Growing family

It has been ages since the last post, and lots has happened! With a baby on the way (due Oct 5) and a new puppy, our family is growing! Here are some pics of the new pup. Pics of me (belly) coming soon, as soon as we can get them downloaded...

PA and DC pics

Was recently in DC and PA, for work and family visits. I got to see Joy and new baby Cedar, plus met up with my mom and Aunt Jane for a PA trip. Great to see everyone!

Merry Christmas!

We're having a true white Christmas here in Seattle. There has been snow on the ground for over ten days and it's snowing again as I type this.

Even though our family is all spread out this Christmas, John and I are keeping the family traditions going. We have the King's College Choir, the Nutcracker, and the Johnny Mathis CDs on a continuing loop. On Christmas Eve I made winter cookies (recipe by my great grandmother) and John made his family's traditional xmas eve treats -- bbq meatballs, clam dip and pasties. He is making Muscovy duck w/ blueberry sauce for dinner tonight. Yum!

My mom sent a couple of old childhood ornaments for our tree, and we were happy to see "the Pauls" and "the Rainies" make an appearance on my parents' dining room table (a very important Christmas tradition)



I took Queets for a run this morning when it was still dark and it was fun seeing all the neighborhood lights. John and I opened stockings and presents and we've been cozy and snuggled up all day (he is battling a cold).

We feel so lucky and blessed for everything we have, our wonderful family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

Stock up, hunker down

That's the headline on the Seattle PI today -- we're supposed to get an even bigger snow storm this afternoon (plus high winds and freezing rain)

We've been having lots of fun tromping around the park and the neighborhood. All the dogs, kids and sledders are out and everyone is having a great time.

I'm just hoping that with this next "arctic blast" we don't lose power.

Last night I had the urge to bake something, so I used ingredients we already had in the house to make Chocolate Icebox Shortbread with buttercream frosting. Very tasty. And after all that butter I'm thinking I should go for a run this morning...

Snow!

We had a big snow on Saturday night (Dec 13). John and I got home late from a Christmas party and took this pic in front of our house. Of course, that was also the night our wonderful friend Joy was in labor with her first baby -- a boy named Cedar! Congratulations Joy and Jim!

The streets are still very icy in our neighborhood and we're supposed to get more snow tonight. Woohoo!

Ah, Portland

What a great Thanksgiving we had in Portland. Bob and Sara were wonderful hosts, and it was fun to see their condo all decorated and finished.

We had some good walks and outings, looking at houses for mom and dad -- up around Washington Park, near John's office, and also in Northwest, not far from Bob's condo. We played Bobby's Wii (John liked golf, I liked cow racing). We had an amazing dinner at Three Doors Down (see amazing recipes for penne with vodka sauce and white bean dip) and we ate amazing pizza at Ken's Artisan Pizza. AND, after a day of Christmas shopping we stopped at a chocolate cafe for heavenly "drinking chocolate". Mmm.

In other big news, when were were in Oregon we picked up our drift boat and we visited the Von Duffin's (where we got Queets) -- we'll be getting a puppy this spring/summer!

Mostly, we're all just hopeful and excited that we'll all be able to be in the same city before too long.

Happy Thanksgiving week

Wow, it has been a long time since we posted anything here. October flew by with lots of work travel. I was in CA, VA, and DC. November has flown too (Yay, Obama!). John and I are great, enjoying work and having fun.

Poor Queets got bitten on the nose this morning by a mean dog. Really just a scratch, but it drew blood. Poor little guy. He's fine, but he likes to milk these kinds of things for all they're worth. He's cuddled up with John on the couch right now, watching football.

The big news of last night is that we're getting a drift boat! We've had our eye on these boats for a long time, and John had arranged a non-profit discount with the company, but then found an even better deal on Craigslist. He'll be able to use it for work, taking donors on little fishing trips. And of course we'll have lots of fun with it too. It's big enough for us, the dog, overnight gear (and a future kid or two!) So we have many river trips in our future. It's the best!



The plan is to drive to Bend, OR to pick up the boat on Tuesday, then do some floating/fishing on the Deschutes on Wed, then Wed afternoon we'll drive to Portland to meet the fam for Thanksgiving festivities. We'll all be in Portland through Sat night. I'm sure we'll do lots of walking and shopping (for Christmas, but also for houses -- my parents are looking at houses in Portland/Vancouver. And John and I are crossing our fingers that we can swing a move this spring/summer).

We are very grateful to Bobby and Sara for hosting Thanksgiving. Don't go overboard - just the basics!!

Speaking of food, I got the book "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" at the used bookstore. Some people may find it offensive, but really it's just funny and irreverent. Their big thing is eating vegan (I'm not -- I could never give up cheese! -- but they have some good/healthy recipes). So, I'm going to make some muffins this afternoon, for tomorrow's breakfast. We'll see how they turn out.