2010; A Year In Review

Wow, what a great year 2010 was for us! It was fun, busy and went by much too quickly! Here's a little review of the year from our perspective...

Well, we started out the new year in Cali! Our Oregon Ducks had made it to the Rose Bowl and we decided to follow. We roadtripped with my mother-in-law, and stayed with my brother and his girlfriend. We did end up losing, but what an experience! Definitely something I would do again! And, of course it meant ringing in the new year with John and Lindsey, which was pretty darn cool!

We also started the new year with a new little walker. Miss Avalee had mastered being mobile right around her first birthday. By the beginning of the year, she was onto running; running after her brother, away from her brother, with her brother...well, you get the idea. Haha!

We gave Z the get a 'big boy' bedroom he had needed for so long.

We went to the zoo! It as Avalee's first zoo trip and she had SO much fun!

We welcomed a new family member! After waiting all evening, and into the wee morning hours, we were happy to get the news that our nephew Donovan had arrived!

We celebrated Easter, first by going to an Easter egg hunt at the park with my mom's group a few days before. Then, on Easter, had everyone over for brunch and some more egg hunting (and of course, lots of Easter basket goodies!).




We made our first coast trip of the year, and lucked out with gorgeous weather and clear blue skies! We also used it as an opportunity to have an impromptu photo shoot of the kids and came away with some amazing shots.





We made our way to the Woodburn tulip Festival...our first trip out there! The weather was beautiful, the flowers were beautiful and the kids loved it all!





We went to the spring scrimmage game for the (University of Oregon) Ducks.
Z was putting on quite the show for everyone around us by cheering very loudly. Haha! It was a great day and a nice preview of the season to come!






We started the kids in swim lessons at the Y. Z had taken lessons before, but it had been almost a year. So, we were all surprised when he 'graduated' up to the next class level mid-lessons! This was Avalee's first time, and she got to be with Daddy in the parent/tot classes. Not to be outdone by her big brother, she immediately proved herself to be an amazing little swimmer! She took right to the water and even loved going under, right from the start! Of course, having Daddy all to herself was a big bonus for her too. :o)




We celebrated Mother's Day by going on a picnic to Silver Creek Falls.

We started our backyard renovation project. We have a big slope in our backyard, that serves no purpose. We decided to cut it back, so Colin rented a backhoe and excavated the slope about ¾ back. We spent much of the Summer months digging and dumping dirt, pulling out blackberry bushes, and designing our dream yard. It's still a work-in-progress, so stay-tuned for more updates this year!




We went to Wildlife safari! It was the kids' first time and they LOVED it!




We celebrated Father's Day at home with my parents, a big pot of chili and the Wii! It was the perfect day for Colin!




We went strawberry picking! It has been an annual tradition to do this, since Z was a baby (I used to pick when I was a kid too) and again, this year we had a toddler to keep up with. Although, Miss A seemed quite content to just plant herself in front of some nice ripe strawberries and munch away. And, for the first year, Z got his own bowl to pick in. We ended up going home with three large bowls, which I used to make my very first (freezer) jam! I made strawberry and strawberry/banana and we've still got several jars in the freezer! Of course, we also made smoothies, strawberry shortcake, and froze some for later.




We (Z, Colin and I) saw Toy Story 3 at the movie theater. We had free tickets (thanks to my savvy couponing!) so were able to splurge for the 3D version. We all had SO much fun!




Colin and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (fifteen years together!)!

We celebrated Independence Day at our place. We had my parents and Colin's mom over; enjoyed some delicious strawberry shortcake and watched the fireworks from our driveway.





We had our annual family reunion, and Avalee got to hit her first pinata (a tradition at our reunions)! She and Zavion also had tons of fun running around, playing with all their cousins.






We took a trip to the Tillamook Cheese factory and enjoyed seeing cheese being made...and of course, the best ice cream ever!





We introduced Avalee to the splash pad at our neighborhood park. Of course, she loved it and we made many more return trips!





We took another trip to the zoo, this time with Colin's dad and got to see the dinosaur exhibit, which Zavion LOOOVED!





