Vacation in Mexico

View of the beach from the water. It was windy, but very warm.

View of the ocean and beach.

Ruth taking a break from the pool.

Henry on the carousel.

Ruth and Tom on the carousel.

Ruthie had lots of things to point at... trees, couati, cats, birds...

Tom and Ruthie during the calm between waves at the pool.

More Mexico

Henry and Hannah

Towel animals - the kids loved this.

The hotel was pretty amazing. This is a view of the lobby area.

Nathan and the feral cat colony. The kids were fascinated by the cats... because, you know, we don't have those here.

I got a lot more pictures of Ruth than Henry on the this trip. Henry was too busy with his cousins!

Nathan and Ruth on the last day. He was really sweet with Ruth.

Another shot of the kids at the wave pool.

Ruthie at the wave pool - she loves the water! It was getting late in the afternoon, which is why it's so shady.

Mexico!

Tom and the kids on our first day. We were still in shock, I think.

Ruth and her Uncle Chris in the pool.

The closest I got to a photo of all the cousins together. If only the babies would look at the camera!

Little Helper

Ruth could do this all day.

Making Valentines

Paint, rock crayons, sequins, and glue stick... what else do you need?

Visiting Great-Grandma

A few pictures of our visit with Great-Grandma at the end of January. Henry wasn't in the mood for a group photo.

Ruth getting into stuff, as usual.

Lots of fun with the rocking horse and the legos.

Store Manjester

Did I mention Ruth has mastered doorknobs, too?

Henry and Ruth playing "Store Manjester". She loves to open the door and throw things at him. (He pretends she's selling him cookies.)

Oh yeah, and Henry isn't wearing a shirt again. We had soup for dinner.

Please try to ignore Mt. Washmore in the background.

Henry and Franny

Day at the Coast

Tom surprised us by coming home from work at lunchtime last Thursday and taking us to the coast for the afternoon! The weather was beautiful. No clouds, about 60 degrees, and only a light breeze.

Ruth is ready to set up the picnic blanket.

Figuring out the shovel.

I love the shadow of Bella in this picture. She looks like the big bad wolf.

Who's that crazy kid in the ice cold water??

Henry, of course!

Bella had fun, too.

Henry flying the kite.

Just Because She's So Cute

This is pretty much what Ruth does all day.

Fun With PlayMobile

Come on, you know the words.

Y...M...C....A.... It's fun to stay at the YMCA....

Frankenbaby

It's official: We have a toddler!

Ruth woke up one morning shortly after New Years and had figured it all out overnight. Be warned; this video is kind of long, and like most of my videos, only entertaining if you are a grandparent. Or really like watching toddlers fall down.

Christmas at Sunriver

Yes, I know I am horribly behind on the updates. Please forgive me!

After Christmas we went to Sunriver to spend some time with "Grandpa Wiggle-Ears" and Sue. There was tons of snow, and Henry had a blast playing in it and being pulled on the sled by Tom.

The dogs had lots of fun, too. (This picture by Uncle Matt.)

Henry takes a tumble, Tom gets a workout.

Henry sitting in his "snow chair".

Christmas Morning

This was the first year that Henry really got into Christmas and realized what it is all about.... PRESENTS!

Henry checking out his new Hess truck (#3!) from Grandpa, while Ruthie digs into presents behind him. (That's actually Henry's present she's trying to tear open.)

Here's a little Christmas morning video. Henry can hardly control himself. Candy canes for breakfast can do that to a four-year-old.

Ruth was thrilled to finally get a truck of her own.

(Notice the matching pj's? Yeah, I made those.)

Henry engrossed in his new books from Nana.

Santa brought Mama new slippers!