All Packed And Ready To Go

Auntie Beans here we come!

Happy Holiday's From The Clarks!

Awe, what a cute little family if I do say so myself.

Wow, I can't believe how fast December has flown by! We've been slacking in our posting - sorry fans. Not sure if it's just that we got slammed with life or that since the little one is on the move I don't find myself behind the computer as much. Okay perhaps a combo of both.

We are packing our bags and jumping on Santa's sleigh for a direct flight to The Big Island of Hawaii to visit one of our favorite people.... Auntie Beans!!!!! So excited. Matt surprised us with tickets - what a great husband! We'll be spending both Christmas and New Years on a coffee farm, soaking up some rays, deciding which beach to go to next. Awe, can't wait!

Last time Auntie Beans has seen little (not so little anymore) d was back in June, when Matt had his head injury. Auntie and d got some good bonding time in then during the 9 days Matt was in the hospital. She's going to be quite surprised as 6 months in baby time is huge. It's truly amazing when you think about how fast these little people grow in just one year! It blows my mind. We'll Auntie will get in lots of Auntie time, for sure! Apparently the whole Island is in anticipation of Lil' d's arrival - not sure if we'll see much of our little girl for the next few weeks. And as a special treat Jill is treating Matt and me to a special night away while she and d hang out - uh, can we say 'love you sis! you are the best.'.

Before we head off to 82 degree weather, we'd just like to wish you all a fabulous Christmas and all the best in the New Year.

Love, The Clarks.

Bend, Bikes, The Freeman's, & A Bunch of Filipino Aunties

So here's a funny story for our great blog fans. This past weekend we went to Bend, OR for a big cyclecross bike race and to visit our cousins Elissa, Trip, Bridger, & Bryn. It was lots of fun - until Maggie ate 3 pounds of puppy chow but that's another story. Dylan had a great time playing with Bryn and their little wiener puppy dog Lucy. AND loved watching all the muddy bike riders.

Dylan and Lucy dog.

The family all snug in the Eurovan. Have I mentioned how much we LOVE our Eurovan?

Bike races in Bend. Picture compliments of Troy.

Dylan watching the riders go by. She was very into it.

So Friday night we left after work. Since we got such a late start we figured we'd drive 'til we got tired and then find a hotel to stay at. We got a couple of hours under our belt before stopping at a little town for some dinner. The only places that seemed open were a taco stand or a Filipino restaurant - we went for warmth and went into the restaurant. As we sat there we noticed Dylan smiling and giggling at a table of women - and yes, they were all smiling, waving, cooing, and laughing back. It didn't take long to strike up a conversation with them all. Turns out it was a family run business and all these women were aunties, daughters, grand daughters, sisters, and even their 92 year old mom! Next thing we knew Dylan was being passed around the bunch - just loving all her new friends - AND 2 hours later we were back on the road! Only regret was not getting a group photo. Here's a couple of family shots Matt took on his i-phone.

Look Who's Standing...

Dj D'Ray

Dylan's little friend Mila lent her this really fun stand up music board. Oh my gosh, Dylan is like a mad woman behind it. She's pushing every button which plays music, then screams and bobs her head around like Stevie Wonder - it's hilarious!!!!! Here's some great shots of Lil D'Ray mixin' it up!

A Bowl of Dal

The other day Dylan and I met Matt for lunch. We went to a favorite little spot in Fremont - Silence Hearts Nest. Dylan was munching on a rice cracker while we ate our lunch. She quickly caught on that we were eating something different than she was and started eyeing Matt's bowl of Dal soup. Matt was like 'uh, what should we do?" so I said "hum, give her a bite". So he did and then another and another and another. Pretty soon Dylan had eaten 1/2 a bowl - she loved it!

She's really getting into this eating thing. We've given her beans, coconut rice, noodles, peas, quesadilla, green beans, pancakes, oatmeal, yams, even salmon. Tonight I'm making risotto, we'll see how that goes over. So far she's loved everything!

