Today marks the one year anniversary of moving into our first home as well as our move down to Tacoma. I'd like to say I got some awesome pictures of the whole family in front of our house to commemorate the occasion, but Caleb was already down by the time Josh got home. And this mom ain't pushing back bedtime for a photo.
Read MoreAhh, sunny San Diego. Look at that: the sun, the ocean, the palm trees...but most importantly it's where my parents live. If you didn't know already, I grew up in Encinitas, CA and still get to visit since my parents live in San Marcos. Last week we headed down to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. We had a great time and I especially appreciate the extra help with the little guy.
Read MoreI sometimes just can't believe I am a mother. It's just so amazing to look at Caleb and know he's my son. He is the light of my life and brings me such joy. Being a mother has been the hardest, but most rewarding thing in my life. Caleb brings a whole new, wonderful layer to our lives. I love being a family! I feel so honored to be part of the motherhood club.
Read MoreAt long last I'm getting to the Christmas look back post. Let's just say I waited to post it to build excitement and anticipation, sound good? ;) Just go with it.
Luckily, I didn't leave you totally hanging. I did share some Christmas season happenings and our Christmas letter with you. Hopefully that tied you over until this one. So let's jump into it.
Read MoreInconceivable! Hmm, "I do not think it means what you think it means." Okay, Heather, that was nerdy.
But seriously...oh.my.gosh Caleb is 1 year old now. It really does seem inconceivable sometimes. Yet, here we are with practically a toddler now. Generally I would launch into how quickly the year has gone by and yada yada. In reality though, sure it went fast, but parts of it went extremely slow. Like those nights where you wake up every three hours. That seemed slow. Or the days where he was Mr. Fussy pants and was all crankiness most likely due to who-knows-what -- sick, teething, tummy ache, it's a toss up sometimes. Yea, that all seemed slow.
Read MoreHappy New Year!
We're already a week into 2017, and I'm just now writing a look back to 2016. The end of the year and start of this one have been keeping me pretty busy. It's just now starting to settle back into normal life routine (I wouldn't say slowing down...ha, wouldn't that be nice. With a 1 year old just not likely, though).
Social Media says these were the best shots on Instagram. It got the majority of the highlights like having a baby and buying a house. I have to say, I'm glad the baby burrito made it onto my top nine photos.
Read MoreGingerbread, peppermint, hot cocoa, cookies, decorated trees, mistletoe, glowing lights, bustling shopping, crackling fires, snowflakes, movies, caroling, annual cards, giving presents, reindeer, advent calendars, jolly Santa...the Christmas season. I LOVE everything about it. It's my favorite time of year. And I get to share it with my son, Caleb. It's been a great season and it's hard to believe Christmas is coming up so soon.
We've had a wonderful season so far. And there is still so much celebrating to do!
Read MoreI bet after My Thanksgiving Game Plan, you've been scratching your head wondering how it actually turned out. And then I didn't post anything and you were very upset with me. How could I post such good looking food and then never following up. I shall not disappoint you this time...here's my update!
So the dinner was...wait for it...AWESOME! I couldn't be more pleased (ok, I'm a perfectionist and being so I always seem to find something that "could have been better").
Here's how it all looked on the table
Oh man, I want it all again. A few things are missing from the above. The horror! So here's my plate from the meal. I should have a bit of everything on there. I ate it ALL. It was Thanksgiving after all. I even went for a few nibbles more of some of my favorites.
Let's see, my favorite was probably the cornbread stuffing. Although, the turkey earned it's place as the main dish. It was so delicious. The mashed potatoes really turned out great, too. We were all surprised at the cranberry sauce. It was wonderful! I feel bad for cranberry sauce as it's usually an after thought side dish. Although it can really be a great addition, especially for leftover sandwiches. Oh, and the gravy. It topped it all off (literally, ha!).
The green beans were good, but I just feel like they weren't something I was drooling over for more. Maybe a bit too much work in the end for them. The caramelized onions did bring them up a notch for sure, though. The sweet potatoes were also great, but nothing crazy special - just good, solid sweet potatoes. I think the least successful was the rolls. For me, they were more dense, but everyone else seemed to like them. Maybe it's just me being a perfectionist.
