Birthday Boy

Anderson turned 2 on February 9th!!!  We had a party for him at Little Gym.  It was great and super easy!  They handled everything from sending out invitations to serving the pizza and cake to cleaning up the craziness.  The party was 90 minutes...30 minutes of group activities led by Anderson's Little Gym teacher, Ashley, 30 minutes to eat pizza and cake and open presents, and then, a final 30 minutes in the gym with Ashley.  Anderson and all of the kiddos had a lot of fun!  Thanks to Anderson's friends and family that came to his party!!  We love you!

Big Birthday Boy and Friends

Pizza and cake...YUM!



Getting ready to dive into the cake...



Playing with the parachute...

"Cheese!!"

Enjoying ice cream on his birthday!

Sun and Sand

Here are some of our favorite photos from Maui!  We stayed at a beautiful new resort called Honua Kai.  We had a one bedroom condo with a great lanai, full kitchen, washer/dryer, and huge bathroom.  It was awesome and we totally recommend this resort to others...especially families.  It was not crowded and the customer service was great.  We were so lucky to overlap a few days in Maui with my mom and Mark.  They watched Anderson for us a couple of times and we got to see the property they've been going to for the past few years.  One night that they watched Anderson, we went to Five Palms for dinner.  We got there around 5:30...just in time for their sunset special.  The food was great and the view was even better.  We also went on a hike and explored a couple different beaches but mostly we just chilled on the beach or by the pool.  Perfect!! 

Dinner at Five Palms

Aloha!!  Leis from Grandma Shorty.

Great little beach we found up the road from our resort...there was a playground and an organic market across the street.

View at Five Palms

Kaanapali Beach

Sunset in Kihei

Mmmmmm...smells good!

Anderson loved kicking the soccer ball around the beach and into the water.

Mr. Happy

Dad and Anderson on Kaanapali Beach

It was going to be "just a small party"...

...but I just ordered a Lightning McQueen cake that will feed up to 40 people!  What kind of birthday monster am I creating!?!?  Ka-CHOW!!

Go DAWGS!

I'm working on a post with pictures and videos from Maui.  We had a great time and took LOTS of pictures so it's taking me awhile to sift through. 

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this video of Anderson.  March is a VERY, VERY important month in our house.  Not only is it Brad's birthday but more importantly its March Madness!!  So we're gearing up for it.  I have the sports jingle for March Madness (yes...you know the one) stuck in my head year round...not because I, too, love March Madness but because Brad wakes every morning as we head into the madness humming this tune with a gitty smile on this face.  He's like a kid in a candy store!!  Anderson is beginning to love college basketball and specifically the Huskies, as Brad does...however, he seemed a little distracted here.  Go DAWGS (even though they lost to Oregon State last night)!

Seriously...he's genius...I know!

Cheers!

Over the holiday season we did a lot of toasting at the dinner table.  Anderson caught on fast!  Now, every dinner that we have together he initiates a toast by saying "Cheers!"  In true Anderson style, he then proceeds to smash his cup as hard as he can into your cup (this cheers is quite mellow but you know what I'm talking about if you've ever had the pleasure of "cheersing" Anderson).  Have I mentioned that he's a bit of a physical kid?!?!  Enjoy the "cheers" video below along with some other antics...

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