We bought a new car! Well, new to us, anyway. ;o) Since having two kids, we decided we really needed some more space and settled on the GMC Yukon. After taking it for a test drive, we instantly fell in love (the V8...the Bose speakers...and all that space!) and got it just in time to go camping two days later!




We went on our annual family camping trip!

We picked blueberries. Avalee was actually sleeping in the car when got to the blueberry patch, but woke up soon after we started picking. I think she must have known she was missing out on an opportunity to pick with us. Of course, all of her berries went in her tummy! I was able to make lots of yummy muffins, pancakes and of course we had blueberries to snack on for weeks after.




We went peach picking, which was another first for the Avalee. She could barely believe that you could just pick fruit off of a tree and eat it! And, of course, as was her style, she did some sampling!







We got a surprise visit from my brother, John and his girlfriend, Lindsey (yes, he likes surprise visits. Remember this?)! They flew up from CA for a few days, and hung out, got re-acquainted with the kids, and made us (Colin and I) stay up way after our bedtime (playing Mario Kart and having some drinks)! Haha! The best part was that they stayed with us, which the kids especially loved! They got Uncle and Aunt Lindsey's attention all day, and we had some grownups to talk to. ;o)






We made our annual trek to the Oregon State Fair; not once, not twice but three times! Despite my insistence that we only go one time this year, John and Lindsey wanted to go once while they were here, so we joined them. And, we went another day to see the dinosaur exhibit and finally our main ride day. Whew! It was lots of fun (and, ohh how I missed those curly fries!) but I wasn't too sad to see it pack up for another year.





Football season started! As you may remember, we are HUGE Oregon Ducks fans (hubby graduated from UO in 2002) and have season tickets for the games. It really is one of my favorite things about Fall, and makes me not so sad to see Summer fade away. This year started off with a bang; a 72-0 win against New Mexico! And, each game thereafter was another win...in fact the season ended 11-0, in other words, undefeated! And, as we had done In previous years, we took the kids with us to a game. Just like last year, it rained the whole time and despite the fact that we were all soaked, the kids wanted to stay until the game was over so they could go play on Autzen field afterward. It was a spectacular season ending in a dream-come-true trip to the BCS Championship bowl in AZ. Yay...go DUCKS!






We went to Disneyland and celebrated Zavion's 5th birthday!!

We went to the Pumpkin patch and got, what I believe were the last two remaining pumpkins there (definitely the latest we've gone picking pumpkins)!

We celebrated Zavion's birthday again, this time at home with family and friend, including a few monsters.

We dressed up the kids and took them trick-or-treating for a fun Halloween!

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home, with our family, and lots of food!



We picked out another perfect Christmas tree (then went home to watch our Ducks stomp the rival OSU Beavers!)!




I hosted a rock-n-roll baby shower for my bff, Liz!

We celebrated Avalee's 2nd birthday with a fun mermaid party!

We took another trip on the Polar Express! The kids absolutely loved it, and Avalee really got the chance to enjoy it more this year!



We got another family visit; this time from my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew. We were SO excited to meet Donovan for the very first time, and of course to visit with Ceara and Grant again (we hadn't seen Grant for a few years and Ceara in almost two years!). While they were here, we took a trip to Portland to ride the OHSU tram and another zoo visit (three in one year...that must be a record!) to see the Zoo Lights. We also got some prime visiting time in and the kids got some playtime in with their cousin. It was wonderful!






We celebrated Christmas! We had our little family celebration (just the four of us) in the early morning, then my parents came over to exchange gifts. After a family breakfast, we made our way to my mother-in-laws to celebrate with everyone there. It was a perfect Christmas!

And, of course, in between were lots of parties, playdates, sunny (and not-so-sunny) days at the park, fun craft days, homemade cookies, driveway chalk creations, bike rides, trips to the pool, and lots more!
2010 was an amazing year for all of us, and was, among other things, a celebration of fun, friends, family and lots of love!

Tis' the season...

