Holiday Fun

After 4 years of being away from family at Christmas, we soaked up as much family time as we could this year!  For the first time since before we moved away to Colorado, all of Robins' siblings and all of Brads' siblings were together!  We certainly didn't capture enough of the fun times but here's a quick list and a few pictures of some of the fun things we did with family over the Christmas holiday...

• Sibling dinner at Terracotta Red in Everett...a super yummy "modern asian bistro".
• First Annual Obstacle Course competion at the Clark's.  Peggy and Mark were the official judges/babysitters, Elle and Anderson were the official cheerleaders, and competators were Team Huskies (Robin/Brad), JB2 (Jen/Josh), and Seahawks (Alyson/Rob).  After a heated battle, JB2 came out on top!  Preparations have already begun for next year's annual obstacle course!
• Traditional Christmas Eve dinner at Suanne's house with Gina, Kenny, Brett, Suanne and us.  Of course, the great food was paired with even better wine (thanks to Gina) and we drank the best dessert wine I've ever had!  Brad and I brought it back from South Africa...Vin de Constance from Klien Constantia.  A-MAZ-ING!! 
• Christmas morning together...in our little duplex.  We got Anderson a train table...he loved it!
• Christmas dinner at the Clark's with all of the Lemon family!  Gotta love my mom's cooking!  Highlight...Mark acting out people in the celebrity game.
• Christmas celebration with Robin's dad and Grandma Tracy and all of the siblings!!  I ordered some very sophisticated pizza from Alfy's.  Highlights...playing Wavelength (a really fun new game), Tom and Brad were partners which made for some pretty funny answers and being together with Robin's dad and all of his children for the first time in A LOT of years!!
• Christmas brunch at Suanne's with all of the Talley boys and cousins!  Highlight...the comedy of trying to get all three cousins take a picture with Grandma Suanne! 
• Cabin time with the Tracy family...we rented a beautiful cabin near Leavenworth and had a great time with the Tracy family.

 Clark/Tracy/Borrell/Talley Family

 Talley Cousins (Rylan, Ayla, Anderson)

 Rylan and Anderson looking for squirrels...

 Grandma Suann and Grandkids

 Anderson and Grandpa Tracy

Anderson and Grandpa Tracy sledding...

Naughty or Nice??

We got this picture of Anderson and Santa a couple of weeks before Christmas.  There were a few photos of him actually smiling but I really like this one the best!  Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!  Ours was filled with lots of good times with friends and family!

Anderson and Santa...December 2010

We're goin' on a tree hunt...

We went to Farmer Brown's Christmas Tree Farm last weekend to chop down our tree.  We had a great time with TC, Grandma Shorty, and Susan and her girls...and we found the perfect tree!!  Its beginning to feel a lot like Chirstmas...


 

 Anderson stopping to say "cheese"!

 Kylie, Taylor, Anderson, Chelsey, and TC

 Anderson and Dad

 Here it is...our Christmas tree!

My brother, TC, also known as Paul Bunyan

Little Gym

Anderson has been going to Little Gym in Everett for the past couple of months. He has learned how to do a forward roll, how to hang from a bar, the bear walk, and a ton of other things. He really likes the classes and it' a great outlet for all of his energy too! Here are some photos of him at a recent class. I have a great video that I captured with my new camera but can't figure out how to upload it to the blog. Oh well...maybe you'll see the video in a later posting.

Anderson on the balence beam!

He loves reaching for and then hanging from the bar.

All smiles and fun at Little Gym!

Anderson on the iPad

Anderson has developed a new found love for our iPad. We recently downloaded a couple of free games. It's been fun to see what words and skills he has that we've never taught him. So cool!! Some of the games he really likes are Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, eFlash, and Sound Board. The monkey games is his favorite but he can't quite complete all of the activities independently yet, however, he's getting close. After a couple of exposures to a games he seems to know exactly what to do...amazing and brilliant (of course)! Enjoy!

Seattle Marathon...we did it!!

Brad and I completed the Seattle Marathon on November 28th! Yes...all 26.2 miles! It was a fun but difficult marathon...very hilly. We both did great and we're happy it's over! Thanks to all of our friends and family that came out to cheers us along.

Brad and I have a goal to run a marathon in every city/area we've lived in since we've been married. So...we've done Denver, Portland, and now, Seattle marathons. Who's up for meeting us in Chicago in 2012 for the Chicago Marathon? Judy's...maybe we should road trip it out there again and run it together. It would only be fitting!!

Brad and Robin - Seattle Marathon 2010

Ocean Videos

Ok...so I'm posting videos from September and it's now November. Pretty lame but here they are...these are some great shots of Anderson enjoyin the ocean in North Carolina. He loved the ocean and recently learned that word at school a couple of weeks ago. He also remembers that mommy got stung by a jelly fish! When we look at the sea animals page in the animal book he always spots the jelly fish and says "mommy, ouch". I got stung by a jelly fish while sitting on the beach with Anderson in about 6 inches of water. Don't ask me how I didn't see it! I got stung pretty bad up and down both of my legs. Luckily, Anderson only got one little sting. What's crazy is that the stings went a way after about a day and then came back a week later after we got home to Seattle. I got a horrible rash that lasted for another 10 days or so! Ouch!

Anyway, life is good but busy. We are really looking forward to the holiday season with family. Brad took his ABEM (American Board of Emergency Medicine) test last week. He's been studying for the last month or so and we're glad that its done. Now, he just has to pass it. Once he passes the written test then there is an oral test this spring...then, he will finally be a board certifice emergency medicine doctor!! What a long process!

Enjoy the videos...I'll try to get better at posting more frequently and more recent stuff. Love to you all and many blessings during this holiday season!