Well, I take all that back...the pie. It was a knock-out it was soooo good. The crumb topping was phenomenal. Honestly, though, I think it was the home roasted pumpkin that really upped the ante on this one. You really need to make this pie.
So there you have it. I got some definite keeper and re-make recipes - hello, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and turkey. Welcome to my holiday rotation!
More important than the food, however, was family. I am so thankful to have such a beautiful and sweet little boy this Thanksgiving. Not to mention, a wonderful hubby. Don and Nada, my in-laws, are the best in-laws a gal can have. They are so generous and treat me like their own daughter. I feel so blessed and I am so thankful for the family in my life. My only wish is that my family and in-laws all lived closer so we could spend more quality time together. Luckily, holidays bring family together and that is my favorite part of the holidays. Cheesey to say, yes, but oh so very true.
Now onto Christmas cookies and food. Nom nom nom. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
Over the mountains, and through Las Vegas, to Grandmother's (and Grandfather's) house we go...
Am I the only one out there that puts a song to everything? Well, besides my mom. Just me...well, that's awkward. Let's move on then.
Josh, Caleb, and I headed out to Ivins, UT to visit the Brown Grandparents in early October. They recently moved from Indio, CA (near Palm Springs) to Ivins, UT (near St. George). They have a beautiful new home nestled up against a red mountain (check out Day 5 collage to see it). The area is quite stunning. It's not far from Zion, so use that to help picture it. The weather was fantastic - our last taste of warm, sunny weather until next summer since we're headed into the rainy season here in the Pacific NW.
We have a wonderful time visiting. It was relaxing and nice to catch-up. Visiting family is always so great. Plus, I got some extra help with little guy, which is always nice. And Caleb just loves his grandma and grandpa. It's so cute to see him with them.
Here's a quick look at our visit:
Our first day was mostly travel. We took a flight from SeaTac to Las Vegas. I was so proud of Caleb on the flight. He didn't cry out once. At the end of the flight, people walked by commenting that they didn't even realize there was a baby. SCORE. He even laughed at take-off when the engines roared - it was adorable. Planning it around a nap worked perfectly. Go us!
Once we arrived, my father-in-law picked us up and we drove to Ivins - about 2 hours. Again Caleb did great and slept most of the time. So the day of travel was very successful.
Hey look, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Dad (in the photo).
We got a preview of the Ivins area. We drove by Kayenta Homes, a beautiful development, and got some tasty treats at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Caleb got spoiled with a taste of custard. Speaking of spoiled, Caleb always got some new fun toys from grandma and grandpa. He absolutely loved the Learning Walker toy.
We made a day trip out to Zion National Park. This was Caleb's first National Park visit. Grandma Nada got him a National Parks Passport. I had one of them when I was little (I wish I knew where it was, bummer). Zion is such a beautiful area. It also brought back good memories of our trip in 2012.
Unfortunately, Grandpa Don got sick and was stuck in bed (poor guy! we later found out it was pneumonia). So, Grandma Nada took us touring around St. George. We walked around the cute shops and grabbed lunch at TwentyFive Main.
That evening, Josh and I went out on a date night - just the two of us! We celebrated our five year anniversary with dinner at Xetava Gardens Cafe. We enjoyed a glass of wine and dinner al fresco. It was a lovely evening and great to get out.
We did some shopping around town and then mostly chilled at home. Caleb was a bit fussy with his bottom teeth coming in, but sitting out on the grass really cheered him up. While Josh and I soaked up the good weather.
We had a nice, relaxing day. Nada had to take Don to urgent care because he wasn't getting any better. It's a good thing, too, because it turned out to be pneumonia. Poor Grandpa!
Josh and I decided to help out and make dinner. We went to Harmons Groceries, which is an awesome grocery store. We went there a few times during our visit. And that mountain in the photo, that's just us driving home from groceries. Not too shabby, not too shabby at all.
Lucky me because I got a massage at Red Mountain Resort. It was heavenly. The massage therapist said I was pretty tight - uhh, yea. thanks to lifting a car seat, baby, stroller, chasing baby, etc.
In the afternoon we drove through Snow Canyon State Park. It was a beautiful drive and we'll have to go back for some great hiking (or camping, if Josh can convince me).
Happy Birthday to Josh! We celebrated with breakfast at Bear Paw Cafe, delicious shakes from Larsen's (OMG the banana cream pie shake is to die for), and a hearty dinner at Rib & Chop. Otherwise, we enjoyed a nice walk in the neighborhood and just lounging.
Ho hum, we had to head home. Another day of travel from Ivins to Las Vegas, then onto SeaTac. Caleb was quite a handful (to put it nicely) at the start of the flight. By the time we were in the air, he settled down into a nap and the rest was fine (whew!). Luckily the people behind us liked to play peek-a-boo.
We had such a lovely time. It's so great to spend time with family. I wish we could go back right now!
Oh boy, oh boy, the holiday season has finally arrived. I've been waiting all year for it and this year will be even more delightful since we have Caleb. It's always been a dream of mine to have a little one to share all my holiday joy. I LOVE the holiday season. And Halloween is a good holiday to kick-off the holidays.
When I was a little one, my parent's would take my sister and I out to Bates Nut Farm. I just loved all the pumpkins and then the store with all the apple and caramel goodness. I do remember my parents made my sister wear sweatshirts in the 90 degree weather so they could get a Christmas card photo. I said to myself then that I wouldn't do that to my child. Luckily for Caleb, it's not 90 degrees in the Pacific NW for October. However, I did find myself wanting to get a great Christmas photo. So I guess I'm turning out like my parents after all. Again luckily, they are pretty great people.
What do you think...do any of these have Christmas photo potential?
You'll see from the photos that we went to Spooner Farms (Bates Nut is just a bit far away - haha). It was a cute place with pumpkins, a maze, a pumpkin sling shot, food, barn, and a gift shop. We just did the pumpkin patch, barn, and store. I'd hate to get lost in a corn maze with a screaming baby. Seems a bit nightmarish - a good store for a Halloween horror movie, perhaps.
Anyways, we took lots of photos (and by we, I mean me. I did warn Josh beforehand that I'd be a photo commander). So of course, we had to put our little pumpkin in a wheel barrel. Yup, I'm that mom. But isn't he the cutest? There was some lady behind us that was just making him giggle.
And get this. I'm here eat Josh's parent's house for the week and Nada shared this photo of Josh and her. Josh is a bit older in his photo, but it's I think it's pretty awesome.
Caleb and Mom had a good time together trying to pick out a pumpkin. Caleb was just indecisive about which pumpkin to pick as his mom.
Dad was very macho pushing the wheel barrel with all our pumpkins and gourds. Plus, carrying our little pumpkin.
There were some farm animals there as well. Caleb was very interested in the piglets and turkeys.
Lots of pumpkins and gourds to chose from! We had such a wonderful time as a family together.
By the end, Caleb was tuckered, but I think he had a good time. I know his parents had a good time! I got some baking pumpkins as well for some delicious pumpkin goodies.
Today we celebrate our fifth anniversary. Can you believe it? It seems like just the other day, yet so much has happened over the past five years. I'm not going to get all mushy, but I do have to say that I love Josh more than ever. I sure found a keeper!
I love to look back at the wedding photos and remember what a great day it was. Such wonderful memories and such a wonderful day.
To celebrate we ate leftovers (ha! there's having a baby for you). HOWEVER, I did manage to make a pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust. This was one of the pies we had at the wedding. It's the one we did the "feeding the other a bite" at the wedding. Having pie instead of cake was one of the best decisions of our marriage. Just kidding, or maybe not...
And here we are today. Yup, with an addition to our crew, Caleb. He's 9 months next week - I'll write about that in my next post probably.
On the Fourth of July I always want to blast the song God Bless America by Lee Greenwood. I know that's totally geeky...but, hey, that's me. So this year I played it for Caleb. Poor kid.