We had a wonderfully busy and full holiday season! Besides having a baby shower and birthday party during December, we made our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm to cut down our own tree, welcomed my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and baby Donovan who were visiting from Vermont, made our second trip to the Polar Express, went to the Oregon Zoo to see the zoo lights and of course had Christmas celebrations with both of our families and our good friends.
We usually cut down our tree the first weekend after Thanksgiving, but with the baby shower this year, I didn't want a big tree in the middle of the room all the guests would be congregating in. So, we put it off until the next weekend. We had a big football game (the Civil War which is the two rival state colleges duking it out) on Saturday, but decided to go get our tree in the morning. The kids were so excited and it was a gorgeous (albeit a little cold) day for tree cutting. After wandering around for awhile, we found the perfect tree.

Z 'helping' Colin with the tree


The kids striking a pose on the tree farm ;o)


After the dust had settled from two parties in two weeks (someone lock me up if I consider doing that in the middle of the Christmas season again!), we excitedly awaited the arrival of my sister-in-law Ceara and her son, Donovan. I'm sure you remember me talking about them before... Donovan was born in March last year, and unfortunately we couldn't make it up to see the new family. We were thrilled to find out they would be coming up for Christmas! We couldn't wait to meet our new little nephew and see Ceara and her husband, Grant (who came up later) again. And, the kids hadn't seen Auntie Ceara since right after Avalee was born, almost two years! I was so worried Donovan about Donovan not being familiar with us, and not wanting to get too close. ;o) But, he came right over with a big ol' grin! In fact, the whole time they were here, he kept wanting me to hold him, pick him up or just play with him. Yay...he loves his Aunt Peggy! And, all the kids got along so well. Avalee just loved him, and I think thought we got her her own little doll...hehe. Donovan loved Z, as well, always trying to get his attention or show off for him. It was wonderful seeing them all play together, and made me wish that we all lived closer. During the time they were here, we all made a trip to Portland (my mother-in-law and father-in-law too) to ride the OHSU tram and check out the zoo lights. It was quite the adventure to ride the tram (a shuttle to the bus station, bus to OHSU then finally the tram) but a lot of fin too. After that, we headed to the zoo to check out the famed zoo lights. I've lived in Oregon my entire life, and have never seen them (though I've always wanted to!) so was pretty excited. We arrived just before dark, and encountered a small line to get in. The lights were gorgeous and the kids had so much fun! As we were leaving, we saw a HUGE line snaking all the way down the hill from the zoo! Apparently, everyone else got there right at dusk and was stuck in the big line. Thank goodness we made it there early...whew! After that, it was off to a delicious dinner at the Claim Jumper restaurant in Tualitin. After such a long day, both kids fell asleep on the way home.
:)

My adorable nephew!


The kids (and Colin) getting to know each other!


Hugs!


Me with a couple of my favorite cuties; Avalee & Donovan!


We were also thrilled to make our second annual trip to Hood River to ride the Polar Express. We did this last year, and Z had so much fun. I was looking forward to this year, because I knew Avalee would really get into it too. We were a little nervous on our drive up, because it started snowing pretty heavily, and we were worried (without chains) we might not make it! Well, luckily we did and after checking in, even decided to take advantage of the snow; we found an empty schoolyard and had an impromptu snowball fight with the kids. Z and Grandma even built a little snowman. We decided to grab a bite to eat before our train ride, and it started snowing pretty heavily again. When we came back out after eating, there was about another inch of snow on the ground! Colin safely navigated us to the train station (about 5 miles from where we were) but it was slow going, and we made it just in time to board. The kids were very excited about going to the North Pole, and Avalee kept saying, “A train? A train!” After being served hot cocoa, cookies and signing some Christmas carols, we stopped in the north Pole so Santa could come aboard. The looks on the kids faces as they saw Santa waving to them from his house, then coming aboard the train was just priceless! Z was totally prepared for Santa, even knew what he was going to ask him for Christmas. I tried preparing Avalee for Santa (whom she had only briefly seen earlier in the month at the mall, and was not so impressed with) even asking if she knew what she was going to ask Santa for. Her response? “Books!” Yay, for my literary kiddos! She even told me, “Mama, I wuuuv Santa!” However, when Santa stopped by for a visit, Avalee had a change of heart. Santa still gave her a bell, and as he walked away, she says whispers, “I wuuv you, Santa!” Haha! After our visit with Santa, it was more carols then back to the train station. And, then for us, a long drive back home...but with some pretty happy kids!

All aboard & ready for an adventure!


