New Bears in the "Wood"

Our close friend's daughter Riley turned 3 Sunday, and we celebrated all Saturday afternoon, ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and shared ice cream cake back at their home for dessert! It was a fantastic time! Below are Owen the Pooh, Riley the Pooh, and Collin the Pooh:But I do have one comment: why does a restaurant, albeit with a fun gimmic that obviously draws the masses ~ especially the children, not have to present a good menu? I mean, seriously ... the Rainforest serves awful, bland food! Not a single adult was pleased. The worst part??? The kids ate EVERY bite!!! It seems as much as we don't like it there, they DO. And so, I know we will continue to endure visits ~ but it'll be for the kids' sakes ~ not for the sake of the food. But why?? Cooking good food is not that hard!! Ugh. : )

Winter Drive 1.13.07

We made the trip down to Seattle Saturday and turned Owen's carseat around for the ride. It was his inaugural drive "facing forward," and he was asleep within a mile and a half (as was Collin). He missed out on the winter wonderland from his new view. : )

Happy New Year!

I wondered why they were taking the blankets out of the basket ... : )

Budding Artist

You're supposed to be showing Owen how it's done ...
not eating the shaving cream with him!

Owen was 7 1/2 months old when these were taken on Banks Lake.
I just ran across them and had to share!

December 24 - Jacobs Christmas

We started three days of Christmases December 24 with a day of football, gifts, food and treats with my dad (Steve), Lani and my brother Zac. It was a wonderful, relaxing day!! *We shared the holidays with more of my Jacobs family at the Berrens family Christmas two weeks prior (I forgot my camera that day).

What a handsome pair!!

Christmas Eve

Tradition in my family has always been to open one gift before bedtime Christmas Eve ~ and it's always been new pajamas. We've carried on the tradition with the boys, so after bathtime, they stroke down "nakey" to see what Santa had dropped off early ~ special delivery!Then, while the children were nestled, snug in their beds, Santa came down the chimney! He loaded the stockings, surrounded the tree, and shared cookies, milk and carrots with his reindeer. "Ho, Ho, Ho! And to All a 'Good Night!'"

Christmas Morning

Collin woke up over a half hour before Owen, so he and I played in his room until finally, "BABY'S AWAKE!!!!" And we're off!

Owen's First Tool Bench

Until Christmas morning, Collin only had one engine for his train set (now there are three!), and Owen was constantly vying for it. So, for Christmas, Owen gave Collin an upgraded model and inherited the "old" model:

Collin went from having 10 tracks that formed a single oval to having enough tracks and accessories to cover the entire family room floor! We didn't plan it, but somehow everyone seemed to know that Santa was adding to the track so they did too!

Owen didn't quite get into unwrapping the gifts this year, but he loved the paper and bows OFF of the gifts! At one point he started collecting bows, openning and closing the gift box to put in each one separately:

December 25 - Groom/Yanasak Christmas

Great Grandma Groom, my mom and Kevin, Chrissy, Tracey and the Girls, Jared and Janae, and Kramer all came up the afternoon of Christmas Day to celebrate the holiday. We had a wonderful time exchanging gifts and enjoyed a prime rib feast afterwards, joined by our good friends Steve, Katie, and Natalie.

Collin is very into puzzles now, and he especially loved working on this one from Marley.

After bathtime, the kids spent their remaining energy in the playroom. It was too fun to watch Owen tackle the big kids and incite wrestling matches! And although the picture shows Collin stepping over Owen on his way up the slide, you can be Owen was right in the mix with Marley and Collin charging for his turn on the slide!At long last, energy finally spent, the kids crawl onto the couch and wind down with Great Grandma in anticipation of bedtime:

December 26 - Carmody Christmas

Good Morning!! Puff, Puff ~ Choo-Choo!

In 1982, my dad (Bob) gave each of us kids a handmade wood-craft puzzle. This year my dad (now Grandpa Carmody) gave the grandkids each a puzzle of their own: