Thanksgiving - Ethan has his big bro

We had quite the Thanksgiving adventure. We packed the kids up and met Christopher at Seatac to visit Aunt Jean and Uncle Russ. Grandma and Grandpa came too and the plane ride went way better than expected. Ethan loved the plane and didn't really remember being in Ed's or on the last trip to Seattle at 9 months old. Jason mostly slept on Jeff and Grandma. The only stress is breaking everything down to go through security and get on and off the planes. So much stuff. And packing for an infant is just amazing....a pod to sleep in, portable chair, clip on high chair etc etc.

Once there, we rented a minivan and a corporate apartment in Bellvue for the week and had a blast. Most days were spent at the Phillips residence eating, cooking, napping, playing games, and enjoying the lake and the playground. But we also walked to Bellvue Square and went shopping for Christmas and took the boys bowling, out to eat and to see Jean at work. CJA and Jeff did some golfing as well. We had such a wonderful crazy time and it was great to be all together for a holiday.

Here is a video of Ethan "reading" his truck book and dressed to impress on Thanksgiving day



Here are some random pics of our week. The guitar heroes:



Christopher and Ryan during our dinner out.


Ethan and Grandma at Jean's house:


Ethan bowling:


CJA showing his bowling prowess:



Sacked out at the apartment. Can you believe I got both of them down at the same time???



In Bellvue at the Christmas parade with Aunt Jean and Uncle Russ:



Mommy was dancing with a toy soldier on stilts and then made Ethan pose with a majorette:


Showing Aunt Jean how to use the slide and hanging out at the playground:




Showing Uncle Russ how to play guitar:



Hanging out listening to the tunes:



All dressed for Thanksgiving day:






With the big bro at our apartment in Bellvue.

Thanksgiving in Seattle

After you read this one, you can send the medal of valor to Jeff. He was a trooper and let me plan our holiday. We decided to spend Thanksgiving out in the Seattle area. So we packed up 2 kids, 2 diaper bags, 2 carseats, strollers, suitcases, and our sanity and flew out for a week to go visit Aunt Jean and meet Uncle Russ for the first time. We rented a great corporate apartment in downtown Bellvue and Christopher met us out there as well so we could have a total family vacation. We managed to drag my parents and grandfather with us as well and without them, I am not sure how we would have carried everything. We will be going by tractor trailer next time.

It was great to be together with all the kids and Jean, Mom, and I cooked a traditional Becker feast with all the trimmings. Jean really went all out and we had such an awesome meal. We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans almondine, sauteed spinach, stuffed mushrooms, a cheese, fruit and nut tray, little piggies in blankets and 10 kinds of pie. Okay, maybe not 10 but it sure felt like it.

After cooking for 2 days and cleaning for one, we did a bit of shopping, caught a parade and basically just spent LOTS of time enjoying the kids and each other. Here are a few of my favorite pics for the week. Check out E's blog for all the happenings from his view point.

Morning at the apartment in Bellvue:





Kisses from Aunt Jean:



Bowling with the boyz in the hood:




Prepping the day before:




Napping on Aunt Jean's bed:


The boys "hanging" after nap time.


The big day - Thanksgiving at the Phillips residence:




Some of the sharp dressed men in my life:






What? This isn't turkey? I get plastic toys and bananas?



I just have the BEST time:



Here is our Thanksgiving bib and Aunt Jean. The day is done and JT is clean and jammiefied.

Grandmother's visit

We had a special dinner tonight with Grandmother and Susan. Ethan was thilled to see them and wanted lots of lap time, stories, and kisses. They were both quick to accomodate both boys and we had a great time until it was time for bed. We have been really struggling to get Ethan to go down and stay down and to go to bed and wake without screaming and getting hysterical. Our persistence is finally paying off and bed time has gotten much more pleasurable but Jeff has had to take the brunt for a while. On a brighter note, we got some great pictures from our evening together.

Halloween

I updated E's blog with tonight's happenings but wanted to also add some recent Jason photos here. Below is one with Jason in his costume and one with Aunt Marie kissing on him after he put on his jammies.