Z checking out Santa just outside


Santa had just boarded & Avalee was pretty excited!


Christmas morning brought lots of fun surprises for everyone (new bikes for both kids!)! We always have Christmas morning just for our family to be together and open gifts. Wouldn't you know it, but this morning Z wasn't feeling well. When the kids came downstairs, Avalee went right to her bike and Z just went to the couch and lied down. After several minutes, he asked, “Is this my bike?” Poor boy! He was kind of out of it most of the morning, and ended up with a pile of presents in front of him, that had backed up! Of course, he was feeling well enough to present the first Christmas gift from him to Avalee; he had made her some homemade crayons and a coloring book. He was SO proud of his gift and couldn't wait to share it with her. It was extraordinarily sweet! And, after a dose of Tylenol, he started feeling much better and got into unwrapping all of his gifts. Of course, Avalee had to give him the gift she got him, which was a sweatshirt she found at Target and declared, "I wuuv it! Want it for Z! Buy it for Z! I wuuuuv it! Pay it, Mommy, ok?" So, like Z, she was pretty excited to give him her gift. I just love that both kids really got into the giving so well!

Z helping Avalee with her gift from him


He was SO excited to give her the crayons he made!


Awwww!


Z just gave me a pair of earrings (that match the necklace he game me for my birthday)


Later in the morning, my parents and sister came over to exchange gifts. After that, we all headed to breakfast, which a been a tradition with my family since I was a baby.
After breakfast, it was back home to load up some more gifts and head to my MILs. We spent sometime with everyone, exchanging gifts and having dinner before Ceara, Grant and Donovan had to leave on the red eye back home.
The next day we had our best friends, Liz, Brendan and their daughter Madi over (we have a tradition that they come over for 'Christmas' and we go to their house for New Years Eve). We had our usual make-your-own pizzas then hung out and opened presents. It was a lot of fun as usual, especially watching the kids together. Madi and Avalee are at such a fun age now, and they were playing together, tickling each other and just giggling all night. Very cute!

Giggly girlies!


Havin' fun!


Goodbye hugs!

So, that was our Christmas season. We were kept busy all month, but we wouldn't have had it any other way!

Rock 'n Roll, baby!

 

So, you may have seen me mention that my best friend and her hubby are expecting a baby. They have an adorable little girl now, Miss Madi, who is about as girly as they come! This time around, they are expecting a boy and, befitting his name, Halen (Dad is a HUGE Van Halen fan), we settled on a rock star themed baby shower.
I was pretty excited about this shower, because it was definitely something different than what I had done before. I felt pretty confident about it, then when it came time to start putting everything together, I hit a wall. Panic set in, because I just couldn't seem to come up with what I wanted; a cool, but classy shower that was different, yet not too edgy (didn't want to scare the old people...hehe).
After a nice stroll through Target and Michaels, I got it all figured out!
Of course, I used a lot of guitars throughout the shower. I got my inspiration online (sorry, totally forgot where!) for the guitar template, and used both the Guitar Hero guitar and my son's play guitar (from Target). I was able to trace them onto foam board and use them around (a couple welcomed guests on the front door, two more were over the food table and one was for guests to sign).
I also went with a lot of glitter. This wasn't intentional, but after glittering a couple things, I really liked the feel it gave to everything. I decided to run with it, and created my own glittered candles plus some of the guitars.
And, finally to achieve that classy feel I wanted, I filled a couple big vases with some black marbles and red and white carnations. Those sat on either end of my mantle and in the middle was a large picture frame with photos taken by Halen's dad, Brendan (who is an awesome photographer!). I really loved the way it all came together and I felt satisfied that it captured the mood I was going for.
For the activities, I went with a bib/onesie decoration project for the guests. I had stamps, stencils and fabric paint for them to come up with their own creations. I have to say that I was actually surprised at how well they turned out and how much fun everyone had in creating them. This is definitely a must at future showers! Besides that, I kept it pretty simple with a bingo game the guests played while mommy-to-be was unwrapping gifts.
All-in-all, I think it turned out to be a great shower and I had a ton of fun planning it!
I hope you enjoyed it, Liz, and I'm ready for the next one, whenever you are! ;o)