babys first christmas

oUr HoLiDaY. In a little (ches)nutshell.

We got back last Friday night (12/26) from a lovely Christmas holiday. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Riley. It was a nice supper at the Country Club, and then gifts for the grandkiddos back at their house. We saw a lot of family that we hadn't seen in a long time, which was great! Dinner conversation was lively and all the kiddos (all 6 of them) behaved great (no crying even from the babes).

Grandma, Grandpa, Tad

Trygve and Serenity

Christmas morning was spent at the hotel with the Saugens and the Sorensens - so much fun to have all the kids together! We opened stockings and had breakfast together. (Our room smelled like sausage for a full 24 hours :)

I'm so excited about my Spiderman PJ's!

Olaf and Ingrid await their stockings.

Micah and Olaf are good at sharing their toys.

Look Mom, Santa brought my this sippy cup! (teether with handles...)

Then we headed to Mark and Barb's home for Christmas dinner (DELICIOUS TURKEY) and shared the evening together. The kids (again) all were spoiled rotten with books and toys and clothes.

Olaf learns about Barb's toy box of goodies.

Elmo, I want to eat you!

I found myself so thankful for such a diverse family -- one that I love to share life with. If I could only get more folks to join us and the Saugens here in Leavenworth.... (hint hint Jenny Sue and Haakon) Really though - how many folks are lucky enough to marry into a family that they absolutely love? They truly are a great group of people. (That includes all of you - not just those who I saw this weekend) Anyway, I'll stop my gushes.

That's my post for now. Enjoy the pictures!

delight

Pure delight... that's what I have when I hang out with this kid. My little Roly poly Oly. Happy to just be himself. And I love him so much!

Already Sunday...

Well, it's already Sunday. That means that Steven will have to leave again this evening for his work away from home... sad :( Although we manage fine without him these many days/weeks he is away for work, we still miss him terribly. But I know that he loves the work he does on the boat, and it makes me happy to know that his work fulfills him, so we make do.

Audioning for "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe? Seriously. No I am serious.

How much is Steven working away from home, you might ask? Well, it changes monthly. But he will gone about 2.5-3 weeks each from November through February. But this is good, right?! We are trying to pay for a remodel! And the bonus is, when he is home this winter, he will ACTUALLY be home. Last winter he was home for 13 days over the holidays... and spent all 13 days working on Ski Patrol. We did not spend much time together sadly. But not this year -- this year we will be able to ski together!


Every now and then, when I am in need of a husband for some type of work which husbands normally do, I call on one of the other husbands I know and their wives let me borrow them -- my dad, nick, dave, the helpful men at les schwab... What a blessing to have good friends and family so close!
Grandpa Brian and Drooly Oly

These are Olaf's "Uncle" Nick and "Auntie" Jaimi

Uncle Dave and cousin Micah

Les Schwab -- Did you know they will come pick up your car for you, take it back to the shop, check it out, call you back with the results, fix anything, and then drive it back to you and give you the keys back? AWESOME. You don't even have to leave work!

Welcome Alexsandr!

Baby Alexsandr Encinas was born this last Wednesday evening, December 3rd! My sister Kirsten did an awesome job, and after nearly 24 hours of labor, the little man was finally born! He weighed in at 8lbs, 2oz, with dark brown hair and bluish greyish eyes. He has his daddy's crazy bent-in pinky fingers and Kirsten's eyes. He is BEAUTIFUL. Seriously cute. And so tiny!

CONGRATULATIONS Kirsten and Moises!

PS... Mom did I spell his name right????