Dad, Dylan & Bike Racin'

A few weeks ago Matt took Dylan to a bike race. A little dad and daughter day - pretty cute! It was a great (but wet) day for both. On the way home Matt couldn't tell if Dylan was sleeping in her carseat (the mirror we usually use was in the van) so he took a picture with his iphone to see what she was doing back there (as the carseat is still facing towards the backseat). And yes as you can tell she was awake.

Thanksgiving ~ finally!

Thanksgiving photo's here as last! So sorry for the delay, it's been a bit crazy over here at the Clark house.

We had a great time. We packed up the Eurovan with all the gear that comes with these little ones and headed to Spokane. We had a great visit with Uncle Mike and Auntie Diane. Auntie Diane score Dylan a bag of really fun toys - you know the kind that makes lots of great noises. Dylan's loving them all - thanks Diane! On the funny side - some of them we couldn't turn off, nor did we have a screwdriver to take the batteries out so lets just say our Eurovan sounded like something from a cartoon! Doooooiiing, zoooing, weeepeeepeeee... Every bump was a musical one.

After Spokane we headed Missoula. The Becker family was so great in letting us stay with them. Dylan (and Maggie) had lots of fun with cousin Lydia, while Matt and I held the newest little cousins Henry and Liam - so cute! Thanks Polly and Rob for letting us take over your basement!

So the big T-day! Well there were 40 of us. The family had made up t-shirts numbering all the family members in the order of their appearance. Little D was number 22! So cute to see how everyone numbered up. It was a great day for sure! Tons of fun, family, babies, funny stories, and laughs. Oh yeah and FOOD! Dylan loved every minute of it. The minute Matt and I walked in the front door G-ma Linda took Dylan from my arms, she was passed from one family member to the next to the next. I think it was a few hours 'til I saw her again (and I think it was only because she had a dirty diaper).

Matt and Dylan shot many pictures of the day together.

Dylan met her cousin Pike for the first time. Pike is 6 weeks younger than D. Oh boy, they LOVED each other!!! Well let's just say until Dylan bit him and made him cry ~ sorry Pike!

The big day also consisted of Great G-ma Ruth's 90th birthday. So there was a big celebration. Matt got some great shots of all the great grand kids gathered around GG-ma Ruth. So sweet. Happy Birthday GG-ma Ruth!!!

(if you look closely this is where Dylan bit Pike and made him cry).

For those who want to see more pictures from the Gardner (Matt's Mom's side) Family Thanksgiving here's a lovely homepage my husband made of the photo's he shot. http://homepage.mac.com/str8films1/thanksgiving2009/index.html

After our whirlwind in Missoula we headed up to Whitefish (where Matt & I got married) to show Dylan. We love it there and hopefully one day will have a cabin or property. We visited our good friends the Sabin's. Love them!!!! It was a great relaxing time together. We hunkered down at their house and just chilled. On Saturday it was snowing so we packed everyone up and headed out for a hike. Matt carried Dylan in a pack and she was shrieking with delight the entire time we were out. You could hear her a mile away. Her little checks were just about purple - i kept thinking she was cold - but the was having the time of her life. The snow was falling and it was beautiful! It was a great hike and so nice to be out in the woods as the snow fell. When we got back to the car Dylan put up a bit of a fuss and then was passed out with exhaustion! Just want to give a shout out to the Sabin family to say thank you! We had a great time.

All in all it was a great trip! We got home and then all caught colds - that part wasn't so fun. Hence the fact this posting is so late. Hope you all had a great T-day!

We Have A Third Tooth!

Yes three beautiful shinny teeth - all the better to bite you with, wahaaaahaaaaa!

Thanksgiving - We have a photographer

We had a great visit to Montana to see family and friends. Of course the time away was too short, but we had fun none the less. Here's the first of many entries about the big trip:

Dylan has had her hands on a camera already. While hanging out with her dad at Thanksgiving, she got to over see him catching some of the action. This was Dylan's second shoot in less than a week. At least the Thanksgiving shoot day wasn't raining and muddy like the first one.

Dylan seems right at home with the shutter snapping and the ability to just watch, listen and wait. She's already learning to be observant and keen on light. I wonder what her first camera will be? On top of all of this, her mom has some cool hats for her so she has the mystic of a real photographer. Nice job mom!