Christmas Time

I get so excited every year when it comes time for me to put up the Christmas decorations. This year however, I was even more excited for Austin to experience it. Now, Brandon on the other hand dislikes the decorations. He says that we have nowhere to put them. I however disagree, since for the past 3 years I have made it work out just perfectly.

Austin was so excited after all the decorations had been put up. He was scared at first of a tree that comes out of a box, lights up, and is pokey. As I added more and more ornaments he began to see what it would look like and happily told me where I should hang each one. The tree skirt got an "ohhhhhhhh" out of him, and the lights in the kitchen just sent him over the edge. It was funny to see his reaction to every little thing.

After awhile the tree became the cool place to hang out by. Gus would lay down under it and Austin would sit beside him looking at the tree. One day I found Austin doing this:

 For the actual holiday we drove to my parents house in Washington. We were so lucky to have a great drive. If you know anything or have ever driven through Oregon in the winter you know what it can be like, i.e. icy roads, roads closed for days, dangerous levels of wind through the gorge sending semis all over the road. None of these things were a problem for us. We were lucky enough to spend the night in Boise (the halfway point) and then start up again the next day, racing against a winter storm. The way back was the same, great drive. We had missed the storm the day before and the roads were great! I know that this was a blessing in disguise.

While we were at my parents' house, we decided to go to the waterfront. The Columbia River separates Washington and Oregon, and my parents live right by it. The other side, the Oregon side, is Portland. While it was cold at the waterfront, it was still fun. Brandon skipped rocks, Austin tried to skip rocks and I just laughed. Austin wants to be just like his daddy!

Can you tell they are related? Love it!

On our way back to the car, Austin found this really cool walking stick. He loved it!

Right after we left the waterfront, the shoes came off and he passed out!

It was fun to visit my parents. We even took a day and went to Seattle. Austin liked Pikes Market and the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. On the way back home Austin decided he was ready to wear sunglasses. He had been fighting it for a while, and would never wear them. However, the sun got to be too much and he willing put on Daddy's glasses.

p.s. I have no pictures from Christmas day, Brandon left the SD card to the camera at home. I will have to get some from my parents.