. Jake lasted until about midnight when he woke up and asked if we could go inside and sleep, but he wanted to get up in the morning and go back out to the tent to have our morning snacks (that kid would scale Everest if you told him there were cookies at the top). We slept in the guest room and had a very good time. It was Daddy/Jake time well spent, and some good time out doors before we get cooped up for the winter.

"Well the weather outside is frightful...."

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Happy Halloween a little bit late. We had a very good Halloween.... lots of fun....It was COLD here. I think Halloween night was in the low 30's but the week leading up to that the mornings were in the teens and there has been some light snow dusting on some of the lower peaks around Boise, so winter is definately on the way.

Trick or treating is so different here than it was in Livermore. This is such a young neighborhood. In Livermore we usually bought a couple of bags of candy, knowing that we would have leftovers for awhile (which was a good thing). Here we bought two of the big bags and had to shut down when we ran out of candy before 8:00. Compared to the 20 or so trick-or-treaters we got in Livermore, we got well over 100 here. The streets were a madhouse when we were out with Jake - Tanner got tired and I had to bring him home - then the doorbell rang off of the hook, and Jake got to pass out candy to the older kids (which he loved).

Jake went out trick-or-treating with his friend Cole, pictured above. He lives right down the street from us and is one of Jake's best friends. Jake is also playing over at his friend Ky's house this weekend and his friend Jesse's house next weekend, so he is making friends in the nieghborhood and school.

Tanner continues to freak me out a little bit - I am not a religious person (my family can attest) - but Tanner is Grandpa Simonich reincarnated. This was Auntie Sue's theory from the beginning as Tanner came into being just after Grandpa passed, and I thought it was a very sweet sentiment...but holy crap! If you catch him looking at you out of the corner of your eye, or you see him giving you Grandpa's signature smirk you just know it's him. No one else in the family has that smirk, not Eric, Lisa or me. I love the fact that it's there, it just really weirds me out...He turns one year old in two weeks - time flies...

We are off to see Lisa, John, Quincy and Jessa in Seattle for Thanskgiving. Jake loves his cousins and is very excited to go. I am expecting him to follow Quincy around like the last time we saw them.

Jake and I surprised Marisa when she was out of town last weekend by taking apart the bunkbeds in Tanner's (what will be KC's) room. We made one twin bed and bought some Tinkerbell sheets and a pillow at Walmart. I think it freaked Marisa out when she came home, I KNOW it freaked me out doing it. We are really looking forward to adding a girl to the family, but it is sure going to be a change in mindset.

I was in Salt Lake City last week for work and two radio stations have already made the switch to all Christmas Carols, all the time...what in the hell?!?!?

Back to Normal

We all survived Brian's three- week- in- a- row business trip marathon.
He is back now and intends to stay back for the forseeable future.
I think I will keep him around for awhile... at least until the boys are 18. Nothing like your hubby being away to make you appreciate him! The boys were champs, but I can't imagine being a single mom. Both boys got sick on his second trip away so I took Wed. off with Tanner, then Friday I had to bring Jake to school with me as I couldn't find a sub. He fell apart at 9:30AM and I had to leave the kids in the hands of the front desk manager while I took the poor guy to the dr. and then home to rest. It was just an ear infection, but boy was he in pain. This working mom stuff just gets harder and harder to negotiate! But luckily everyone at my school was willing to pitch in and help and I was able to do what I needed to do: give lots of TLC to my son.

The picture,by the way, is of Jake in his daddy's old costume. Yep, that's the same clown costume Brian wore at 3 years old. Mary just sent it to us. We are hoping both Tanner and KC will get to use it someday.

Hard to belive, but Tanner turns one on the 21st!!! Where did this year go? He continues to be just a little charmer. He smiles and giggles constantly. His big brother can make him laugh and laugh. I love to watch the two of them together. He so wants to be one of the big kids and when Jake is playing with a friend Tanner just puts himself right in the middle of the action (much to the dismay of Jake!).

It will be a quiet b'day party for TJ. Just us and a cake. Quite different from Jake's b'day bash when we celebrated with an Open House to show off our updated Livermore home. That seems like a lifetime ago! We will take plenty of pics of the shindig and post them. We sure wish you all could be here to help us celebrate.