December

We started off the month with some serious excitement when our neighbors giant tree was cut down. Lots of live entertainment!

Maddie and I spent a morning in Mukilteo at the park and visiting Sam at her work.

Every now and then colter's therapist at school will send me pictures of how he's doing . It's fun to see bits of his day.

We decorated our tree!

I met up with Adelle in downtown snohomish for some treats at the bakery and a walk along the river. We had some sun breaks which was very welcomed!! Colter and Savannah played great together and Adelle and I were able to have some great conversation.

We saw a lot of Christmas lights this month! Our first stop was woodinville wonderland , which never disappoints! As we were driving back through woodinville, we saw the realtor office we used was having a Christmas party. We joked about crashing the party and actually did end up parking and going to find our agent. It ended up being so fun! There were live ponies, lots of goodies, and a great fire pit. It was such a random time, but so fun! 

My friend Erin told us about a historic trolley that runs around Edmonds on Saturdays during December. It was such a fun ride around our favorite town. We also went to the Edmonds model railway club open house. 

One day when we happened to visit the trolley park, I asked the worker whether they ever opened the gate to see the trolley closer. There happened to be an open house the following weekend so we put it on the calendar! It was such a fun little date for colter and I. The restoration of the trolley was incredible! 

On my moms birthday, the kids and I brought her a Starbucks in the early morning and then decided to drive down through mukilteo. We did not expect it to be totally flooded! We parked at the edge of the flood and watched various cars drive through. The highlight was a huge garbage truck that plowed right through!

Family dinner for Nana's birthday

We tried out wild lights at the zoo for the first time and ended up having an amazing experience. The night started off with pouring rain , which resulted in a really empty zoo! The light displays were incredible and we were able to see a lot of animals, even at night. The highlight of the night was the snowball fight we had in the zoomazium! The kids could have stayed there all night. 

I had an early morning glucose test , so afterwards the kids and i did some of our favorite downtown Christmas activities. We went to the Star Wars themed gingerbread houses, the teddy bear suite, and the train display at Macy's. 

We had a fantastic time at the children's museum with mark and some of the Heavilands. There was cinnamon ornament making in the craft room, carpet skating and the building blocks were back! Ben, colter and James built an epic block fort!

Unfortunately , Greenlake luminaries were a total bust this year. It was pouring rain and colter was having a really hard time. After trying to make it work for a while, we just cut our losses and headed home. I kept from having a bad attitude by remembering all the fantastic times we had recently. 

I got to help out in colter's class for the Christmas party. Being in his room definitely gives me an itch to teach preschool. Maybe someday!

We had a great downtown day , that also overlapped with the Heavilands. We took the monorail to the Seattle center and looked at the train didplay. Then we went to the emp to see the hello kitty exhibit and then had lunch at the armory before heading back. While downtown we let the kids play on the huge new park outside the emp. I've never taken the kids there because I wasn't sure they would like it, but the kids had a blast! Colter surprises us sometimes with what he decides to try. He totally tried out both of these huge slides. Such a cool moment.

That night we decided to check out another light display at a church. This will definitely be a repeat event! The church had an entire synchronized show, and there was also an indoor spot for cocoa & cookies, as well as a train display. 

The Sunday before Christmas. I hope I always remember Maddie's joy as she danced around with Harper. 

My dear friend Adelle has an almost Christmastime birthday that gets skipped over quite a bit. This year we made a point of celebrating! We met for lunch at maltby cafe, and then went shopping in downtown Snohomish. I am so thankful for such a wonderful friend!

We did the annual gingerbread man over at our house. The kids still act surprised that he disappears!

Ben and I had an awesome date night. We started with dinner at demetris which never dissapoints. Then we decided to become "Christmas elves" and deliver dessert to some of our friends. We brought gelato to the Blankenships, dessert from Anthony's to the Moscariellos, and then some pie from central market to my sister & Mark. We had a blast chatting and catching up at each house. 

My dad and his girlfriend Julie came into town for Christmas. We all met up to look at some Christmas lights, including the Seahwaks house that was featured on the great american light fight. This year they had a tunnel that you can crawl through inside their garage. The kids LOVED it! 

We had a low key Christmas morning. The kids were SO excited to open presents and get the day started. I think this was the first year they both realized got the whole excitement of Christmas morning. We had a yummy breakfast , opened gifts, played with Nana, and then dad and Julie came over and we got ready for Christmas dinner. The kids had a blast together, and we all enjoyed opening our boogspace gifts. 

Colter wasn't feeling well, so he and I hung out and Ben, Maddie, dad and Julie went down to Edmonds for a little bit. 

I got to go with my mom, Kels, and Jessie to see So You Think You Can Dance for a second year in a row. The show is so breathtaking, it's amazing what they can do with their bodies! I think I have more appreciation now that i'm pregnant and definitely don't feel limber. 

We went to the snow with my mom and the Heavilands and had such a wonderful morning. It was SO cold, but the blue sky was simply amazing. Colter was not interested in sledding, and spent literally HOURS building a snow fort with his cousins. He wasn't even ready to leave after so much time. I love the way that nature soothes his soul. It was so hard getting out of the house that morning.. like to the point that I almost didn't want to go. Yet once we were outside and he was free to explore and dig, he was like a different person. It was such a good reminder for me to always incorporate nature in our lives. Maddie on the other hand lasted about 15 minutes, partly because we didn't try her boots on before, and we had to take the liners out so they would fit. She did a little sledding, but mainly hung out in the car with me and the twins in my "snow day care" as I called it . I'm so thankful that we live so close to such beautiful places!

Out with 2015, it's time for 2016! What a year this should be.