Usually, the fourth of July is the first great summer day here in Seattle. But so far it really hasn't been that way. It's been a fine weather day, not cold or anything, but it's cloudy and overcast. But we still got ice cream anyway. Soon we'll be out grilling up some hot dogs and hamburgers to chow on with the potato salad and zucchini I cooked up. The grand finale is dessert...a berry tart! This will have to do in place of fireworks because Caleb will already be asleep - and I am NOT about to wake a sleeping baby for fireworks. Plus, the dog is going to freak out. She already did last night and that was just for a few neighborhood fireworks.
It's been a great day - and this family is totally proud to be American. God bless American (come on, sing it!)
Last weekend Caleb had a few firsts. It was his first...
With all these firsts in just four days, it's a good thing Caleb is a curious little fellow. He's our little traveler and did such a great job. I was super nervous about the flight, but he did great. We had a 9am flight down to Orange County (SNA). He feed, slept, and then hung out with me in the carrier in the back of the plane with the flight attendants.
For our return flight, we tried a night flight. He did just what we had hoped: slept the whole flight. Although I felt bad because we had to move him around a bit once landed and home, but he was a trooper. The only problem was then Josh and I didn't get to sleep until about 1am, so we were pretty pooped.
Sadly, Alaska didn't have any wing stickers, but Caleb definitely earned his wings!
Our trip started at my parents house. We decided to head to Moonlight Beach and take a walk. Caleb had his first California beach experience. He kept looking all around and I think he was amazed at the vast ocean. His eyes were like the color of the water - I love his eyes so sparkly and blue.
We also went to lunch and enjoyed the gardens at Stone Brewery. It was so relaxing to sit outside while Caleb napped. It was beautiful outside and I enjoyed some time with my mom while my sister, her boyfriend, and Josh went on a brewery tour.
By the way, look at Caleb reaching for my sandwich! The pork thief...he wishes, but maybe someday soon he can have some delicious pork.
Did I mention there was an earthquake? Yup, our first night in Cali and there was an earthquake - a 5.2 quake. My mind immediately went to Caleb and get to safety. It's funny how a baby changes you...my mind went straight to his safety! Luckily, it was not a big one so it was over by the time I was up and going for Caleb. Caleb slept right through it!
One of the big events of the weekend was our friend Heather Richardson's wedding. It was a beautiful reception at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. We brought Caleb along so he attended his first wedding. Pat, the mother of the bride, announced him as the youngest guest at the end of her toast. He got a round of applause!
His little outfit was the cutest! We got it from Etsy and it fit him perfectly. Isn't he just the little gentlemen? So dapper in his bowtie!
Mom and dad got dressed up, too.
After a few days with the O'Neill family, we headed up to the OC to spend time with the Brown family. Caleb got to spend his first night in a hotel. The hotel had a crib, so we were all set. Caleb loved rolling around on the big bed - it was adorable.
While in Orange County, we had the chance to see some Brown family friends. We enjoyed lunch with Sy and Mary Ellen at the Sherman Library and Gardens. So beautiful there!
Caleb was impressed with all the flowers and plants. Look at the picture with his eyes so wide open in wonder. He also liked to reach out and grab the plants.
We saw Carolyn and Rich for dinner as well. It's so great to see good family friends!
We also got to spend some time just chilling with both families, too.
It was a wonderful trip and so awesome to see Caleb get to do some more "firsts" in his life. We're so lucky to have a pretty easy-going, happy baby. Hopefully we get to take many more trips together.
And cheers to many more "first's for the little guy!
I feel pretty darn privileged to join the mom's club this year with Caleb's arrival. I had no idea what being a mom would feel like, but it's the best. thing. ever. My heart bursts with the love I have for Caleb. I can't imagine my life without him now. In fact, I can hardly remember not having him. If I am driving around without him (Josh watching him as I run an errand, for instance), I keep looking back in the mirror to check on him. I also have picked up this rocking motion, which I'll do even if I'm not holding him. And you know what, if he splits up or poops on me, I am actually okay with it (ok, so the latter only if I know he's hurting from tummy aches). I just can't believe how the love keeps growing every day.
