Puppies!

Ryan has been after me to get a new puppy for awhile now. I finally caved about a month ago and Ryan has been researching breeders ever since.  He finally decided on a breeder of English labs located in Horseshoe Bend.  The puppy we will be getting is from an English lab litter that is about two weeks away from being born.  We will select our male puppy (we get pick of the litter!) in late April and then take him home in early June.

The breeder invited us up to their house last weekend so we could meet the dad (Brody), review his papers and get to know them.  And to make the visit even sweeter, their American lab, Stella, just had puppies so we would be able to see them as well.

The breeder is way off the beaten path in Horseshoe Bend, which is already off the beaten path.  We traveled way up into the mountains and passed some wild turkey's on the way:

Right when we got there Ryan and Brody made an instant connection:

Right after this picture Ryan stood up and Brody fell over because he was leaning so far over on Ryan.  That could have had to do with the fact that Ryan had been rubbing his ears for about ten minutes.

Drew walked right up to the pen where the puppies were and settled in to hold them:

Isla took a while to warm up before she got in there to snuggle:

Whenever I have a bad day and need something to cheer me up, I'm going to pull up this picture on my phone:

I can officially say that I am ready to be a dog owner again.  Can't wait to go back up and meet our newest family member later this month!

Kindergarten Registration

Somehow my baby girl went from this:

To kindergarten registration:

In a blink of an eye.  Sniff, sniff, sigh.  A couple weeks ago we registered Isla for kindergarten and are very happy to report that she got into all day kindergarten.  We were a little nervous she might not get in since it is a lottery, but luckily she was selected for spot #12 out of 23!  We are so excited for Isla and she cannot wait to start school next fall.

Slacker

This poor blog has been so neglected this year.  I'm trying to get back on track though.

In the meantime, here is a little conversation between Drew and I in the car yesterday:

Drew: Mommy

Me: Yes, Drew?

Drew: I have an owie on my finger. Do you see it?

Yes, buddy I see it.

SV Ski Weekend with the Kiddos

Before we get to the videos I took in Sun Valley, I have to show off Isla's first ski pass:

Isn't it the cutest?  So Ryan was only able to get this picture of Isla during her entire month of ski lessons up at Bogus:

Needless to say I was dying to get up on the mountain with Isla to see what she could do. We decided to celebrate Isla's new found love of skiing by going up to Sun Valley and skiing with her at Dollar Mountain.  I was shocked/excited/proud/overwhelmed to watch her do this down the mountain all day:

We could not get this girl off the mountain. I can see many more days just like this one on the horizon:

Oh - and Drew Drew had fun on the magic carpet:

And I should probably own these skis:

Just sayin'.

Go Hawks!

It has been a long long long time since I've been to an NFL football game.  I think the last time and only time I went to one I may have been around 8 or 9, oh and it was in the Kingdome.  So with my birthday approaching I casually mentioned to my Dad how I would love to go to the playoff game against the Saints, not thinking anything would come of it.  Imagine my surprise when my parents called saying they would buy the tickets if I covered the airfare.  Done.

That Saturday was typical Seattle weather - rainy and windy.  But amazingly we never got wet.  The walk from the parking garage to the bar was windy.  We sat in the bar and watched it pour and I mean pour outside.  There seriously was a river of water coming off of the roofs.  It was nice and cozy inside though:

Then during the walk to the stadium, the sun actually came out.  I have photo proof:

The energy before, during and after the game was something I have never experienced.  In one word it was awesome.  I don't think I have ever seen so many people in Seahawk gear in one place in my life. View from our covered seats:

Again, it started raining, but we stayed dry:

And then after the Seahawks won the clouds parted on our way back to the bar:

I loved the band that they had playing after the game:

Even the bar was loaded with Seahawk fans.  Seriously one of the best days I have had in my life - it was so much fun!  Thank you Mom and Dad for my birthday gift!

Skene Bunnies

Ryan and I had hoped that we would be able to get both kids up on skis when we were in Sun Valley.  We had a feeling that it might go a little something like this: Drew would be so excited and get right on his skis and the magic carpet while Isla would sit back and watch and hopefully see how much fun Drew was having or the attention that Drew was getting and decide to get on her skis.

Well that was pretty much exactly what happened.  I was shocked that we got both of them on skis and both of them loved it!  Isla loved it so much that she wouldn't stop bugging us about taking skiing lessons once we got home.  So we signed her up and she is now on her third week and going up on the chair lift and down the hill by HERSELF with no edgie wedgies.  Ryan and I could not be more proud of her!

First day on the "hill" in SV:

The second day showed much improvement:

You would think my kids were some kind of celebrities with the audience that they had during both days of skiing:

Instead of the celebratory hot chocolate after skiing, my Skene Bunnies opted for Cheetos instead (they definitely take after me!):

After Christmas in SV - 2013

Christmas day we packed up the kids and headed up to Sun Valley for a week.  This year we decided to rent a house in Ketchum with my parents and I'm so glad we did.  It was close to downtown and you could walk to the mountain.  The house also had a hot tub, a pool table and a drum set - what more could you ask for?  We enjoyed our time up there even if there was very little snow.

Drew would have been happy staying in this outfit the whole time he was there:

And refused the sleep without his pirate ship:

And watch his videos without his spotting scope (I'm such a good parent):

Since there was so little snow I actually got to go hiking with my family:

The day after Christmas we went to Aunt KE's house for fondue and a hat party:

We also made it to Whiskey's to watch Micky and the Motorcars:

Thank goodness the kids were able to make some friends at Starbucks - they were getting a little tired of each other by the end of the week:

The kids also got to go skiing  - but that deserves post just by itself.  We are already booked for the same house next year!