More of January

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to have the Hanson's (friends from Milwaukee) come stay with us while here for residency interviews.

We went to Seattle's famous Pike Place Market.


Mmm, donuts.

The "Texas donuts" were on sale. This one fed the kids and I and we still had over half left.

Jackson filled in for Carter to make Jeff feel right at home.

It was so fun to see you guys! It made it seem like we just left Milwaukee! A few days after you left, Jackson said, "If the Hanson's came to visit us two times, Jeff would call me Jacksonian two times." Can't wait to hear where you'll be going.

Family of many talents

The audience.

The show.

John plays music while Jackson shows off his "really cool tricks." Then Olivia takes her turn to dance and do flips. One of the benefits of not having nice furniture to worry about, even though the slip-cover doesn't really like it.

Look what I can do!

Just wanted to share the joy of standing.

Bedtime

Olivia likes to wear a hat whenever she has wet hair from a bath. Jackson's wearing a hat because he ran into a doorknob and thought the hat would make his head feel better.

We like to eat

A few people asked for this recipe, and Kelly said I should just blog it, so here it is!

Ultimate Breakfast Casserole

4 eggs, beaten
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
16 ounces sour cream
1 (2 lb) pkg frozen hash browns, thawed
2 cups cooked ham, cubed
1 onion, chopped
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ c butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. Season beaten eggs with pepper, pour into baking dish. In a large bowl, combine soup, sour cream, hash browns, ham, onion and cheese. Mix thoroughly and pour over eggs. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove and drizzle with butter over top of casserole. Return to oven and bake for additional 15 minutes, until golden.

Shower

I got to do a baby shower for Kelly J. last Saturday. She said she wanted it to be open house style and no games. Which actually turned out great - it made it easy for me, and lots of people were able to come. We just ate, opened presents, told labor stories (because isn't that the thing to talk about at a baby shower)? It was a "book theme" shower, and it was fun to see all the books people brought. I tried to find some of our books that aren't too beat up to use for the decor.

Thanks for all your help Ricki!

Food!

Since this is my blog, I'm including a picture of some kids I found at the shower. They were playing with John in the family room, but had to come in for some food. Olivia slept in this outfit (minus the wings) the night before so she would be all ready for the shower in the morning.

What would you do if you were "snowed-in" for pretty much your whole Christmas break?

(We had a ton of snow, and didn’t see roads around our house for about 10 days I think (they were being used as sledding hills instead). I’ve talked to a lot of people who really were snowed-in, and didn’t drive anywhere that whole time (the roads really were bad). We stayed home more than usual, but still got wherever we needed to go – a little Christmas shopping, Portland on the 23rd and back the next day, Katelyn’s doctor’s appointment . . . we used the Pathfinder whenever we needed to go anywhere, and gained a new appreciation for 4WD)!


Build a snowman


Build a tower (electrical-engineer-uncles are good with blocks)


Build a fort

Or build an arctic?

What I did on Christmas Break

Our dining room chairs came with ivory colored pads. They are now ivory w/ popsicle/juice/watermelon/etc.

Due to culprits related to this one, I had to take action and protect/hide the spotted chair pads.

I finally finished them!

I started months ago, but after braking a couple sewing machine needles, I put the project on hold for a while, and finally got back to it. I hope these will last long enough for me to forget what a pain all the straps were to make, so that I'll be willing to replace them again. Next time I may have to figure a way to go strapless, or tie-less, I guess.

And those Christmas cards are about to come down and we'll be back to a bare wall.

Santa Came!

Our kids didn't get anything too big (Santa must have known they already have plenty!), but they were so excited about the things he did bring. Olivia's top thing on her list was a stuffed animal mouse, and Santa came through on that. Jackson just wanted more cars. I don't know if they'll always be so easy to please!
(I already posted about all the pictures of Katelyn that day - she was mostly just being held. But she's feeling much better now).

It was definitely a white Christmas! So fun to see all the snow falling through the window as they opened presents.

Christmas Dinner

We've stayed at home for Christmas the last two years. I love being home for Christmas morning, but we do miss having family around the rest of the day, and to share a big Christmas dinner with! We got out the china that probably won't be seen again until next year, which made Olivia want to get all dressed up for (after being in her new pj's most of the day) and create a centerpiece for us.