Even though I feel like the greatest gift is just to be Caleb's mom, I still got treated royally for Mother's Day. (Am I getting mushy enough for you?). My in-laws were in town, so I got to celebrate with my mother-in-law, too. It was a wonderful day!
It started with a banana muffin and french press coffee (yea, yea...I made the muffins). Then we went to church, which was a big thing on it's own actually. It was the day we did Caleb's Baby Dedication. I'll do a separate post on this later once I have more photos (my father-in-law took them and is going to share them with me soon). So for now I only have this photo with Caleb eating my arm.
After church, we enjoyed brunch at Tilikum Place Cafe. I had the best dutch baby pancakes - savory ones with broccoli, bacon, and Beecher's cheese. Yum! Josh was a good Dad and took Caleb out at the beginning when Caleb was crying/fussy. He got Caleb to fall asleep and brought him back inside...and Caleb slept the rest of the meal. Yay!
While at brunch, we opened gifts. I got a gift certificate for a massage from Josh (oh yea baby! my shoulders/neck are KILLING me from lifting Caleb and the car seat). I got this very cool multi-use nursing cover from my in-laws plus some macarons. Caleb got me a cute t-shirt with a mama elephant with a baby elephant. I just loved all the cards, too.
We made a pit-stop at home and then went shopping at U-Village. I was gifted some cute things from my favorite store, Evereve. Here's us at the mall.
We ended the day with take-out from Tigerly Ox since this mama didn't want to cook. Not to mention, I love Bun. Oh, and I got my super favorite pumpkin cookies for dessert. SO GOOD. This was from a friend who was visiting Eugene and brought them back from Palace Bakery for us...isn't that the nicest!
I couldn't ask for a better day. I felt so special! And Happy Mother's Day to all my mother friends out there. xoxo
I know I've said it before, but I really can't help myself. I take photos of Caleb everyday. My photo stream on my devices (phone/laptop) is exploding. But I ask you this: how can you not take photos of this little guy?
I want to capture everything - his smiles, his feet, his laughs, even his cries. I know in a few years I'm going to want to look back at these magical moments. Heck, I'm already looking back at his newborn photos. I'm sappy like that. I now cry at Hallmark commercials...okay, it hasn't gotten that far...yet.
Rather than letting the photos sit on my computer to be seen only by me, I have been sharing many of them on Instagram. Correction: I have been sharing a LOT of them on Instagram. I want to be sensitive to my Instagram followers and not post too many, but it's really all I take photos of these days. #sorrynotsorry. But before you stop following me, hear me out. I have a purpose for all this baby posting (besides the memories I just mentioned). I want to make a book at the end of the year. Yup, you can do that. I am probably going to use either Blurb or Artifact Uprising. They both have tools to make Instagram books. I think this will be pretty cool to have to remember our first year with Caleb.
So please bear with me and all the Caleb photos, or if this sounds exciting to you to see then start following me on Instagram. Below is just a snapshot of my Instagram photo stream. Yup, 6 out of 9 photos are Caleb. ;) I hope you find the photos cute at least!
Now that Caleb is here, I think my parents will be visiting more often - yay! My mom got a Seattle raincoat so she's all set. If it comes between rain vs. Caleb, Caleb wins. Those San Diegans, I tell you (ha, I say that like I wasn't born & raised there - shh don't tell anyone).
It's amazing how much he's grown since my parent's first visited Caleb. Back then he was 3 weeks. This time around he was 10 weeks. The difference is crazy! He pretty much doubled in size and was totally more aware and alert. So for this visit, we got to get out and about much more.
This time Aunt Lindsay came along as well, so we had the whole O'Neill family together. Here's all of us...
I love spring especially when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. We enjoyed the cherry blossoms at University of Washington. Apparently, it's a thing here to go to the UW quad and see the trees. I was my first time going since moving to Seattle, and it didn't disappoint. They grow all over Seattle, but when there are a bunch of them together it so pretty. I think the O'Neill clan enjoyed the flowers, too.
Of course, we took some photos of ourselves with the cherry blossoms. We didn't want to take Caleb out of his car seat/stroller as it was pretty chilly outside. My sister kindly held a flower up to the seat, though, so we got a photo of him with the flowers.
