Thanksgiving At Cousin Jackson's

It was great to wake up Thanksgiving morning to find we still had snow (you never know with snow in Seattle - it's usually gone as quickly as it appears). We got the car all packed up and headed out to Uncle Ben and Aunt Liz's for Thanksgiving dinner. Dylan and Jackson had fun sledding - we even had a snowball fight. Dylan loved checking out the chickens, goats, and horses. Fun times and good food. AND as we drove home we noticed all the snow was gone - just like that. It was great while it lasted!

Pappa Matts Big Four Ooooooh

Pappa Matt turned the big 4-O. Here's some pictures from his super fun weekend. What more can a guy ask for on his birthday - bikes, beer, family, friends, and more bikes...

Our friends Troy, Hollice and Bella came to help celebrate - they live in Missoula. Can't bring the guy to Missoula bring Missoula to the guy - right?
Saturday morning after breakfast the gang all headed down to Pike Place Market for an adventure while mom stayed back to prepare for the evenings events.


Here's Bella pushing Dylan up a pretty steep hill - nice work Bella!



Mom was back home gathering up the twins - ha! baking cakes (yes, cakes as the first didn't come completely out of the pan), cleaning, prepping, and getting ready for the big PART-tay.


Aunt Liz, Cousin Jackson, Bella, David all enjoying some pizza.

Tumbs up from Bob. Bob and Laura showed up with a really funny card with a rubber chicken - boy, the kids had a hay day with it! I think Dylan is a little freaked out by the chicken - she giggled when the other kids had it but when it was passed to her not so much.

Mom taking a moment for a thumbs up!

Uncle Ben and Dylan enjoying a slice of pizza.

Before the pizza came Dylan climbed up on the dinning room chair, grabbed her plate from the pile and signed for food. I told her we were waiting for the pizza guy to come, she was then glued to the window yelling 'peazzzzza'. Oh this went on for 20 minutes until the 'peazzzzzza' guy arrived and then you should have heard the screams of joy and the chanting of 'peazzza, peazzza' - brought a smile to the 'peazzzzzza' guys face - and I still gave him a tip!

Thumbs up from Bella. She was a great little party helper.

At one point in the evening Twister came out.

Big and little kiddo's enjoyed it, as seen in these pictures.


Then it was time for presents. Dylan and Jackson made sure Matt didn't miss a single gift.


"Here's one dad, it's got a bike on it."

Wow Matt, whatcha get? A NEW BIKE FRAME coupon - holy cow! Sweet!!!!

Clark family shot.

And now for cake! Here's mom's attempt at a Cyclocross course.


Deer, caramel mud puddle, sugar sandpit, candied rocks, green coconut grass, mini beer cans, little fingers, wait a minute where did those come from .... Some little person just couldn't help herself - or should I say a little person did help herself!

Again and again, and again....

Guys bike geek session. Or maybe they were scheming where Matt's new bike is going to go.

Dylan's new trick - climbing up the bar stools onto the kitchen island. Guess she really wanted to check her email.

And a little night cap to help a girl sleep. Ha! Honestly G-ma the bottle was empty!


The next day was the big cyclocross race. Dad did great - got 4th place - we think it was actually 3rd but apparently not what the officials said. Nice job Matt! Troy raced another division and had a super fun time. The boys came home caked with mud and with really big smiles on their faces.


The evening ended with some girly bath time fun. Bubbles, toys, and water everywhere!


But it was all smiles and giggles.

Thanks to Troy, Hollice, & Bella for making the trek out our way. And to everyone else who came to celebrate with us.

AND Happy birthday Pappa Matt - we love you, madly!

Snow in Seattle

Oh boy, SNOW!!! We love snow! After it took Matt and I 3 1/2 hours to get home from work - which is another story - we drove the babysitter home and grabbed Dylan's boots and jacket and headed out back (if you haven't noticed she's in her pj's). It was all smiles!








The next morning we were all excited to see the snow was still here. We had our breakfast and threw on our boots again (this time we put clothes on Dylan).


After Matt left for work Dylan, Maggie, and I headed out in search of a good sledding spot.


Dylan's snow stuff in a little on the bigger side and she was so bundled up that she reminded me of the kid from a Christmas Story - you know the one that was on the ground rolling around not able to get up as his mom had him so bundled up. Ha! Didn't slow Dylan down much.