12/27 through 1/2

December 27th, 2009
Josiah wearing his new outfit from Christmas:

And eating rice cereal for the first time: (hard to see, though)

December 28th, 2009

My boys :-)

December 29th, 2009

Josiah got an Oregon Duck outfit from my aunt and uncle:

 

Zoe wanted me to fix her hair. This is what she asked for:

Josiah got a new Rainforest Jumperoo on loan from my best friend Jolyn. He LOVES it!!!

 

December 30th, 2009

See? I told you so!

December 31st, 2009

New Years Eve! My mom kept Josiah overnight (for the first time) so Jesse and I could go out with our friends. We dressed up and went to dinner at my favorite restaurant. Then we went to Camron and Melissa's house, dressed down, and played games until 4:00am. 

    

Midnight! It's 2010!!!

 

January 1st, 2010

For those not in the know, Oregon has two major college football teams, the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers. We happen to live in the city where the University of Oregon (the Ducks) is. So, this is a big college football town. While a duck is one of the lamest mascots I've ever heard of, the pride in our team runs deep. This season we did awesome and only lost our first game. So, we made it to the Rose Bowl, which was played on New Years Day. Jesse and I, along with my brother David went over to my cousin Sarah's house where all of her siblings and parents were to watch the Ducks... lose. :-(

 

(My cousin Ben wearing his goofy duck hat)  

My aunt and uncle haven't always had the best marriage. And it wasn't easy for my 6 cousins growing up under a strict (and often unreasonable) father. Most of the kids ended up leaving home in their teenage years. But God has done some amazing things in my uncle's life in the past 7 years or so. He now dotes on his kids (all grown up now) lovingly and adores his grandchildren (all 10 of them!) When he walked in, my little cousin Sophia yelled, "Grandpa, Grandpa!" and climbed into his lap. Zoe then climbed into his lap too and they were playing together. She reached into his pocket and pulled out his glasses and put them on. Knowing that he wasn't always like this made this moment truly special.