We also went down to Georgetown and took a Taste & Tour at Fran's Chocolates. They first took us in the back where we got to see all the chocolate in the making. They were hard at work with Easter chocolates. We even got to see Fran herself in action (see the lady in the black jacket below, that's Fran). My favorite was watching the lady make the chocolate eggs. She hand designed each egg, which is amazing. Check out my video of her pouring the chocolate and making the design. Then they did a little tasting of 5-6 different chocolates. Needless to say, we weren't too hungry for lunch afterwards.
Of course there was a rainy day and we had to go indoors. We headed over to Mohai to learn about the history of Seattle. There was also a hip hop special exhibit.
There was some good eats, too. We enjoyed some tasty meals at Little Water Cantina, Giddy up, and Cascina Spinasse (one of my favs!).
Good fun, good food, good family. Life is good!
Every morning is Easter morning from now on... (hear it here)
This song is forever ingrained in my memory from my childhood church. I totally remember driving around with my parents and they would belt this song out. It wasn't Easter without it. Naturally, I find myself singing it today. It's the only Easter song that I can think of actually, which is funny because there are tons of Christmas songs. Isn't Easter just-as important (nay, more important!) of a holiday than Christmas? If you know any good Easter songs, let me know!
Anyway, it was a good Easter here in Seattle. It was special for us since it was our first Easter with Caleb. He was handsome in his little Easter outfit. I can't wait until he can go on Easter egg hunts - his mom loved Easter egg hunts as a child.
We started with church this morning. We got into our Sunday best...
And then we enjoyed some tasty food. I made a mini Easter feast for us. We had Whole Foods glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, brown butter roasted asparagus, deviled eggs, cardamon rolls (from Byen Bakeri), and carrot cake oatmeal cookies for dessert. And because I'm crazy, and had more shredded carrots from the cookies, I made carrot-spiced oatmeal muffins for tomorrow morning. Boom...Easter feasting.
In other words, this Easter we dressed up, went to church, sang, cooked, and ate. Pretty good Easter if you ask me!
I would love to introduce to you our son, Caleb. You might recall my due date being mid-January...well, he decided to join this world a bit early on Saturday, January 2nd, taking both Josh and I a bit by surprise. We were released from the hospital on Wednesday after a few days in the special care nursery due to some heart rate concerns. Fortunately, he proved to be healthy and we headed home to start our new life as a family.
Now, he is already a week old - can you believe it?! Josh and I are still settling down and figuring out the parenting thing, but Caleb has already captured our hearts.
I'll share more details with you soon since writing a whole post right now is probably not going to happen given I keep starting a task and only halfway completing it and/or falling asleep. So for now I wanted to share some photos from the hospital.
And a few more...
Isn't he the cutest? Expect many more photos of this little dude. ;)
Wow, the holidays flew by faster than Santa and his sleigh on Christmas Eve (do you like what I did there?). Our holidays were jam packed and full of merriment. I thought I'd share a holiday run down through photos. Let's do it...
My parents and sister flew up for Christmas and a few additional days. It was so wonderful to have the whole family here and to spend some quality time together.
Even though I had a million other things happening in my life, I just had to get a tree! I think this was our tallest tree yet.
Josh picked out the pig ornament. It makes me think about the dog trainer telling us to read the book, When Pigs Fly: Training for Impossible Dogs (ehh, that's encouraging...NOT). And so I dedicate that ornament to Asha's first Christmas with us.
Of course, one of my favorite things is getting all the holiday cards and greetings from friends and family. This year I had a little ribbon to display them all.
There should be a Christmas song about Christmas cookies. Well, I bet there is one really, but let's start our own. "Oh Christmas cookie, how sweet thou art. You fill my tummy with happiness and glee." Uh, that needs some work.
I kept the cookies simple this year - no macarons or pepakakor like years past. But these were delicious! Here's what I made this year:
Oh and for Christmas Eve dessert, I made a delicious Salted Caramel Apple Pie with a crumble topping. Oh man, so good!
I also organized a cookie exchange at work. I had organized it last year as well and it just so much fun to swap cookies and get new recipes. Lots of deliciousness. Let's sing that cookie song again.
And to round out the sweetness of the cookies, we enjoyed some delicious savory meals. Being preggo for Christmas, I opted to have us go out for dinner. Christmas Eve we celebrated at Bastille and Christmas Day at Rays Boathouse. I did manage a Spinach & Cheese Strata for Christmas morning brunch, though!
Of course, we went to our church for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. This is always a favorite of mine, probably because we get to sing so many Christmas songs.
Presents! Gifts! Oh boy! Apparently we were all very good this year. ;)
And do you like my wrapping paper. I think it's the cutest!
Then we opened all the gifts. Look at those Christmas smiles!
As you know, I was pregnant this holiday season. This little guy will be the greatest gift - a bit late for Christmas, but I'm sure he'll ring in the new year.
This was also Asha's first Christmas with us. She was a good dog and didn't drink the water out of the tree. I do think she wondered why we brought the tree inside, though.
Well, that was one mighty fine holiday. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Wow, we have so much to be thankful for this year. We feel so blessed!
Baby Boy Brown (aka B3) - We can't believe the wonderment this little guy has already brought to our lives and he's not even born. We can't wait to meet him, but we are thankful for him already.
Josh - I am a superbly lucky gal to have such a kind, loving, and smart husband. I’m so happy that I get to spend my life with my best friend.
Family - Our families are so supportive and loving. We are so grateful to have such wonderful parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents (in our memories!).
Friends - We are lucky to have great friends here in Seattle, but also all around the country and even the world! We don't know what we'd do without such friends.
Asha - Our little pup has grown so much this year. In December, she will be one year old. She has brought so much joy to our lives.
Seattle - We felt in love with our city the first time we visited. We are so grateful to live in an exciting, beautiful city with nature all around, good food, and decent weather (yes, even including that occasional rain we get here).
Ballard Church - We joined Ballard Church earlier this year and already feel integrated to a supportive, church family. We've meet some awesome people and are so grateful we found this community.
Jobs - As much as we whine about work, we are so grateful for good jobs. I’m especially thankful for my co-workers, who are more friends than co-workers. They keep me smiling at work and are pretty fantastic, creative people.
Country - Not to sound hokey, but I’m thankful for our country - the founders, the opportunities, and the freedom we so often take for granted. Thanks to the brave pilgrims and explorers, too!
Thanksgiving Feast - I’m sitting here typing with a full and satisfied tummy. We had a most delicious feast and everything turned out so delicious. I’ll share that in another post soon.
This list could go on and on. Like my thankfulness for coffee, pumpkin, fall leaves, technology (yes, that’s you iPhone - you keep me from getting lost and connected with long distance friends), and so much more.
What a wonderful life! I hope you all had a great thanksgiving.
Now, let Christmas begin!
Merry Christmas! Please go here to read our 2024 Christmas Letter.
I love Christmas movies. I watch the same ones every year, you know, the classics like A Muppets Christmas Carol and Elf. I kid. I also enjoy It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. What's your favorite Christmas movie?
This letter could be like watching a movie: the story of our 2023. Grab a hot cocoa and a blanket, and I'll tell you this year's story.
The Christmas songs are playing, the movies are being watched, we are snuggled with books before bedtime…Christmas has arrived here at the Brown family home. While this year (and even more so, last year) has been a bit masked of normalcy (see what I did there), we still have had a most wonderful year. A year full of growth, love, learning, goofy dancing, and ninja moves.
We are still loving our home in Tacoma with our two boys and crazy dog. We've lived in Tacoma for five years now, and there is no doubt it's home sweet home to us now. We have built some strong friendships that we know will last a lifetime. We are truly happy here!
Well, this year sure hasn't been a walk in the park. It has definitely had some hardships, and our heart goes out to everyone who has experienced tragedy.
But it's also been an amazing and blessed year for our family. And the truth is, we've taken many walks in the park; it was one of the few things that kept us sane during lockdowns with two crazy kiddos.
